Columbia and Montour counties have 25 covered bridges between them, according to the Columbia-Montour Visitors Bureau: 19 in Columbia County, 2 in Montour County and 4 on the line between Columbia and Northumberland counties. Discover NEPA calls Columbia County home to the third-largest concentration of covered bridges in Pennsylvania.

All 25 are in our directory. This guide groups them into five driving loops by area, each listed in an order you can drive, with a map link for every stop. Of the 25, 12 are queenpost trusses and 11 are Burr arch trusses, and 9 still carry cars.

Quick facts

• Longest: Rupert Covered Bridge, 185 ft over Fishing Creek, built by Jesse M. Beard in 1847.
• Earliest dated: Wanich Covered Bridge, 1844 in our listing and in Wikipedia's county list, over Little Fishing Creek. Some sources call Rupert the oldest, so dates vary.
• Twin Bridges: East Paden Covered Bridge (73 ft, queenpost) and West Paden Covered Bridge (100 ft, Burr arch) stand side by side over Huntington Creek. Wikipedia's county list says Columbia County has one of only two sets of twin covered bridges in the United States.
• Montour County: Keefer Mills Covered Bridge, an 1853 Burr arch, and Sam Wagner Covered Bridge, an 1881 Burr arch on the Northumberland line.
• Can you drive through? Of the 25 bridges we list, 9 are open to traffic, 7 are walk only, 1 is closed and 8 have no confirmed current status.

Little Fishing Creek loop: north of Bloomsburg

Five bridges between Bloomsburg and Benton, most of them over Little Fishing Creek. Start at Wanich, off Route 42 north of Fernville, then work north to Shoemaker in Pine Township and the three Little Fishing Creek spans in Greenwood and Jackson townships. Wanich carries traffic and Shoemaker is open to walkers only. We have not confirmed current access for Sam Eckman, Jud Christian or Creasyville, so view them from the road and follow posted signs.

Fishing Creek and Huntington Creek loop: Stillwater, the Twin Bridges and Orangeville

Seven bridges in the valleys north of Orangeville. Stillwater and Josiah Hess no longer carry cars but are open to walkers. The Twin Bridges, East Paden and West Paden, stand side by side over Huntington Creek in Twin Bridges County Park, linked by an open section over a middle support. W. C. Pennington built the pair in 1884, and West Paden was rebuilt after a June 2006 flood lifted it off its abutments. Both are walk only and serve as picnic pavilions. Patterson and Kramer, near Orangeville, still carry traffic. Fowlersville, a 40 ft queenpost in North Centre Township, is farther east and makes a separate side trip.

Roaring Creek loop: Rupert, Catawissa and the south

Seven bridges south of Bloomsburg. Start at Rupert, the longest in the county, near the Bloomsburg Fairgrounds and beside two railroad bridges, then cross to Catawissa Creek and head south into the Roaring Creek valley. Parr's Mill is closed to all traffic. We have not confirmed current access for the other five bridges south of Rupert; Wikipedia's county list says Davis was closed after Tropical Storm Lee in 2011. Treat them as roadside stops and obey posted signs.

Knoebels loop: the Columbia and Northumberland line

Four bridges over South Branch Roaring Creek near Elysburg, where the county line runs through Knoebels Amusement Resort. The park is free to enter and has free parking. Knoebels Grove is a modern 1975 bridge inside the park that you walk to through the grounds. Lawrence L. Knoebel, an 1875 queenpost moved here from West Creek near Benton in the 1930s, stands at the campground entrance. Richards and Krickbaum, a short drive south, both carry traffic.

Montour County: Chillisquaque Creek

Two Burr arch bridges over Chillisquaque Creek northwest of Danville. Keefer Mills, southwest of Washingtonville, reopened in 2019 after structural repairs and has headache bars that limit clearance to 7 ft. Sam Wagner, east of Potts Grove, stands on the Montour and Northumberland line, is owned jointly by the two counties and carries one lane.

Other bridges

Every bridge in the visitors bureau's count of 25 is in the tables above. Three more historic covered bridges stand in Northumberland County just south and west of this area: Rishel Covered Bridge, about 4 miles southwest of Sam Wagner, Himmel's Church Covered Bridge and Keefer Station Covered Bridge. They are on our Pennsylvania page.

Tips for visiting

• Check status before you go. Parr's Mill is closed to all traffic, and we have not confirmed current access for eight bridges marked Not confirmed. Obey posted signs and never cross a barrier.
• Pull off with care. Most bridges have little or no parking. Use gravel pull-offs where they exist and never block the road or a driveway.
• Park at the Twin Bridges. Uncovering PA notes parking along Twin Bridges Lane at Twin Bridges County Park.
• Mind the clearance at Keefer Mills. Headache bars about 30 ft from each end limit vehicles to 7 ft.
• Use the visitors bureau. The Columbia-Montour Visitors Bureau's covered bridges page covers both counties and runs photo and puzzle contests featuring the bridges.

Sources: Columbia-Montour Visitors Bureau: Covered Bridges, Wikipedia: List of covered bridges in Columbia County, Discover NEPA: Columbia County covered bridge tour, Uncovering PA: Covered Bridges of Columbia County

See every Pennsylvania bridge on our Pennsylvania page, compare designs on covered bridges by truss type, or browse the full index by state.