The 1850 Hillsgrove Covered Bridge was built with a Burr arch over Loyalsock Creek in Hillsgrove Township, Sullivan County, Pennsylvania. In 1973, at 186 feet long, it became the first covered bridge in the county to be placed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). Named for the township and nearby unincorporated village of Hillsgrove, it is also known as Rinkers Covered Bridge for an adjoining farm.

Built by Sadler Rodgers, the Hillsgrove bridge has load-bearing Burr arches with multiple vertical king posts on each side, for strength and rigidity. The Hillsgrove Bridge is the longest of three covered bridges remaining in Sullivan County and served as a landing site for lumber rafts on the creek between 1870 and 1890. Nineteenth-century regulations restricting speed, number of animals, and fire are still posted on the bridge. 

The covered bridge rests on abutments of stone and mortar, which have been reinforced with concrete. Its beams have been reinforced in places with steel beams. Its deck is made of crosswise "narrow-width flooring." Wheel guards on the deck separate the roadway from the pedestrian walkways and protect the sides. Both the interior and exterior are painted red and have long, narrow windows with wooden shutters: the south side has three windows, and the north side has two.

The name Hillsgrove Covered Bridge also refers to an old covered bridge over Loyalsock Creek in the village of Hillsgrove. This stood from 1876 until 1934 when it was condemned and replaced by a steel and concrete structure. It was the third covered bridge on the site: the first fell into the creek, and the second was torn down to make way for the third bridge.

In the 19th century, the Hillsgrove Covered Bridge survived major floods on March 1, 1865, and June 1, 1889, that destroyed other bridges in the West Branch Susquehanna River valley. Between about 1870 and 1890, logging in the Loyalsock Creek watershed produced lumber rafts that floated beneath the bridge. The bridge was the site of "Uncle Ben's Landing" for lumber rafts, which did not travel at night. These rafts, each containing 5,000–30,000 board feet of lumber, were carried down the Loyalsock to its mouth at Montoursville. The raft era ended when the eastern hemlock were all clear-cut.

Restoration work was carried out in 1963, 1968, 2010, and again in 2012 after serious flood damage. Despite these restorations, it had a "structurally deficient" rating in the 2012 National Bridge Inventory, with a 16.5 percent structural sufficiency rating.

In 2011, the bridge was badly damaged by historic flooding from Hurricane Irene in late August and Tropical Storm Lee in early September. Loyalsock Creek's flood waters swept debris into the bridge, removing much of the siding on the south side, washing out the approaches, damaging the structural beams, and leaving "two trees lodged between the timber low chord and timber deck" on the north side. While the Forksville covered bridge escaped serious damage, Hillsgrove and Sonestown were both closed, and Preservation Pennsylvania issued a report that questioned whether either bridge could be restored. But as of 2015, the bridge is still used; its average daily traffic was 54 vehicles in 2012.  The bridge's 2012 post-flood restoration received an award for Emergency Response.

On July 2, 1973, the Hillsgrove Bridge was the first covered bridge in Sullivan County to be added to the NRHP. 

Located at:  N41 27.65    W76 40.25     -     WGCB #38-57-02

Photographed in May 2023.