Lake Lure Flowering Bridge & Campbell's Covered Bridge

The short story:  Lake Lure Flowering Bridge, 3070 Memorial Drive, Lake Lure, North Carolina. Great place to stop for an hour. We made this part of our day trip from Charlotte. We stopped for lunch and shopping at the Chimney Rock Village and also went over to the Campbell's Covered Bridge on the other side of Landrum, SC. This made a wonderful day trip for the mobile impaired. For those a little younger, go ahead and visit Chimney Rock.

I don't recommend Old Rock Cafe' unless you just getting a burger and fries or potato salad. All the other stuff we had was not good. It did have great outdoor seating over the river. Next time I will try Riverwalk bar and grill which also has great outdoor seating and looked much better.

Another two stops you might consider in this area is the Ellaberry Llama Farm and maybe getting some pictures of the giant bulls at Puncheon Camp Ranch. We didn't either of these and I cannot review them.

Campbell's Covered Bridge is a must see for those who love the old bridges. It was updated in 2022 or 23. There are some picnic tables and a big hill you can climb with some benches around it. The walk down to the bridge is moderate but not exactly wheelchair friendly. It is paved, but it is steep. We had some 80-year-olds walk it with the use of a cane. The river is a great place for kids to stick their toes in the water.

The Long Story: So we jumped on 85 South heading out of Charlotte, quietly crossing the Irwin and Stewart Creeks and I finally crossed the Catawba again a little North of where I usually do. Thought about Nana and the many times I crossed the Catawba to see her.

We motored on and took a right on highway 74, waved to Eva out our left window at Gardner-Webb University and crossed the Broad River. We took a hard right on highway 9, sneaked over the Walnut Creek then we snaked around Lake Lure way up to the tippy top and crossed the Broad again.

When I firmly put the car in park, we were at the Lake Lure Flowering Bridge. The bridge was built in the early 1900s and then shut down when a new bridge was built next to it. Soon after that they revitalized the bridge and turned it into a garden.

We were there in early April and there wasn't a lot in bloom, but the gardens were adorable and beautiful. It was a lovely walk.

There is a Rainbow Bridge where you can memorialize your belated dog by hanging it's collar on the railing.

We then drove into Chimney Rock Village, driving perilously close to Bat Cave, NC, home of the North Carolina's Oldest Hillbilly.

We unfortunately ate at the Old Rock Cafe. We ordered the wraps (at the counter, no wait staff), but they were out of wraps. I got the pimento cheese sandwich which was spicy and just ok and I got the potato salad which was yummy. The burgers and fries were yummy. There's beautiful outdoor seating over the river with access to the Stony Riverwalk. Great place for kids to run around 

We shopped some of the cute gift shops and jumped back into the car to cross into SC, blow through Landrum, and zig zag into the Campbell's Covered Bridge parking lot. 

Mom and dad made it down the steep walkway and we enjoyed the shade and cool breeze inside the bridge as we walked through.

This was a great day trip from Charlotte. And you would even have time climb up to Chimney Rock if you so desire. I strongly recommend it as the view is outstanding.