How to get there?    Go to Brookneal, VA (intersection of RT 501 and RT 40).
East from Brookneal on RT 40 for 0.9 miles to Rt. 600. Turn right and follow Rt. 600 for 2.2 miles where it becomes Rt. 619. Continue on Rt. 619 for 3.6 miles to Rt. 620/Clarkton Bridge Road. Turn right and follow it for 2.7 miles to the river and boat landing.
Or, take RT 40 west from Charlotte Court House.  Turn left onto Rt 600 south, Mt. Calvary Rd, and left again on 619 east.  (This is the same route to go to Red Hill Shrine, also in Charlotte County.)

For over one hundred years the Clarkton Bridge has spanned the Staunton River between Charlotte and Halifax counties. These iron beams were originally sent down from the Virginia Bridge and Iron Company in Roanoke and assembled on site into a bridge design known as a camelback truss. Since that time, the bridge has weathered numerous floods and stood its ground,
gradually welcoming smaller and smaller loads on its support.

Eventually, the bridge was closed to vehicular traffic, and for a time condemned for demolition. Concerned citizens from Charlotte and Halifax counties made a stand and the bridge was given a reprieve.

Now residents may go down to the river at the boat landing or walk onto the bridge itself to enjoy fishing, launching small boats and canoes, or for bird and wildlife watching.

Along the banks of the Staunton River, visitors should search for eastern river cooters sunning themselves on exposed rocks near the bank. Keep an eye overhead for ospreys cruising downstream. In summer, green herons can be seen hunting tiny fish along the riverbanks, while stately great blue herons appear from time to time. The tall trees along the river bank support red-eyed and yellow-throated vireos. Red-bellied, and occasionally pileated woodpeckers, call from deeper in the woods, allowing themselves to be seen as they cross the open water.

The sun-dappled banks of the river host clouds of butterflies in late summer, with dozens of similar question marks and commas perching side-by-side for easy comparison. Watch your footing as red-spotted purples and black swallowtails sip from mineral rich puddles and dozens of
eastern-tailed blues scatter at every step.

                            Description and directions (below) taken from the Virginia Birding and Wildlife Trail