Cataract Falls Covered Bridge

The Cataract Falls Covered Bridge crosses Mill Creek in Jennings Township, Owen County, within the Cataract Falls unit of Lieber State Recreation Area near the unincorporated community of Cataract. Built in 1876 by the Smith Bridge Company of Toledo, Ohio, the bridge employs the Smith Type IV patented truss, one of only six such Smith trusses surviving in Indiana, and is the only remaining covered bridge in Owen County. Its setting is what makes it exceptional: the bridge stands just downstream from Cataract Falls, the largest waterfall by volume in Indiana, comprising an upper and lower cascade on Mill Creek, which has made this crossing one of the most photographed covered bridges in the state for well over a century. County Road 279 was rerouted around the structure in 1988, after which the bridge was closed to vehicles and left open only to pedestrians. The Indiana Department of Natural Resources undertook extensive structural repairs beginning around 2000 to stabilize the aging timber truss. The bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2005, recognizing both its engineering rarity and its status as a beloved scenic Indiana landmark.