croswell swinging bridge

I grew up not far from here. On a trip to visit family, the weather was beautiful and it was the perfect opportunity to try something different.It took us about 30 minutes to get there from where we were staying and everyone agreed it was worth the trip. My 5 year old shows no fear and ran back and forth across the bridge to make it shake and swing. My 12 yo had great fun swinging the bridge. My 8 yo was a bit more nervous but the park on the other side proved too hard to resist and she made it across. We had fun on the bridge and playing in the park. There us a new spray park we didn't know about so we did not get a chance to check that out as we weren't prepared for wet kids in the car. All in all a fun quick side trip and worth the visit if you are nearby, but doubt I would go too far out of my way just to go there for the bridge.Photo op for hubby under the "Be Good To Your Mother In Law" sign was priceless ;)

The Croswell Swinging Bridge is the only pedestrian suspension bridge in Michigan. It was built in 1905 at an original cost of $300. It spans 139 feet. The original bridge had just two cables which were provided by Michigan Sugar Company and were used to support the planks. To provide a handhold, two more cables were added at a cost of $150. In August of 2006, all 128 planks were replaced at a cost of $1,300. The Bridge originally had a sign at the west end that admonished people to "Love Ye One Another." A sign at the east entrance (Maple Street) still reads, "Be Good To Your Mother-in-law." A festival to celebrate the bridge takes place the second weekend of August each year and features cardboard boat races under the bridge.That blurb was from the web site. My family and I thought the bridge was pretty cool. The bridge is very bouncy when you walk across it so it feels like there's an element of danger when you navigate from one side of the river to another. In reality, the cables that hold up the bridge would probably support the weight of a car!