I still remember years ago while Jim and I were treking in the truck to find various waterfalls in the mountains...as I read the directions I see that we must "forge the road" and was clueless what that meant. Of course, I looked that up and found out that meant we were crossing water (hopefully not to deep). We have since moved up to a 4 wheel drive full size truck so my concern definitely would not be as high as it was the first time. c
As we stopped at the visitor center in Warm Springs, Georgia just a short distance from Pine Mountain, we found that they have a covered bridge a few miles up on highway 85 (not Interstate 85). This is our day of 'adventure driving' to see what the area has to provide, so off we go to find the covered bridge.
Heading north on highway 85, to Woodbury, Georgia. Just off of highway 85, we turned on a road called Covered Bridge. We are here, are you ready to cross? (Of course, we stop to take pictures first).
This bridge is known as the "Red Oak Creek Covered Bridge" and was built in the 1840's. The bridge is still used to cross over the river. The historic sign for the bridge says that it is 391 feet in length including the approaches and is the oldest and longest bridge in Georgia that survives. I walked over to the other side of the bridge as Jim is engaged in discussion with another gentleman that arrived. This particular picture shows the interior of the bridge and was created using HDR (High Dynamic Range) to allow seeing the interior of the bridge as well as the trees at the end of the bridge.
I arrived at the other end of the bridge. Jimbo is treking along with me after a few curious looks as to what's between the slats (water down below). The next picture shows the bridge after crossing to the opposite end.
I decided to walk under the 'docking' that leads to the bridge and see exactly how it is constructed. Just my luck, I'm under the bridge and I hear a vehicle coming across - little scary as it was pretty loud (turned out to be Jim). In case you're curious, here's what the underside of the structure looks like.
Red Oak Creek Bridge approach underside
So, if you like covered bridges and you're in the area of Pine Mountain, you might want to take a little side trip to see this historical bridge.
Red Oak Creek Bridge - Google Maps
Google maps shows the approximate location of the Red Oak Creek bridge located in Meriwether County, Georgia. The altitude is 1,076 feet and the GPS coordinates are 33°2'19" N 84°33'11" W.