Old Alton Bridge {Goatman Bridge}


Fall is finally here and we have been enjoying spending more time outdoors watching the leaves change colors and exploring God's beautiful world.  We haven't been to Old Alton Bridge in quite a while so we headed over there to check out the bridge and wander the trails.


The old bridge is registered as a Texas Historical Landmark.  It has been closed to vehicles for quite a while but is still accessible to foot traffic. 


It is an old iron through-truss bridge that was built back in the late 1800's.



We usually see turtles on logs underneath the bridge but we couldn't find any today.



I love seeing the fall colors on the trees!  So beautiful.


On the other side of the bridge a trail begins that runs along Old Alton Road for a way.  This is on the western side of the bridge.


We found some Shaggy Mane mushrooms (aka Lawyer's Wig).  It is edible but we don't eat wild mushrooms because I'm not a mushroom expert and you don't want to take a chance an eat a look alike that might make you sick.


We found this really old dried out bottom of a tree trunk.  It was cut and pulled up out of the ground a long time ago.  The bark has all worn away and the wood is weathered and smooth.  It was interesting to study the size of the roots while we were here.


The waterway is a tributary of the Trinity River.  The bank is easily accessible and a lot of people come here to fish.  We'll have to try that some other time. 


But today we were just exploring and climbing trees.




I love her smile! 


Nicholas and Rachel were checking out this tree and Nicholas called me over to take this picture that he posed.




It's hard to believe this is my baby girl.  She is growing up too fast!


The mosquitos can get quite nasty here even in cooler weather so we headed back out of the woods to a more open area.  The kids decided to explore some trails on the other side of the bridge.



It is a little easier to get to the water's edge on this side of the bridge.  We saw two people out fishing along this bank.


Looking back at the Old Alton Bridge.


The kids found lots of horse apples and gathered up as many as they could.  They took turns throwing them as far as they could out into the water.


The Old Alton Bridge is also knows as the Goatman Bridge and it is supposedly haunted.  We have been out here many times and never seen a ghost but there are definitely weird things to find out here.  This time we found a giant hole, a campsite like someone might be living out here complete with fire pit and a stack of wood, and this weird human size nest!  There was also a lot of graffiti on signs and park benches.  That was a disappointment.


Old Alton Bridge is a fun place to visit and the trails are nice if you coat yourself well with mosquito repellent!  But I don't recommend coming out here after dark though.  Not that I worry about ghosts.  I'd be more concerned about the high school kids or vagabonds that seem to hang out here after hours.

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