Land Rovers and Covered Bridges Tour

An interesting geologic boundary exists on the east side of Cleveland. When traveling east bound on Cedar Road through University Circle you transition from the flat city and begin climbing up Cedar hill into the inner ring suburb of Cleveland Heights. Cedar hill marks the geologic transition of the Midwest plains into the Appalachian plateau. The Appalachian plateau is a network of plateaus that gain in elevation until they reach the Appalachian Mountains, which span from Canada to Alabama. The east side of the mountains have a more rapid decrease in elevation named the Alleghany Front. The northeast Ohio plateau region lacks many of the more dramatic features seen in wilder parts of Appalachia due to smoothing of the plateau from ancient glaciers. Continuing northeast for sixty miles along Lake Erie you will come into Ashtabula County. It’s a rural county and Ohio’s most northeastern county bordering Pennsylvania. Ashtabula County is squarely within the Appalachian Plateau and has the geography required to host nineteen covered bridges. Two of those bridges are particularly notable. The West Liberty Bridge, the shortest covered bridge in the US, and the Smolen-Gulf bridge, the longest covered bridge in the US, are found a short distance from each other. Ashtabula County is also home to pastoral farmlands, wineries, orchards, and an abundance of trees. The combination of bridges and geography are the perfect underpinnings for a leisurely autumnal drive.

When researching the perfect route the usual internet searches were undertaken. County visitor websites, Facebook, forums, and newspapers all lacked a logical route to see the bridges in an efficient manner. No ideal route has been devised and published, and if it has, I could not locate it. Several trip reports were found and these all documented seven-to-eight-hour trips and their listed order of bridge stops was extremely inefficient. As much as I would enjoy driving my rover for eight hours, this felt excessive for a leisurely autumnal road trip. I then set out to map my own route. I entered the data and made changes until I had a route that made sense. I had never visited these bridges, so the next order of business was to go and preview the bridges and drive the proposed route. I made several invitations to scout the route with me however all my invitations were declined, likely because I had a 5AM start time on an August Sunday morning, allowing me to make the hour trip to Ashtabula County, scout the route, and make it home in time for Sunday church. The early summer sun rising over the fields and bridges and streams was peaceful and healing. I was alone for the most part on the roads in my LR4. At the conclusion of my scouting trip, the changes were noted to build the ideal route.

October 5th was the official date, and the day couldn’t have started off any better. It was a warm but crisp autumn morning with blue skies and morning sun. Our meeting place was a coffee shop in Geneva, OH called Scribblers Coffee Co. The coffee shop is a converted older home with a large gravel parking lot on the side and back. The gravel lot extends south with an entrance/exit just east of the West Liberty bridge, the shortest covered bridge in America. As I approached the exit for Geneva off of I-90 I was pleased to come upon a Woodcote Green Discovery driven by Eric and Kelly Brown. We exited and pulled into the coffee shop together and found several rovers already present. Dave and Kris Whaling in their Discovery 2 and Tom Martin in his wife’s green Discovery 2. Before we could make it inside several more participants arrived including Chi Chi, who came from Columbus and camped in her roof top tent on her Discovery 2 along the Lake Erie Shore, Michael Shock and his girlfriend in his Discovery 2, Gene Paulin in his P38 Range Rover, Steven Zukowski from Youngstown in his L322 Range Rover, and Steph Hronek from Cleveland Heights in her Series IIa. There were nine rovers in total for the inaugural covered bridge tour!

After coffee and breakfast sandwiches, the group moved outside to visit the West Liberty Bridge. Since it was literally at the end of the parking lot we walked to and across the bridge. Several paused for photos. We then had a short team meeting discussing the route and safety consideration, checked radios, and then off we went. Heading south our first bridge crossing was Harpersfield Covered Bridge. This bridge crosses the Grand River and is within Ashtabula County’s wine country, two vineyards are nearby including Ferrante Winery and Ristorante and Laurello Vineyards. After crossing the glistening river we made our way to the Mechanicsville Covered Bridge and then headed toward Doyle’s Road. The planned route would cover fourteen of the nineteen bridges found in Ashtabula County and the route was designed to make a large loop heading in a counterclockwise direction. The other bridges were in the far east and far west of the county. Before reaching Doyle Road Steph’s Series IIa became quite thirsty so we detoured to a service station in Austinburg, OH. This stop for gas proved pivotal as several people needed to use the bathroom now that morning coffee and breakfast had settled! The group then soldiered on to the Doyle Road covered bridge. After crossing the Doyle Road Covered bridge, we made our approach to the Gidding’s Road Covered Bridge while the radio chatter became a lively discussion of whether the farm fields were growing wheat or barley, a question that is still yet to be answered!

The route continued to Netcher Road Covered Bridge and then to the most southern bridge on the tour, the South Denmark Road Covered Bridge. This bridge has a nine-foot clearance and sits on a bypass of the local road and has ample room for parking. The group took a break and stretched their legs, walked the bridge, took photos, and chatted. After everyone was ready we continued to Caine Road covered bridge. This bridge sits next to Red Hawks Landing, a 97- acre Farm to Table private venue. Continuing north we passed Graham Road Covered Bridge, a historical site that is no longer used as vehicle bridge. The next bridge was Root Road Covered Bridge before we turned west towards Benetka Road Covered bridge. Benetka Road has a section of unpaved surface which was refreshing for the short distance before and after the bridge. Continuing northwest we made our way to Olin’s Bridge on Dewey Road, passing our final lunch spot Brand’t Apple Orchard. We were able to get a preview of how busy Brandt’s was on a beautiful Saturday morning with several commenting on the radio how the parking was overflowing into adjacent fields. After Olin’s bridge we reached our last two bridges. The Smolen-Gulf Covered Bridge is 613 feet long and the longest covered bridge in the US, crossing the Ashtabula River. A second pedestrian covered bridge sits below the Smolen-Gulf called Riverview Covered Bridge. The group parked at the lot near river level. Several walked the pedestrian bridge while others chatted and relaxed.

The plan for lunch was to return to Brandt’s Apple Orchard. Due to the busyness of the venue, several people elected to pass on lunch at the orchard. It was near 1pm and some choose to travel home or find a place to eat along their route home. Eric and Kelly Brown, Chi Chi, and DJ pressed on with the original plan. The orchard was packed, and the line for food went through the building and wrapped around the perimeter. Instead of wating in line for food, we elected walk the beautiful nature path through the property passing guest picking apples, children playing in the fields, and a horse drawn carriage rides through the apple trees. After the nature hike the line to the cafe was not any shorter, so the group decided to call it a day and head home. Chi Chi made her way to Columbus while DJ, Eric, and Kelly caravanned down I- 90 and I-271 until the east and west I-480 split where the last two Disco’s parted ways.

The event proved to be a relaxing autumnal drive through farmland and forest. The weather was agreeable for early October as noted by Steph’s comfortable ride in her open roof Series IIa. The leaf colors had not begun to change yet, however which was unfortunate as this years autumn colors were magnificent. The Land Rovers and Covered Bridge Tour is an event that can be enjoyed by anyone with any rover without concern for scratches, dents, or damage to a vehicle. We look forward to next years autumnal ride!

Stops/Bridges (clearance):

Meet: Scribblers Coffee Co: 388 S Broadway, Geneva, OH 44041

W. Liberty St Covered Bridge (15’0”)

Harpersfield Covered Bridge (12’5”)

Mechanicsburg Covered Bridge (10’9” – bypass present)

Doyle Road Covered Bridge (13’3”)

Giddings Road Covered Bridge (15’6”)

Netcher Road Covered Bridge (14’6”)

South Denmark Road Covered Bridge (9’0” – bypass present)

Caine Road Covered Bridge (13’5”)

Graham Road Covered Bridge (bypass road – don’t drive through)

Root Road Covered Bridge (9’4”)