Ten historic covered bridges — some you can still drive through — thread the farm valleys around our cabins. Here's the classic Somerset County bridge tour, best done when the leaves turn.
Somerset County keeps a secret that photographers chase every October: ten historic covered bridges, tucked into farm valleys and back roads — several still carrying traffic, all of them spectacular against fall color.
The headliners
- Barronvale Bridge — at about 162 feet, the longest covered bridge in the county, spanning Laurel Hill Creek on Burr arch trusses. Records date it to the early 1900s with possible origins decades earlier. Pedestrian-only now, and the most photogenic of the ten — it's about a mile from Kings Bridge, so you get two in one stop.
- Glessner Bridge — built in 1881 by Tobias Glessner over the Stonycreek River, refurbished in 1998, and still open to cars — yes, you can drive through it.
- Walter's Mill Bridge — relocated to the grounds of the Somerset Historical Center, the natural starting point for the tour (and worth a stop in its own right).
How to do the tour
The Somerset County Chamber publishes a classic self-guided driving tour hitting all ten bridges — plans range from a ~55-mile loop of the cluster to a fuller ~175-mile route that folds in the Flight 93 National Memorial, the Quecreek Mine rescue site, and Great Allegheny Passage trail towns. Print the official tour map (PDF), pick a crisp October morning, and take it slow — these are farm roads at farm-road pace, which is the point.
Good deep-dives on each bridge live at Uncovering PA and PA Bucket List.
When to go
Foliage peak in these valleys usually lands mid-to-late October — check the DCNR foliage report and aim for peak week. Weekday mornings mean empty bridges and soft light.
Base yourself in the middle of it
Our cabins sit right in covered-bridge country — [the Farm House](/properties/camp-laurelview-farm-house) even gives you your own pond and fire pit to come home to, and the Hidden Valley homes add hot tubs for the cold evenings. Drive bridges by day, soak by night. Book direct for our best rate.
