State Bridge

State Bridge! The name sounds a bit staid, boring, but rock solid. If you can count on anything, you can count on a State Bridge to be there, waiting to convey you across the rushing waters of the mighty Colorado.

From this spot, you can view the remains of the "old" State Bridge. In 1889, the state legislature allocated funds for transportation projects for the first time in its history. State Bridge was completed in October 1890.at a cost of $6,000. Built by the Missouri Valley Bridge and Iron Works of Leavenworth, Kansas, State Bridge consisted of two 100-foot long Howe truss spans. It was 204 feet long and 16 feet wide. Overall, the state funded about 80 state bridges, but only this one became known as "State Bridge."

State Bridge was a critical link in the transportation network from 1890 to the mid-70s, when I-70 was completed through Colorado. It was initially built as a wagon road to help the local ranchers get cattle and sheep to the stockyard in Wolcott, about 15 miles south. It was part of the only east-west route through the mountains that was open all year. The Denver, Northwestern & Pacifc Railway was built through the valley in the first decade of the 20th Century and State Bridge also became an important railway stop. A hotel/lodge and saloon was built across the river to take advantage of this critical location.

Floods in 1922 and 1946 led to partial collapses of Old State Bridge. Each time, it was quickly repaired, but the legislature finally decided a new bridge was needed. New State Bridge was completed in June 1966. It is a 5-span girder bridge with a concrete slab, over 400 feet long and 24 feet wide. Old State Bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in the mid-1980s, but collapsed soon after.

The historic lodge stood on the north bank of the river by the bridge, where the present-day State Bridge complex now stands. The lodge itself burned down in 2007, but the cabins, yurts and a small store are still in operation. The hunter/fisher clientelle has been augmented in recent years by people who come to raft and float the river. A stage was built and State Bridge has hosted shows by the Dixie Chicks, Leftover Salmon, String Cheese Incident, Peter Rowan and Railroad Earth. The Yarmony Grass bluegrass festival is held at Rancho del Rio, about 5 miles upriver, every August.

State Bridge is the southwestern "gateway" to the beautiful, relatively unspoiled Upper Colorado River valley. The valley is a perfect place to fish or float or hike, and get away from the industrial tourism of the I-70 corridor, just a few miles to the south. The sublime Gore Canyon is about 20 miles upriver, and there is a scenic view down into it from Trough Road (the dirt road that follows the river upstream).

You are looking for a small, camo-ed, plastic container that can hold small trade items. It is not down on the lower river bank, where it could get swept away by floods.

Sources:

Colorado Encyclopedia (on-line),

https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/state-bridge#New-State-Bridge

Clayton B. Fraser, "Vehicular Bridges in Colorado," National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form (August 31, 1984).

Clayton Fraser and Carl Hallberg, "State Bridge," Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record Inventory (December 30, 1983).

Kathy Heicher, The Bridges of Eagle County: A Story of Pioneers, Politics, and Progress (Denver: Colorado Department of Transportation, 2015).

State Bridge website: http://www.statebridge.com/history/