Montgomery’s Covered Bridges: Icons of Vermont’s Rustic Beauty
Montgomery Vermont is home to six (or seven) covered bridges which are within six miles of Montgomery Center (see the map below). The reason I put a 7 in there is because there was or could be another covered bridge as well. I’ll talk about that at the end. Montgomery has more than the average number of covered bridges in the vicinity of the village and you can capture all 6 in a few hours. A bit longer if you stop in Montgomery Center at Bernie’s Restaurant. Pick up a Frommer’s guidebook in my Amazon Store.
If you’d like another place to eat just travel up the road a mile or so you will be in… Montgomery, now don’t get confused and don’t blame me, I didn’t name them. If you know why Montgomery and Montgomery Center are right next to each other, let me know in the comments. In Montgomery, you have the Black Lantern Inn and you can click the link to check their hours. We’ve never eaten there but the reviews look good.
The Six Covered Bridges of Montgomery…
Guidebooks for covered bridges
Guidebooks and the Gazetteers are great for reading about, locating, and seeing what else is near the covered bridge.
I have a book by Harold Stiver that points out many different covered bridges. Additionally, I have some other books in my Amazon store that cover Vermont or New Hampshire specifically.
The Gazetteers Series
I still have my first Gazetteer after 20 years, but I prefer the old one to the new combined NH/VT Gazetteer.
I try not to leave home without them as they’re essential for planning and executing trips.
Another thing is that the area AROUND Montgomery has several more covered bridges (like around 20+ within 25 miles If you take Route 118 past “Hectorville” to Route 109, you can drive towards Belvidere, there are three more along or near Route 109, and going into Jeffersonville, there is another… And then you are on your way to Smuggler’s Notch. (More on that here).
I love that you can visit covered bridges at any time of the year. I think they look just as good in the winter as in the summer. OF COURSE, I think the best time for these covered bridges in and around Montgomery Vermont will be in early October (5-10th). Most of my visits have been outside this month but in late September while it’s very early, you’ll see the beginnings of color.
Here are the covered bridges
To me, this trip could be done, easily in a day especially if you caught these bridges early in the day with nice morning light. Distances will vary depending on where you start and the route you take to get to them. All are easy to find (although the Hill West covered bridge can be difficult) and parking shouldn’t be too much of a problem. Here is another article that is a fall foliage primer for finding autumn colors in New England. Also, you should read my Art of Getting Lost. The Hutchins Covered Bridge To find the Hutchins Bridge you will have to ignore the Delorme map book (or Google) I don’t say that very often, but this is on is out on a classic Vermont back road. You want to leave Route 118 onto Hutchins Bridge Road. You will go about 50 yards and the road turns into a dirt road of good quality (we hope). You will pass a small pond on the left and the bridge will be down at the bottom of the hill off to the right. The road is a dead-end. This bridge was built in 1883 and it crosses the south branch of the Trout River. The Longley Bridge is another lattice-type bridge built by the Jewett Brothers in 1863. It crosses the Trout River and unfortunately, I didn’t bring my fly fishing rod to find out if there were trout in that brook… It was recently rebuilt so the color is a natural wood color. It is right off Route 118 where you turn onto Longley Bridge Road The Comstock Bridge is another one that as you come in from the west on Route 118 (or North Main St), you will probably miss it unless you are traveling real slow. Not to worry, since the next road on your right,”Bank Road”, will bring you around to the bridge from the other side. This is another bridge by the Jewett Bros. It was built in 1883 and also crosses the Trout River. In the shot of this bridge, you can see the person on the bike waiting for the rain to subside so they can continue their bike ride. This is another reason that they were valued if you are out in the rain… Well, you get the idea. A short 30’ bridge that still gets lots of town traffic is right across from the Montgomery Post Office. It’s at the corner of Black Hills Road and North Hills Road. It allows you to cross Black Falls Brook which was built in 1890 and restored in 2000. Being in town and used by all the traffic, it has been well kept. As with most of these covered bridges, it is plain but it does its job. Check the image at the end of the article. if you look in the center of the picture you will see the Fuller Covered Bridge. If you try to find this one, don’t do what we did… The Creamery Bridge is right where the maps say it is, but they don’t have any road signs for it. First, they have two parallel roads off the main road, West Hill Road and Hill West Road. (although Google calls both West Hill Rd) It doesn’t matter which road you take but if you take the western road, as we did and you miss the Creamery Road, like we did, be prepared to do some exploring. The roads north of the bridge are mostly old logging roads But as of 2022, there are more paved roads in and around the covered bridge (more people moving there). If you see a small dotted line and you decide to explore that and you don’t have a 4X4 then be prepared to walk out of there. That is now a snowmobile trail… It’s not a road anymore. If you see a VAST sign (Vermont Association of Snowmobile Trails), don’t go there! We were basically bouldering through the back roads of Vermont. It was quite a detour we took, and on the way back north on West Hill Rd we found an unmarked road, I made a left on it and at that point, my GPS, which will tell you what road you are on, told us we were on Creamery Road. We quickly stopped because the road was blocked by two large boulders. (but you can drive through now as of 2017) We walked down to the bridge (about 75 yds.) and we walked through, and looked at the boulders on the other side… As you may have guessed The Hopkins Covered Bridge is North of Montgomery on Route 118. I almost always miss this bridge unless you are specifically looking for it. You will come around a bend in the road and there it is and there it was… It will be a while before you find a turn around so just be aware it will come up before you expect it. Montgomery had a seventh covered bridge, the Hectorville Covered Bridge. In 2018, I talked to Darren Drevik who was the proprietor of the Phineas Swann B&B/Inn at the time, and he gave me an update… I learned from him that the bridge was in storage. Unfortunately, it’s unknown if it is still in storage now. There was nothing on the town plan mentioned above regarding the bridge or its future. He told me they are trying to raise money to rebuild it and place it somewhere near Montgomery. We stayed in Montgomery a couple of years back and on 16 October it was definitely past peak. But in this aerial view, there is still much to enjoy in a visit to Montgomery Vermont. It is a simple little village and don’t blink, Not because you’ll miss it but because that is a hard right turn and you will go off the road 🙂 Be safe and happy my friends… Jeff Foliage Folger Autumn is a state of mind more than a time of year – Jeff Foliage
Longley Covered Bridge
The Comstock Covered Bridge
Fuller Covered Bridge
![New England Photography of the Fuller Covered Bridge, also known as the Blackfalls Covered Bridge[2] is a wooden covered bridge that crosses Black Falls Brook in Montgomery, Vermont on Fuller Bridge Road. #JeffFolger, #JeffFoliage, #Vistaphotography](https://jeff-foliage.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Fuller-Covered-Bridge.jpg)
Creamery Bridge (also known as the Hill West CB)
it’s (it was) closed to all but foot traffic.Hopkins Covered Bridge
Where is the Hectorville Covered Bridge?
Visiting Montgomery in Autumn
I have had so much fun reading your posts about finding the bridges and scenic areas in Vermont. I’m now planning my upcoming fall trip and I’m getting so many new ideas and places to go see. I visit Vermont and some of New Hampshire every year in October, and have really neglected the northern region. This year I’m going to spend more time there and your posts have been so helpful. I can’t wait for October.
thank you!!
No Problem Hope and I’m glad all the traveling and writing I do helps…
Good Luck and safe travels
I just bought and received the Stiver book on the covered bridges, great reference and the leather notebook with the leaves on the cover. It’s a perfect size, lots of paper inside, exactly what I needed to keep all info, confirmations, etc. in one place without always having to look things up on my phone!!!
The price is so reasonable. Thanks Again
Don’t tell Lisa but I was thinking of getting her the notebook with the leaves on the cover (affiliate link)
And I found Harold stivers book on covered bridges very useful (amazon affiliate link)
Definitely get the notebook. It’s really lovely, well made, tons of paper and the cover is very classy looking.
Love all the photos of the Covered Bridges and places that are not always easy to find or wondering if they are worth the drive, which YES it is all worth the journey but when the COLORS are popping daylight is limited -THANK YOU for all of your amazing POSTS on where to go!!