The Zumbrota Covered Bridge gives the town a clear landmark for architectural history. Together with the State Theatre and the parks, it offers a range of options for planning a trip: historic architecture, cultural events, or time on trails and outdoors. Travel dates also matter when deciding, since some offerings are tied to a particular season or specific event dates.
Covered Bridge: Architectural History on the Zumbro River
The Zumbrota Covered Bridge was built in 1869 in Zumbrota, in Goodhue County, across the North Branch of the Zumbro River. It is the only surviving example of a covered wooden truss bridge in Minnesota. Its current location is 1,000 feet west of its original site. Today, the bridge serves as a pedestrian crossing over the Zumbro River. A visit therefore takes in its year of construction and design, as well as its current function and location in relation to the original site.
Trails and Park Activities
Covered Bridge Park is on the Zumbro River and is the starting point of the Goodhue Pioneer State Trail. It also has a local trail network. The named trail and the paths in the park offer different ways to spend time outdoors: depending on your interests, you can focus on the trail or the local paths.
The park has the Kids' Kingdom play area and a beginner disc golf course. These activities broaden the focus on trails to include play and disc golf. If you plan to spend most of your time in the park, you can choose among the trails, play area, and disc golf.
East Park adds Music in the Park to the options: free outdoor concerts on Tuesday evenings throughout the summer. Unlike the trail and park paths, these concerts are tied to a season and a day of the week. Another annual event is the Zumbrota Covered Bridge Festival, held in a park in Zumbrota.
State Theatre: From Vaudeville to Today's Program
The Zumbrota State Theatre was built in 1921 as a vaudeville theater for radio broadcasts, plays, and silent films. Today, it welcomes audiences for live music, theater, movies, special events, and local celebrations. Its former use and a present-day program featuring several types of events thus sit side by side.
The bridge focuses on a surviving structure and the history of its location; the Theatre, by contrast, shows how a venue formerly used for vaudeville and broadcasting now hosts events. For culture-minded travelers, these offer two different perspectives on Zumbrota.
Travel Dates and Vacation Rental Search
When searching for a vacation rental, your main reason for traveling can determine what to check first: if you are traveling for a specific theater program, check the current schedule; for Music in the Park, summer and Tuesday evenings are the relevant details. For the annual Covered Bridge Festival, check the specific event dates for the year you plan to visit. If architectural history and park activities are your priority, the bridge, trail, and local paths will shape the focus of your trip.
Discover more destinations: Red Wing.
For the broader travel overview: Goodhue.
