There are 12 bridges crossing the Arboretum Waterway arboretum waterway.  If a wikier were feeling industrious, he or she might visit each bridge and then describe here the foliage in the different areas (e.g. the Redwood Bridge section below says that its in the Redwood Grove section of the Arboretum).

The following names are suggestive and not authoritative.  As far as we know, these bridges do not have official names!


 Easternmost Foot Bridge 
This first bridge is similar in style to several of the other foot bridges. It is close to the Davis Commons

 Old Bridge (1919) 

Before the A Street bridge was put in this was the main traffic bridge for cars and wagons. It connected Davisville to the immediately adjacent Tremont Tremont Township to the south, and by extension, it accessed the wagon road that eventually branched off towards Sacramento in the east and Benicia to the west. This road was an early form of Old Davis Road. Following the creation of the arboretum, the road layout has since changed, and the bridge now mainly serves foot and bike traffic from Solano Park apartments to UCD parking lot #10, although grounds crews also drive across from time to time.  According to the keystone, the bridge was built in 1919, but county maps show an earlier version of the bridge in existence since at least 1900. It did not seem to have an official name; it was simply labeled bridge or given no label whatsoever on maps.

When the bridge was finally built, it came far too late for many Tremont residents who had been fording the Putah Creek for decades. According to historian David Vaught in his book, http://books.google.com/books?idVMurtYK_wOgC&lpgPP1&dqgold%20rush%20%20vaught&pgPP1#vonepage&q&ffalse After the Gold Rush, Tremont residents often could not ford the canal for weeks on end after a bad storm, which meant that to get to Davisville, they had to ride several miles to Dixon across the soggy prairie and then take the train. Their repeated cries for a public bridge fell on deaf ears, as the Solano Board of Supervisors continued its tradition of refusing to spend even a dime on these outlying residents while gladly taking their tax dollars. As late as 1897, Tremont farmers were still trying to secede from their county to escape the clutches of the VallejoFairfield ring that oppresses us.

Although on some old maps it may appear as though the bridge connected directly to University Avenue, this was not the case; University Avenue always terminated a block to the north of the bridge; however, there was an alleyway that continued on through Rice Lane, ending up near the bridge. The only major street in Davis that connected to the bridge was Front Street, now known as 1st Street.

The keystone of this bridge was the subject of a shortlived Mystery Picture/History Mystery Picture..



 A Street Bridge 
Under this bridge youll find a A Street Bridge Mural mural painted by UCD entomology students.

 Redwood Bridge 










This bridge no longer exists.  It once connected the T. Elliot Weier Redwood Grove Arboretum Redwood Grove to the Art Buildings, but it was removed in late 2010/early 2011.  If you try and cross here now, youll just fall into the creek and turn into a mutant.  :(

 Concrete Spafford Bridge 
The most spartan and functional off all the nonvehicle bridges. If it were not for steep approaches on both banks it would be nicely Mobility Impaired Access accessible.

 Wooden Spafford Bridge 

 Mrak Hall Bridge 
The vehicle approach to Mrak Hall. There is only a path on the north side of the arboretum here, and bikes should not be ridden on the narrow path.

 Mondavi Foot Bridge 
This bridge predates the Mondavi Center by many years. It is also near King Hall.

 California Avenue Bridge 
Part of the UC Davis Loop, located south of Academic Surge. There are signs about bats and signs that suggest you walk your bike under the bridge.

 Cole Facility Foot Bridge 

 Earth Bridge 

 Lodge Bridge 
This is one of the more striking bridges when it is painted and in good repair.

Also see:
  Bike Bridges



20050505 00:11:45 nbsp These pictures are absolutely beautiful!  I didnt realize how many bridges there actually are, or that they all had names (unless you named them yourself).  Nice documentation and photos! Users/KalenRidenour

20080807 22:03:13 nbsp What kind of camera was used to take these pictures?  They are incredible... Users/SunjeetBaadkar
  Jason took most of them, but I think hes a pretty good photographer regardless of what camera he uses (also I dont know what he uses).  My few photos were taken with a Fuji A700, the same camera used by National Geographic photographers (not).

20081001 12:05:39 nbsp I have observed bats emerging from the bottom of the mrak hall bridge Users/ChrisWaterstraat

20081010 20:37:09 nbsp ^ when did u see the bats? ive been looking everywhere but i cant find any... Users/itsedmondfoo
