How to Visit Covered Bridges in New Hampshire

It's a thrill to see an old covered bridge. New Hampshire has quite a few of these. Some you can drive through, and others just walk through. Here's how to experience these.

Things You'll Need

• a car or motorcycle
• a NH state map
• internet access
• a camera

Instructions

1. First find the bridges you want to visit. Here's a government site listing them and giving the location, style of bridge, year constructed, and structural characteristics.
   http://www.nh.gov/nhdhr/bridges/table.html

2. 

   Chart out your route on the New Hampshire map to include the maximum number of bridges for the time available. This site links the bridges to Yahoo's map online: http://www.visit-newhampshire.com/current_category.704/companies_list.html

3. 

   Pack a picnic lunch or research nearby towns online to find potential restaurants, roadside diners or seafood shacks for lunch stops.

4. 

   When you find the bridge, find nearby parking (usually provided close by) and walk around admiring the old timbers, the view down the river and just savoring the feeling of this relic from another time.

5. 

   Take lots of pictures from different angles.

6. 

   In between bridges, enjoy the stretches of forest, plentiful lakes, views of the mountains, and small villages. Maybe make a stop or two at interesting shops to stretch your legs and find local crafts and other specialty items.

7. 

   Some of the rivers (Saco, for instance) make a great canoe, kayak or tubing experience. You can rent one or bring your own. Research this on the internet first using keywords (name of the river + boat rental).

Resources

• List of NH covered bridges (state govt. listing)
• Map links for NH covered bridges
• Another good site for NH covered bridges