Take a driving tour in 90 minutes or less and you can visit the early 19th, 20th, and 21st Centuries through four bridges (and a restored grist mill) along the Cherokee Foothills Scenic Drive.
First, visit historic POINSETT BRIDGE, the oldest bridge in South Carolina. Built in 1820 of locally quarried stone, it was one of three bridges on the Old State Road, a toll road from Charleston to Asheville, N.C.
At the junction of Scenic Hwy 11 with Highway 101 and State Road H912, take H912 for 1.6 miles; turn right on Callahan Mt. Road; go 1.1 miles (pass by Camp Old Indian on the right). This 19th Century bridge is on the right .2 mile past the Boy Scout camp entrance.
The bridge features stepped parapet sidewalls and a graceful 15-foot Gothic arch over Little Gap Creek, a small tributary of the North Saluda River.
Next up is BALLENGER'S MILL & COVERED BRIDGE, a privately owned wooden bridge with a tin roof. Spanning a south prong of the Middle Tyger River, the late 20th century structure sits near a restored mill originally built in the 1820s by Lewis H. Dickey, the largest landowner in the area. Visitors are welcome to drive through the picturesque property and cross the bridge.
Heading east on Hwy 11, take Glassy Road, located .1 mile east of the Cliffs at Glassy entrance, south for 1.8 miles (NOTE: DO NOT take Glassy Mountain Road which turns from the Byway at Glassy Mountain Baptist Church). Turn right on Old Ballenger Mill Road, go one-half mile.
Farther east on Hwy 11 is the KLICKETY-KLACK BRIDGE, the handiwork of two guys and a tractor named “Old Blue.” In full view of motorists driving along the Cherokee Foothills Byway, the wood structure spans a wide drainage expanse next to the driveway that leads to Look Away Farms.
Owner Don Spann recruited his buddy Troy Coffey to help him build the covered bridge in 2000 as a gift to the Dark Corner area of upper Greenville County. Spann designed the intricate pattern of beams, rafters and vertical supports that ensures the integrity of the structure.
To create a nostalgic feel, he set the floor timbers of the bridge in a scattered pattern resulting in the namesake “klickety-klack” sound you hear when you drive your car over them.
Feel free to walk through the pedestrian pass way or drive your car over the bridge, circling around the asphalt roadway back to the scenic highway.
This 21st Century covered bridge is located on the north side of the Scenic Hwy 11, at the Look Away Farm entrance, 2.3 miles west of the junction of the Hwy 11 and Highway 14 at Gowensville.
Finally, your last stop will be CAMPBELL'S COVERED BRIDGE in the small rural town of Gowensville. Built in 1909, it is the sole-surviving covered bridge in South Carolina.
The pine structure measures 35 feet long and 12 feet wide and features a four-span Howe truss system with diagonal timbers and vertical iron rods. Permanently closed to traffic in 1980, it earned a spot on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009.
Continuing east, at the junction of the Hwy 11 and Highway 14 at Gowensville, take Hwy 14 south for 2.2 miles; turn right on Hwy 414 and go one mile; bear left on Pleasant Hill Road and go .1 mile to the entrance to Campbell's Covered Bridge Historic Park on the right.
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