Maine currently has/had nine covered bridges and we have now completed all of them. (sort of)
They are:

• Artist or Sunday River covered bridge*
• Babb’s covered bridge*
• Hemlock covered bridge*
• Lovejoy covered bridge*
• Lowes covered bridge*
• Parsonsfield-Porter covered bridge*
• Bennett covered bridge*
• Robyville covered bridge*
• Watson Settlement covered bridge

There is a map at the bottom of the page with pins for the locations of each of Maine’s covered bridges. During our 2021 fall foliage trips, we went and cleared the last three. The Bennett, Robyville, and Watson Settlement covered bridges.

Have you explored Maine? Here are eight reasons to explore Maine.

1. Sunday River Covered Bridge

The Sunday River Covered Bridge, also known as the Artist Covered Bridge, on Sunday River Road in Newry Maine is the most painted/photographed bridge in Maine. You’ll see a sign for it on Route 2 just north of Bethel Maine, but you aren’t there yet. Look for Sunday River Road on the west side of Route 2 and take that north by northwest. About a mile up, Sunday River Road splits to the right and then you will come to the Sunday River. The road now bypasses the covered bridge, but there is lots of parking nearby.

The Sunday River Covered Bridge has earned the reputation as the most painted or photographed covered bridge in Maine, giving it its other name, Artist’s Covered Bridge. It no longer carries traffic and has been bypassed by a new bridge. In 1822 the town of Bethel voted to build a covered bridge over the Sunday river.

I can say that almost every view of the Artist Covered Bridge is a scenic one. Today, both of the entrances are blocked off, but the views from the side down on the banks of the Sunday River show very nice fall colors in early to mid-October. Even now (Oct 3rd in this photo) the fall colors have a week or longer to really reach their peak potential.

2. Babbs Covered Bridge

The Babbs Covered Bridge can be found on Hurricane Road in Gorham, Maine. This is one that is easy to get to, as far as distance, in Maine. If you see Sebago Lake on the map then you are nearly there.

There are lots of routes into the bridge, and it depends on where you are coming from as to how to direct you. So first, look for Route 202 and then River Road. Following that till you see Hurricane Road. About 100 yards in you will find the Babbs Covered Bridge.

The first covered bridge was built in 1864 and then vandals burned it down in 1973. This one was built in 1976. It’s well tagged by kids, and I really wish they would go back to the old way of getting out a penknife and scratching the names of their loved ones in the beams like kids had to do a hundred years ago… Also, they might cut off a finger and be dissuaded from doing that again… 🙂

But if you use the brush and trees to your advantage, you can obscure the overly tagged sections. It spans the river in one section. This covered bridge has a lovely rustic patina in its coloration and the Maine fall foliage is a great compliment to the bridge’s gray and brown colors.

3. Hemlock Covered Bridge

The Hemlock Covered Bridge is a lovely covered bridge, and it’s easy to find this bridge. If you go through Fryeburg Center on Route 5, look for Frog Alley, Yes you read that right… Frog Alley. You can take Frog Alley into the covered bridge or coming in from East Fryeburg on Route 302, turn onto the Hemlock Bridge Road. Either way will get you there.

It’s very easy to see it from every side and get many different views. One thing that is unique about the covered bridge is that on the far side is a very unusual road marker… Click here to read about the marker and let me know if you don’t think it’s unusual OR… if you have a more unusual one?

Built back in 1857, it’s a 109 ft Paddleford Truss covered bridge. I keep coming by here in late September instead of mid to late October…

As you can see in the image, it is a lovely setting with lots of parking and if you take a drive through the covered bridge you are on Frog Alley road. On this day, it was rainy and damp which meant that I only got out of the car for quick shots. It was not pouring, just a light drizzle that made the colors a little more pronounced.

It’s 21 Sept and the REAL fall colors are well north of here, probably nearer to Rangeley or even north of there, maybe as far as Baxter State Park and Mount Katahdin Maine.

4. Lovejoy Covered Bridge

Lisa and I were in Maine and it was early October, so southern Maine was still pretty green with just a few hints of the fall colors. The Lovejoy is just North of Hanover and South of Andover just off Route 5 on a small side road called… (wait for it) COVERED BRIDGE ROAD… Boy, we are inventive with the names of roads that covered bridges are on.

I had made a notation in my Gazetteer years ago that this covered bridge was gone (around 10 years ago), and I had forgotten about it. Lisa saw it in the Gazetteer and decided we should look for it.

Long story short after not finding it where the gazetteer said it would/should be, I put it in Google and it took us right there… (I love technology)

One end has a bar across the entrance to prevent big trucks from going through and causing damage. I like the red and white painted openings, and on one end they fashioned a stone railing with boulders and slabs of granite. There is a park at the one end and you have clear open views of the bridge from many different angles.

5. The Low’s Covered Bridge

The Low’s Covered Bridge is Maine’s shortest covered bridge and crosses the Piscataquis River. You will find it east of Guilford Village. You will find it on Lowe’s Bridge Road which is a dead-end road.

The Low’s Covered Bridge is on Lowe’s road which is why there may be some confusion about the actual name, but I have looked at the signage around the bridge and the informational marker does say it was named after Robert Low.

Low’s Covered Bridge in Guilford Maine washed away three times between 1830 and 1857 and then lasted till 1987 when once again it washed away. This “final covered bridge” was rebuilt in 1990 and so far, so good…

6. Parsonsfield-Porter Covered Bridge

A shop owner on the New Hampshire side of the border pointed out the Parsonsfield-Porter Covered Bridge to me. So during our 2019 fall foliage season, Lisa and I spent the long weekend of 6-8 Oct exploring Maine.

We jumped off Route 16 and took Route 25 east into Maine. Just on the other side, you will start to pass through the town of Porter ME. Take Route 160 south for a short distance and as you drive over the Ossipee river look left.

This image was taken on 6 Oct and was improved by this orange maple tree that was still turning. As you can see on the far side of the Ossipee River, the fall colors had not changed much at this time.

In fact, it would not be till the 8th when we were up in Grafton Notch State Park that we found true peak fall colors. Read more about this trip in our trip in Maine south to north.

7. Bennett Covered Bridge

You can find the Bennett bridge near the New Hampshire/Maine border, just off Route 16. I have passed this covered bridge SO many times in the past 20 years and never knew it was there.

One way to find this bridge is to be driving along Bennett Road. Another way is to know that it sits inside Aziscoos Valley campgrounds. Look for their sign or Little Hale Road and you can drive right up to the covered bridge which sits at the back of the campground.

But it is completely out of sight if you are just driving down Route 16 and heading for the New Hampshire border.

8. Robyville Covered Bridge

The Robyville Bridge proved to be elusive to find. We tried to find it via the Maine Gazetteer but maybe after 20 years, it’s time for a new one. We just were not finding it because the road names didn’t match up. Lisa was getting mad because she did not have a cell signal so Google just stared at her saying she was offline…

Somehow my phone grabbed enough of a cell signal to plot the directions as long as we didn’t make any changes to the bridge. I would use Google Maps to find this one unless your Delorme Gazetteer is newer than mine. (Check this affiliate link out)

9. Watson Settlement Covered Bridge?

The Watson Settlement covered bridge burned down in 2021 (I almost got to it before it was lost) And it was not for a lack of trying. We drove all the way over to the Canadian border near Houlton Maine and when we got there we found???

We got the and just the abutment was there and while we were looking through the gazetteer to make sure we were in the right spot this red fox came up to us. He wandered around the car to the middle of the road. He drank a little water out of a pothole and then proceeded to… foul the water.

As far as the Watson Settlement Covered Bridge (WSCB), take a look at the map down below… The WSCB is/was over there… I mean waaay over there… We saw Katahdin in the distance and the highway is in great shape but you can stop worrying about this covered bridge.

Jeff Foliage Folger

Autumn is a state of mind more than a time of year – Jeff Foliage

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