A Charming New England Town Surrounded By Cute Covered Bridges Offers Unmatched Natural Beauty

In the early 1800s, bridge builders in New England had an amazing idea. Instead of keeping bridges exposed to the elements, they built roofs over them for protection from rain and snow. This Yankee ingenuity resulted in one of the most iconic structures in all of New England: the covered bridge. Over 60 of these bridges dot the landscape of New Hampshire, and the most iconic of these straddles the Connecticut River in Cornish, a village of unmatched natural beauty and fabled artistic history.

Like other charming towns in New Hampshire, such as the underrated riverfront town of Peterborough, Cornish is a blend of cultural sophistication and nature. Established in 1763, Cornish is an old New Hampshire community. Many historic buildings are still lived in today, and the beautiful landscape has made the town an inspiring summer resort for artists and writers —more on that in a minute.

Located an hour and a half from the nearest regional airport in Manchester and a little over two hours from the international airport in Boston, Massachusetts, Cornish is an easy drive up Interstate 93 and 89. Once you get off the highway and start down the winding roads of Route 120, you'll see the picturesque vistas of hills, mountains, woods, and streams long cherished by locals and visitors alike.

Towns across New Hampshire are known for various natural and manmade landmarks. For example, the charming town of Derry near Manchester is renowned for its award-winning wines. In Salem, New Hampshire, you'll find America's own Stonehenge, a mysterious rock formation that people come from all over to see. Cornish's claim to fame? Covered bridges, of course. 

The town has three covered bridges in total, and you can easily make an afternoon of seeing them. Blacksmith Shop Bridge, built in 1882, is so named because of the old blacksmith shop that used to operate nearby. While permanently closed to traffic, you may be able to access it on foot off of Town House Road. A little farther up the same road is Dingleton Hill Bridge, also built in 1882, which connects to Root Hill Road over Mill Brook. It's a single span bridge, so cars need to go through one at a time in either direction.

However, it's the Cornish-Windsor Covered Bridge that is arguably the most iconic in all of New England. The longest two-span covered bridge in the country, Cornish-Windsor Bridge measures at 460 feet long and stretches across the Connecticut River. Connecting Cornish with neighboring Windsor, Vermont, the bridge is one of the oldest that is still in continual use, having been built originally in 1866. No trip to Cornish is complete without a drive across.

Cornish is filled with natural beauty that is hard to match. With sweeping views of Mount Ascutney to the west in Vermont, this beautiful hilly scenery has been the inspiration for artists for well over 100 years. The Cornish Colony, established by famous sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens and his artist wife Augusta Saint-Gaudens in 1885, was the epicenter of fine arts in the region. A collection of playwrights, poets, painters, and fellow sculptors descended on Cornish during the latter half of the 19th century, inspired by the creativity of the Saint-Gaudens.

While the colony disbanded shortly after Augustus' death in 1907, the Saint-Gaudens National Historic Park preserves the work of this great artist and the legacy of the Cornish Colony. Much like the Andres Institute of Art Sculpture Park in Brookline, the grounds of Saint-Gaudens park are open year round. Visitors can see the sculptor's former studio, his famous Standing Lincoln statue, and a version of the Robert Gould Shaw and 54th Regiment Memorial — the same one that stands on Boston Common. The house and other buildings are only open from Memorial Day Weekend to the end of October.