Shirley Bridge

Have you ever been to Shirley, Ar. If you havent then nows the time. Actually wait till the fall foliage really starts showing good, which wont be long.
If you take a right a Clinton on Hwy 9 you wont miss Shirley. Its an old town with some old store fronts, good place for picture taking. Also theres the new bridge across the Middle Fork Of the Little Red River which have some good views. I spent quite a bit of time riding aroudn the area. The School on the way out of town going North has a walkway over the highway, which is kind of abnormal for a small Ozark town.
Shortly after you cross the new bridge you'll get to the old part of town, Hwy 9 make a turn here. Do youself a favor before heading out of town. Make a right on the old road, you'll go down a hill and soon you'll get to the old Shirley Bridge across the Middle Fork of the Little Red River.
The bridge itself is 153 ft. long not including the approaches so its a fairley long bridge. Where there used to be a wood decking its now covered with cement. When you get to the other side, if your riding like I was, you'll probably want to turn around and go back, because the dirt road starts there. Its an interesting bridge if your interested in old bridges. It was built in 1910 as a railroad bridge and rehabilitated in 1988 for vehicle traffic. Looking at it kind of makes you wonder what a train was doing there. Kind of a spooky area, especially when you get on the far side.

The approach to the old Shirley Bridge.

In the middle of the bridge, I wasnt worrying about traffic, only about 50 cars cross a day.

On the North side of the bridge, it gets kind of dark and dreary there.