Skip to main content

Wildcat Creek Covered Bridge - Lane County, Oregon

Image
By

 


Built in 1925, the Wildcat Creek Covered Bridge crosses the Wildcat Creek just as it meets the larger Siuslaw River in Lane County, Oregon. The bridge is also known as the Austa Bridge, after the nearby community of Austa located near OR 126 between Mapleton and Walton. The bridge was located along the old Stagecoach Road, which was the original route from Eugene to Florence on the Oregon Coast. Stagecoach Road hugs the hills along the Siuslaw River until it drops down to the narrow plain at the town of Swisshome. During the 1930s, both the road and the covered bridge were bypassed by the Linslaw Tunnel and the Mapleton Bridge when modern OR 126 was built. As a result, the Wildcat Creek Covered Bridge has a quiet existence just off of OR 126, making it ripe for passive exploration.

The Wildcat Creek Covered Bridge is 161 feet long, including approaches, with a main span of 75 feet. The bridge features a Howe single truss design, as the bridge does not have the wooden diagonal counters that you would find on a traditional Howe Truss covered bridge. The covered bridge features a window, but only facing the confluence of the Wildcat Creek and the Siuslaw River. This does allow for some nice views from both the bridge and also the shores of the river, as there is a nearby boat ramp providing Siuslaw River access.

I made a quick stopover to the Wildcat Creek Bridge as I was making my way down OR 126 west of Eugene. The access road to the covered bridge comes quickly from the main road as I had found. But once I had arrived at the bridge, I found it was easy to find parking and walk around. Overall, I found this was a nice stop to break up the driving along OR 126 between Eugene and the Oregon Coast.



Entering the covered bridge from the south.

The Wildcat Creek Covered Bridge crossing its namesake, the Wildcat Creek. From what I can tell, the Wildcat Creek follows OR 126 past Walton and towards Penn before veering away from the highway to the southeast.

North portal of the covered bridge.

Inside the covered bridge.

Siuslaw River.

There is also a nearby railroad bridge that crosses the Siuslaw River near the Wildcat Creek Bridge. The bridge for OR 126 is just south of the railroad bridge.


How to Get There:



Sources and Links:
Eugene Cascades and Coast - Wildcat Creek Covered Bridge
Travel Oregon - Wildcat Creek Bridge
Bridgehunter.com - Wildcat Covered Bridge 37-20-04
Labels:
Location: Wildcat Creek (Austa) Bridge, Siuslaw Rd, Walton, OR 97490, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

New River Gorge National Park & Preserve - Thurmond

By
New River Gorge National Park and Preserve is best known for whitewater rafting and other forms of adventure tourism.  Yet, found in the hollows and isolated valleys are quiet farms and former coal mining towns.  Well off the beaten path and isolated from much of its surroundings, Thurmond provides a unique view into Central West Virginia's industrial past. Thurmond began as a railroad town in the late 1800s.  Sparked by the arrival of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad and the local coal industry, Thurmond quickly grew into a sizeable transportation and coal center.  When it incorporated as a town in 1903, Thurmond was a full-fledged community - home to two banks, two hotels, and many other services and stores. A CSX freight train passes the old coaling tower in Thurmond.  It was here that many steam locomotives would refill and refuel. Thurmond was home to a C&O railyard which serviced the numerous steam engines passing through the narrow valley.  Thu...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Tale of Tollhouse Road, western California State Route 168 and failed Piute Pass Highway

By
Western California State Route 168 is entirely located in Fresno County and is linked historically to the Tollhouse Road corridor.   Tollhouse Road is one of the oldest highways in the Sierra Nevada range of Fresno County. The corridor presently begins in at Clovis Avenue in downtown Clovis and extends northeast to Huntington Lake. In 1866 the Woods Brothers established mining claims on Pine Ridge. In 1867 Fresno County would grant the brothers a toll franchise to construct a roadway to the desirable logging areas atop Pine Ridge and near Dinkey Creek. The Woods would establish a tollhouse at the start of their franchise road and lumber mill. The lumber mill attracted settlers which led to the establishment of the mountain town of Tollhouse. Fresno County would purchase the Tollhouse Road in 1878 and make it a public highway. The county would remove the tolls and incorporate the corridor into the existing county road network. Prior to the establishment of Clovis in 1...
Post a Comment
Read more

Old Dunlap Road (former California State Route 180 in Yokuts Valley)

By
When California State Route 180 was commissioned in August 1934 the alignment in took in Sierra Nevada range was very different than from today.  The original highway alignment from Squaw Valley (now Yokuts Valley) to east Grant Grove (then part of General Grant National Park) originally followed what is now Ruth Hill Road, Dunlap Road, Pinehurst Road (modern California State Route 245), Dark Canyon Road (partially now Forest Road 14S45).  After funding fell through for the planned Kings Canyon Road the was corridor eventually picked up as a 30-mile-long cooperative project between the Division of Highways and Federal Government.  Much of current alignment of California State Route 180 bypassing Squaw Valley (now Yokuts Valley) and Dunlap was complete by 1941.  The post-1941 alignment of California State Route 180 in Squaw Valley was shifted onto what was once Dunlap Road in Squaw Valley.  This alignment itself was later bypassed by modern California State Route...
Post a Comment
Read more