Baring Bridge

Baring Bridge is a wooden suspension bridge spanning the South Fork Skykomish River with a main span and supporting steel cables anchored to wooden towers. The structure carries a narrow roadway designed for light vehicle traffic and allows passage to properties on both sides of the river.

An earlier bridge crossed this location starting in 1912, but the current wooden structure was completed in 1930 to better serve the growing community. The structure gained official recognition on the National Register of Historic Places in 2019.

The bridge serves as a physical link to the Baring community and reflects the mining history that shaped this river valley during the late 1800s. Today it connects residents and visitors to a place with deep roots in the region's extractive past.

The bridge has a weight limit of approximately 10 tons, making it suitable only for regular passenger vehicles and light trucks. Visitors should drive slowly and be prepared for narrow passages and potentially slippery conditions during wet weather.

Only two wooden suspension bridges designed for vehicle use remain in Washington State, and this is one of them. Its rarity makes it a living example of an engineering approach that has mostly disappeared from the region.