Cedar Bridge

Burned down in 2002 and rebuilt; the bridge from the novel's cover

Cedar Bridge has had the bad luck of being the most picturesque of the six. It is the bridge on the cover of The Bridges of Madison County and the one Francesca and Robert visit at night in the novel. The original 1883 structure was burned by arsonists in 2002 and again in 2017; what stands today is a careful 2019 reconstruction over Cedar Creek north of Winterset.

Still beautiful in its rebuilt form, and worth visiting for the story alone.

things to do landmark
A story
The original bridge — the one Waller put on the cover of his novel — was deliberately set on fire in September 2002 and burned to the ground. The county rebuilt it from period drawings within two years, and it burned again in 2017. The current structure dates from 2019.

Other places in Things to Do