Nothing could be more romantic than meandering through the countryside on Covered Bridge Scenic Byway. Forested hills alternating with open pastures create an aura of the 19th Century that will seem real when you pass underneath one of the four covered bridges along the byway. During the horse and buggy times of the 1800s when these covered bridges were novel and pristine, the defiant youth referred to them as "kissing bridges." But the proper term was "wishing bridges," and it was tradition to hold your breath and make a wish as you passed through.
On a Sunday afternoon drive you can see the light dancing on the pavement from the sun shining through the trees. Roll down the windows and you will hear the Little Muskingum River rushing alongside the byway as it bends and turns through Wayne National Forest. Dappled along the byway are several barns built in the 1800s decorated with advertisements for Mail Pouch Tobacco on them. Like the covered bridges and the other quaint pieces of architecture along the byway, Mail Pouch barns are rare and few of them can still be read.
It is amazing how unexpectedly the simple beauty of this byway was jeopardized in the hurricanes of 2004. As the storms dissipated over the land, the ensuing and seemingly endless rains washed parts of the forest with as much as eight feet of water. Tragically, Rinard Covered Bridge was swept cleanly off of its pier and into the rising river below. Efforts are being made to restore the bridge, and though this was a great loss, the small and precious parts of the byway that make it so charming remain.
Perhaps while you are driving through one of these priceless covered bridges, you will hear the clatter of the wooden floorboards beneath you and be impressed to use your wish not for your own desires, but for the continued preservation of the majestic Covered Bridge Scenic Byway.
