Covered Bridges in Maryland? Yes, Please!

While I was camping at Cunningham Falls State Park (a nice little spot about a half hour southwest of Gettysburg, PA), I took an afternoon to drive the tiny backroads that led to three different covered bridges. It was a pretty fun way to see more of the Maryland countryside and add three covered bridges to my lifetime total (all the others are in Pennsylvania). And you can drive through each of the three bridges, so that added to the fun.

Easiest to find, and with the nicest surroundings was the Roddy Road covered bridge, one stop north of Thurmont on the 15 highway. It has several parking spots that abut a little picnic area, with a well-worn footpath leading to the bridge itself. On a hot day, it was really pleasant to sit on the rocks near the bridge and watch the river flowing under the bridge. While the outside of the bridge wasn’t that interesting, the inside was cool.

After a few photos and a short lunch stop, I drove through this bridge and headed off to the next one. It was not without drama, thanks to the road construction crew about halfway there. Two of the guys were all a bit reluctant to move off the one-lane road because they were in the middle of looking at something on a phone screen. I felt like we were playing a game of chicken: the flag-person was vigorously waving me on but there literally wasn’t room for both the two workers and my Honda Ridgeline on that narrow road. Eventually someone yelled at them and they looked up and moved off to the side. No idea what was so fascinating on that phone screen!

Soon enough, I found the Loy’s Station covered bridge, way out of town, nestled in hay country. There were two places to pull over on the one side of the bridge and a big park with parking lot on the other side. I parked and walked across the grass, jumping about two feet to the left when I looked down on my right to see a grayish-colored snake sliding into the brush along the river. I don’t know who was more startled, it or me!

This was the longest of the three bridges, and the only one featuring a center concrete pillar in the river to support the bridge’s weight. Here’s a look at the inside:

You can get an idea how much longer it is by comparing inside views of this and the first bridge. I was standing right at the entrance to both of them when I snapped the photos.

The tricky part about this bridge was figuring out the rules for going across when there was traffic in both directions. I saw two cars approaching the bridge from the opposite side, so I stopped on my side and waited. Nothing happened for a minute, but I couldn’t see them without actually getting on the bridge. The car behind me wasn’t any help either. So I slowly crept onto the bridge and about halfway across, I could see the two cars patiently waiting for me to emerge. They’d seen me, and apparently the rule was my direction wins. But with no signs to indicate that, I had to figure it out myself. This was rural Maryland and I had a Florida license plate, so everyone was patient and no horns were honked while I was working out how to proceed.

The third bridge was a longer way south, through some lovely back roads with sweet smelling blooms, rolling hills, and more farms. This was also the only bridge without a parking area, so I pulled off into a muddy spot off on one side and hopped out to get my shots. It did have the prettiest sky, though.

This was a short little thing, as you can tell by the inside view.

All three bridges look similar but if you check out the inside framing, they’re all different, despite being within 12 miles of each other. No cookie-cutter construction here. All of them are listed on the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places, meaning they are being preserved and protected for others to enjoy down the years. I certainly did enjoy them and hope you did too, through this little post.

Want to know more? Frederick County (MD) Covered Bridges

A generation which ignores history has no past and no future. 

Robert Heinlein