Autumn in Northfield

Several years ago, my girlfriend and I went on a road trip to Vermont and visited several different covered bridges in the Northfield area. We visited them in July, so although the bridges were absolutely breathtaking, they were summertime visits, rather than autumn visits – when the Vermont fall foliage beckons for visits.

A tour of seven Vermont covered bridges

I wanted to go back to Vermont and see some of those covered bridges, and hopefully capture a breathtaking autumn photo with the foliage in the distance.

Of course, I kinda messed up my trip. I punched in the directions for “Station Covered Bridge” in what I thought was Northfield – only to find out that my driving directions took me to a Station Covered Bridge in Salisbury.

Great. A different bridge. No matter, if it’s got foliage around it, I’ll take it.

Hmm. GPS says it’s only a couple of miles away … I just passed over this one-lane metal bridge, and … no covered bridge here.

Turned a corner and looked for somewhere to park. Parked near a farm. Farmer walked over to my car. “You lost, son?”

“No, I’m looking for Station Covered Bridge. Did I pass it?”

“Station Covered Bridge, son?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Well, we have a Station bridge, son, but the covered bridge burned down years ago.”

Damn Google Maps …

Okay. Well, I’m in Vermont. And I’m nowhere near the bridges I saw back in 2018. So with the limited cell coverage available to me, I did find a covered bridge that was only a few miles from my location. Something called the Halpin Covered Bridge.

A little driving, a little looking … and I found it.

Got out of the car, brought my camera and my tripod, and captured this.

Okay, it’s a nice picture, and I’ve got some fall foliage, but that shadow on the bridge’s side is just too distracting. Let me see if I can cross the bridge and get a better shot.

Meh. Instead of half the bridge in shadow, this side gives me ALL the bridge in shadow. Nertz.

I finally squeezed enough cell phone service to find directions to Northfield. All I had to do was navigate this windy road through something called Mad River Glen.

Let me tell you something about this road. In the best and driest and clearest conditions, this road is treacherous. I cannot imagine how this road would handle in rain or in snow or in gloom of night.

Still … by about 4:30 p.m., I reached the Northfield covered bridges. And the bridge that I erroneously labeled “Station Covered Bridge” long ago was bright and clear and ready for my view.

Well, I’ve got the bridge … I’ve got the color in the hills … I’ve got a railroad crossing …

Ugh. I’ve also got a shadow selfie. Sun was just low enough on the horizon that you can see the tripod and the camera and the camera’s clueless owner in the frame.

But this bridge is actually at the foot of a three-bridge stretch on Cox Brook Road, and if I walk up the hill a ways …

Wait. Is this … hang on … I walked past what was called Lower Cox Brook Bridge, and as I approached Upper Cox Brook Bridge, I saw … this will work. There’s foliage in the background. And at the proper angle, I can get the bridge without any distracting modern Department of Transportation signs regarding roof height and vehicle weight.

And with the sun setting even lower on the horizon … I figured the best way to get the best shot … would be to fire various exposures, and blend everything together in an HDR capture.

And after a few different exposures … look what I captured.

Hello, Competition Season 2025? We have a new candidate for the pile.

Sweet. Now all I have to do is drive 2 1/2 hours back to New York, process these photos, and get some sleep.

But yeah … I may have gotten lost on my original journey to find a prime covered bridge with foliage in Vermont … but in the end, I got what I wanted. Big time.

And I’ll take that every day of the week.