Stewart Covered Bridge

The Stewart Bridge spans Mosby Creek near Walden, just outside Cottage Grove, and is one of the smaller members of the city's well-known covered bridge cluster. Built in 1930, the 60-foot Howe truss structure originally carried vehicle traffic along a rural county road serving farms in the Mosby Creek valley. As traffic patterns shifted and a modern replacement crossing was built nearby, the county converted Stewart to pedestrian and bicycle use only in 1996, preserving the historic structure while removing the wear of daily vehicle loads. The bridge sits along the popular Row River Trail corridor, a rail-trail connecting Cottage Grove to Dorena Lake, giving it steady foot and bike traffic from recreational users rather than commuters. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places on November 29, 1979, the Stewart Bridge has needed ongoing structural attention typical of the county's oldest spans; like its neighbor Currin, it has faced periodic closures for safety inspections and repair work in recent years as Lane County works to keep its aging covered bridge inventory sound for future generations.