Your Breakdown of the EQT Washington & Greene Counties' Covered Bridge Festival

Nestled in the scenic McGuffey Community Park, the Brownlee Bridge was fully restored in 2008, the same year it joined the Covered Bridge Festival as a site. Its lineup for the weekend features a classic car cruise, tractor and equipment displays, kids’ corner, chainsaw carving and rug making demonstrations and a Falken Bird Demo in addition to local craft, woodworking and food vendors.

Contacts: Susanne Dorsey – 724.554.4336, Scott Dorsey – 724.914.3757

The Wyit Sprowls Bridge is one of the "younger" bridges on this list with a 1915 build year. Fully restored in 2001, Wyit Sprowls is located directly in front of the historic Jordan Schoolhouse, an 1895 one-room schoolhouse considered the crown jewel of East Finley Township. Visitors can tour the schoolhouse during the festival in addition to enjoying an excavator rodeo, kids’ crafts and family games, live entertainment, farm vehicle poker run. The demonstration lineup for this one is worth experiencing, too, as it includes old-time grain thrashing, sawmill and chainsaw demos, longbow archery and primitive camp and an old-fashioned apple cider press.

Contact: EastFinleyPark@gmail.com

Originally built in 1889, this bridge has been a site since the festival’s beginning. Hughes Bridge welcomes antique vehicle owners to bring their vehicles for display while acts like Sandy Lusko Hoffman, Shades of Time, Bob Podish and Catfish Camp take the stage. Visitors can also enjoy a variety of crafts, a Chinese auction and free kids’ games and activities provided by the Amwell Township Historical Society.

Contact: 724.222.6323

Many of these covered bridges have been relocated in their time, including the Ebenezer Bridge. This bridge has been a part of the festival since 1971 but was moved from the South Fork of Maple Creek in Ginger Hill to Mingo Creek County Park in 1977, where it is now one of the more popular bridges in-county due to its scenic location in the park. As one of the larger sites in the festival, Ebenezer features a huge selection of craft and food vendors selling everything from seasonal décor to candles, jewelry, leather goods, metal crafts, plants and more, to BBQ, meatballs, crabcakes, gourmet popcorn, nut rolls, shaved ice and so much more.

Contact: Washington County Tourism Promotion Agency, 1.866.927.4969

Built in 1881, the Henry Bridge also resides over the gently flowing Mingo Creek. It’s important to know that unlike other sites, this bridge site is not actually located at the bridge – instead, it’s just up the hill to allow room for parking and vendors. The site is home to a host of vendors selling soap, handmade embroidery and crochet items, homemade jams and jellies, ceramics, primitive décor, stained glass and more, in addition to all sorts of food vendors serving up your fall favorites.

Contact: The Mental Health Association of Washington County, 724.225.2061

Nicknamed the Devil’s Den Bridge after a cave located behind a waterfall where the bridge was originally located over Kings Creek, the McClurg Bridge is tied with the Krepps Bridge as the shortest in Washington County at just 24 feet long. This site is home to a host of activities throughout the weekend, such as a vegetable contest, dunk bucket raising money for charity, car cruise and war re-enactors firing muskets throughout the weekend. That’s all in addition to artisan vendors and food booths selling everything from hot sausage and BBQ to funnel cakes and apple dumplings.

Contact: Pat Horstman, 412.760-9153 or pathostman01@gmail.com.

Beyond its location on the grounds of Meadowcroft Rockshelter & Historic Village, the Pine Bank Bridge is unique for several reasons. It’s the only bridge part of the festival that is unpainted, the only bridge not original to Washington County (hailing instead from Tom’s Run in Greene County), and it features a completely different design (one of the only surviving Kingpost Truss bridges in the country!) than all others. While this bridge site does not feature vendors or food, visitors should absolutely take time to visit Meadowcroft Rockshelter & Historic Village, an outdoor museum featuring a 19^th century village, a recreated 18^th century frontier post, 16^th century Indian village and the world-renowned Meadowcroft Rockshelter, which contains evidence of human inhabitation going back a whopping 19,000 years.

Contact: Meadowcroft Rockshelter & Historic Village, 724.587.3412 or heinzhistorycenter.org.

Built in 1889 and restored in 1971, the Carmichaels Bridge is also one of those bridges that’s been a part of the festival since the beginning. Featuring a host of local music acts like The Projects Band, Juke Box Junkies, Timm Reeves and more, plus free face painting, demonstrations and even horse-drawn wagon rides over the bridge, this site has plenty to explore and do before you even start exploring the food and vendors.

Contact: Dorothy & Alan Vozel, 724.963.6152

Built in 1900 (though there is some debate, as one particular local resident born in 1911 swore the bridge was built in 1919), the White Bridge is the longest in Greene County at a total of 77 feet! The festival site primarily sits on the State Game Lands adjacent to the bridge and features Indian re-enactors “Ghost in the Head” portraying a living history of the Huron Indians of the 1700s, free kids’ activities, wagon rides and Civil War re-enactors, among demonstrations of antique tools, alpacas, quilting and blacksmithing, plus tons of food and craft vendors.

Contact: Greene County Tourism, 724.627.8687 or wcbridge@gmail.com.