When asked about the Village, Winters will tell them that they used to use bridges to make their way across the river. He remembers the place as having a library and some houses. Basically the residential area of the town.

As for the river, there are the remnants of a bridge, in the form of two posts on each bank. At the moment it looks like someone has tied a rope between them, spanning the river.

If they don't want to try and crawl (or walk?) across a single rope, they can certainly knock down a tree and place it across. It will certainly take some time if they wish to carve it into a bridge, but the regular log would work as a temporary solution. Just make sure to anchor it somehow so it doesn't roll away!