The Bridge of Flowers is a 400-foot-long seasonal footbridge that serves as a vibrant public garden spanning the Deerfield River. Originally constructed in 1908 for $20,000, it was built by the Shelburne Falls & Colrain Street Railway as a heavy-duty concrete trolley bridge to transport freight and passengers between the towns of Shelburne and Buckland.
Key Historical Milestones:
1927: Abandonment. As automobiles and trucks became the primary mode of transport, the trolley company went bankrupt. The bridge fell into disuse and became overgrown with weeds.
1928–1929: Transformation. The bridge could not be demolished because it carried a critical water main. Local resident Antoinette Burnham envisioned turning the "eyesore" into a garden. The Shelburne Falls Women’s Club sponsored the project, moving 80 loads of loam and fertilizer onto the bridge to plant the first flowers in 1929.
1983: Major Restoration. After decades of wear, a $580,000 restoration project was launched to repair the concrete structure and replace the water main. During the work, every plant was removed and cared for by local volunteers in their private gardens.
2011: Hurricane Irene. The bridge survived significant flooding from the Deerfield River during the tropical storm.
2024–2025: Modern Repairs. The bridge closed in 2024 for extensive $3.2 million structural repairs, including sandblasting, repainting, and installing a new irrigation system. It reopened in 2025 offering a "baby garden" of hundreds of new plantings.
The garden is currently maintained by the Shelburne Falls Area Women's Club and a dedicated "Blossom Brigade" of volunteers, featuring over 500 varieties of plants. While the Bridge of Flowers itself may be closed at times, the park is open year round.
As this cache is virtual, to claim your find please do one (or more) of the following:
- 1st) Post a photo of yourself (or your group) near the rock birdbath.
If you elect to take a group photo, please include this group photo in each geocacher's log.
- 2nd) Post a photo of your GPS or cellphone near the rock birdbath.
- 3rd) Post a photo of your geocaching name written on the medium of your choice. EG: paper,
smartpad, nametag, t-shirt, etc. near the rock birdbath.
Please feel free to post a few pictures in your log of your time spent enjoying what the Bridge of Flowers has to offer.
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Congratulations to AB1RS for the FTF! 😀
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Virtual Rewards 5.0 - 2026-2027
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between February 3, 2026 and February 3, 2027. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 5.0 on the Geocaching Blog.