Office Covered Bridge

The last covered bridge on our tour though the bridges of Lane County Oregon is the Office bridge.

Cottage Grove After Dark

Well, technically, it is before sunrise, I suppose. I went for my morning run and saw a few things that I thought might make interesting photos. So, when I got home, I grabbed a camera and hopped in the car to go back and see what I could see.

Above is the service station that really grabbed my eye. Except for the trim on the truck outside, the car wheel inside, and the walk/don't walk sign, it could really be from about 60 years ago. And it probably is.

Cottage Grove Downtown

This is a small town with little going on in the many buildings that were once bustling with people and business. To liven things up, the folks here tend to cover flat surfaces with mural of one sort or another. Above is a bit of detail from a larger mural you'll more of below.

Cottage Grove Street Art

Cottage Grove has a downtown that is a mix of old and new. Old buildings, some with old advertising designs on them sit beside old buildings that have recent artwork on them.

Cottage Grove Cemetery

Spread out on a pleasant hillside just west of town is the Cottage Grove Cemetery. We found that there were plenty of older gravestones to see here.

Trees and Birds

We stopped to see some large birds in the bare trees beside the road and discovered that at least some of them were great blue herons taking care of nests.

More Trees and Some Water

Since you saw these sorts of trees in B&W yesterday, I thought I show a few scenes in color so you could see what they really look like. It is hard to imagine how much rain it must take to produce this much fluff on trees.

Foggy Mountains and Mossy Trees

The day we out to see covered bridges was a dreary one. There was fog and rain for much of the day. Since we were in our nice CR-V, all dry and warm, it was still a good day. Along the way, I was able to grab a few shots of the countryside to share.

The Unity and Pengra Covered Bridges

Unity bridge is another one that is in current use. Lane County has done a good job of maintaining these landmarks and keeping them relevant to the residents.

The Stewart, Dorena, and Parvin Bridges

The Stewart covered bridge is one of the bridges that has not (yet) been renovated. As you can see it sits disconnected from either river bank and has become a destination for graffiti. I like this angle of view especially because you can see that a rope is tied to the bottom for folks to swing out to the river for a swim. I'll bet that Mosby Creek that flows under the bridge is cold in any season.

If you find this bridge on the web, you'll see that my photo shows it in a worse state than that web site reports. It seems likely that it is in some intermediate stage of repair.

The Currin and Mosby Creek Bridges

The area around Cottage Grove is littered with covered bridges, so after those in town, we headed out to survey the countryside for more. First up is the Currin Bridge that spans the Row river.

Although you cannot see it in the photo above, it is painted white on either end and red on the sides. It is the only two-color bridge in Oregon.

Bridges of Cottage Grove, OR

After a few weeks at home recovering from our trip to Sequim to recover from being at home recovering from our trip to Europe and Covid..., we took a long weekend to Cottage Grove, Oregon. Why, you might ask. Well, Lane county where Cottage Grove is located is famous for being in covered bridge country, so we thought we'd go have a look about.

Above is the Centennial Bridge just next to main street in Cottage Grove.