Normally a July note about the Bridge of Flowers would be a bloom report: four hundred feet of beds hitting their midsummer stride over the Deerfield River. This year is different. The bridge reopened for the season on April 1, then closed again on April 27 while the Bridge of Flowers Committee replaces the soil and replants the beds after the recent structural work on the old trolley bridge.
That is slower, more deliberate work than it sounds. The gardens were stripped for the bridge repairs, and rebuilding them means new soil across the whole span and thousands of plants going back in by volunteer hands, then time for the perennials to establish. The committee’s own updates are the source of truth for when the gates reopen; check the news page before planning a visit around the bridge itself.
Shelburne Falls is still worth the drive
The bridge is the postcard, but it was never the only reason to come.
- The glacial potholes. Immediately downstream of the bridge, the Deerfield River pours over bedrock drilled with round potholes, scoured out by grinding meltwater at the end of the last ice age. The viewing platforms on the Buckland side are a short walk from the village center.
- The village itself. Independent shops, galleries, and cafés cluster on both ends of the bridge, in Shelburne on one bank and Buckland on the other.
- The hills above town. High Ledges Wildlife Sanctuary looks down on the village from the north, with a ledge view up the Deerfield valley that earns the short walk.
The flowers will be back; replanting is how a 97-year-old volunteer garden gets its next 97 years. When the committee reopens the gates, the bridge entry will be updated with what the re-established beds look like.