North Georgia's Covered Bridges
Stovall Mill, Georgia's smallest covered bridge, is a 15-minute drive from Helen
The short answer
Stovall Mill is short enough to cross in a few strides, which is part of its charm. The little tin-roofed bridge sits on the road to Helen's neighbor valley, over a shallow, rocky creek, and it looks exactly like a covered bridge should. It also turned up on film: Wikipedia notes it appeared in the 1951 movie I'd Climb the Highest Mountain, starring Susan Hayward, William Lundigan and Rory Calhoun.
Georgia once had more than 200 covered bridges. According to Georgia State Parks, fewer than 20 remain today, and Wikipedia's list of Georgia's covered bridges counts 16 wooden ones. Stovall Mill is the one you can reach on a short drive from town.
1895
queen post truss
33 to 37 ft
sources differ
7 mi
about 15 minutes
Stovall Mill Covered Bridge
The smallest in Georgia
The bridge was built in 1895, is made of wood and is one lane wide. Wikipedia gives its length as 33 feet, and its Georgia bridge list puts it closer to 37. Either way, it's the smallest covered bridge in the state.
It crosses Chickamauga Creek in White County near State Route 255 and is owned by the White County Historical Society. The bridge once carried the Cleveland to Clayton road, but that road was moved away from the bridge by 1959, and now it's a landmark you visit rather than a route you drive.
It goes by several names. Locals call it simply the Covered Bridge, and you'll also see it labeled the Helen Bridge, Chickamauga Bridge, Nacoochee Bridge or Sautee Bridge. It uses a queen post truss, a simple framing that works well on short spans where the complicated lattice of bigger bridges isn't needed.
A note on folklore. Stovall Mill appears on lists of Georgia's "crybaby bridges," with stories of unseen babies crying. Treat those as local ghost stories, not history. No documented event is behind them, so there's no date or name to give.
Georgia's covered bridges at a glance
From Helen to Madison County
| Bridge | County | Built | Length | Truss | From Helen |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stovall Mill | White | 1895 | About 33 to 37 feet | Queen post | About 7 miles, 15 minutes |
| Cromer's Mill | Franklin | 1906 | About 132 feet | Town lattice | About 52 miles, 80 minutes |
| Watson Mill | Madison | 1885 | 229 feet | Town lattice | About 70 miles, 1 hour 50 minutes |
| Elder's Mill | Oconee | 1897 | About 100 feet | Town lattice | Not checked |
| Lula | Hall | 1915 | About 34 feet | King post | Not checked |
Year, length and truss type from Wikipedia's list, with Watson Mill confirmed by Georgia State Parks. Drive times are approximate.
Planning your visit
A short stop that fits into a valley loop
Getting there
Take Georgia 75 south and then Georgia 255 into the Sautee Nacoochee Valley. The bridge sits along 255, about 7 miles from downtown Helen.
Pair it with
The Sautee Nacoochee Center, Nacoochee Valley history and Nora Mill Granary are all nearby.
Look, don't climb
The historic timbers are old and some are covered in graffiti. Walk through, take your photos and leave the wood as you found it.
Longer trips
Watson Mill Bridge State Park has the state's longest covered bridge still in use; our covered bridges guide covers more.
Why they covered the bridges
It was about the wood, not the romance
Covered bridges weren't built for looks. The roof and siding kept rain and sun off the structural timbers, which is why a bridge like Stovall Mill can still be standing more than a century after it was built. The romantic ideas about sheltering travelers or calming horses are later additions.
Two framing styles show up across the region. The Town lattice, patented by architect Ithiel Town in 1820, uses a web of closely spaced diagonal planks pinned together with wooden pegs called trunnels, or tree nails. It could be built from ordinary lumber by crews without much specialized skill, which suited rural counties. Watson Mill and Cromer's Mill use it. The King post and queen post designs are simpler and fit shorter crossings like Stovall Mill and Lula.
Watson Mill, 229 feet long, was built in 1885 by Washington W. King. He was the son of Horace King, who was born enslaved, was freed in 1846 and became, according to the New Georgia Encyclopedia, the most respected bridge builder in west Georgia, Alabama and northeast Mississippi from the 1830s until the 1880s.
