Silver Comet and Chief Ladiga Rails-to-Trails

On Saturday July 3, 2010, I enjoyed a delightful end-to-end ride of the
Silver Comet and Chief Ladiga Trails. This 90+ mile ride started at Nickajack in Georgia and ended in Woodland Park, just north of Anniston, AL. Both trails were great rides, but the Silver Comet has a slight edge over Chief Ladiga in my ride book.

The Silver Comet is wider and is primarily a concrete path. Heavy use of the trail in some places made the added width a plus, but generally for long stretches I had the trail to myself.

The concrete seams were well constructed so there was very little thump-thump as I rode along. A few sections of the trail are showing stress (in the 40 – 49 mile range) with cracks and seams opening to allow vegetation growth.

In this same section, I also encountered tree and vegetation litter that required a slowing of my pace to avoid potential twig or pine cone damage to my tires. Finally, the trail in this section diverts from old railroad grade inclines and offered up some short, but sharp, climbs. The admonishment painted on the trail “Slow” should be followed. The down hills are quick with several sharp turns.

At mile 50.98, the trail took another detour from old railroad beds and actually traveled down a Cedartown city sidewalk. There was also a short stretch on Cedartown city streets. This close-in urban cycling gave rise to graffiti on Silver Comet signage and on the walls in underpass tunnels. The majority of the trail traverses woodland environs with only a few sections that parallel major road systems.

The meeting of the two trails is marked by an archway on the heavily wooded Georgia-Alabama border. Here, the asphalt-paved Chief Ladiga starts its 33-mile winding to its completion at Woodland Park. The scenery is just wonderful. The trail also remains true to old railway grading and meanders through some very nicely wooded terrain.

The forest root system, however, is attempting to reclaim the asphalt paved trail. Tree root ridges appear with random frequency and density. As I clipped along between 15 – 16 mph on high pressure tires, the root ridges became jarring natural speed bumps. One should not be discouraged from riding the trail by this comment, but be watchful of nature’s sly way of slowing us all down.

The first facility from the border for water, restrooms and food is in Piedmont (mile 13.6). The Eubanks Welcome Center is on the trail. Piedmont shops and restaurants are not far off the trail. The full trail is paved to Woodland Park, however, the final 7+ miles to Anniston is not part of the current trail system. You will need to navigate the public road system if that is your final destination.

A good resource for identifying facilities is the website http://trailexpress.com/trails. I carried a printed listing of services and their mile markers.

I also took advantage of the services provided by young entrepreneurs who set up water and snack stands along the trail. I recommend you bring some cash and a willingness to linger in idle conversation. I also found cell phone reception (T-Mobile) spotty in several of the remote areas. I suspect it would have been wiser to have riding partners to handle any unexpected emergency. The only bike shop on the combined trails is on the Silver Comet at mile 4.2.

My lovely wife retrieved me at the end of the Chief Ladiga trail. We then spent that evening at an enchantingly restored antebellum bed & breakfast called the English House in Jacksonville, AL. This B&B is a real treasure, as is its proprietor, Millie English. But hurry, Millie has the English House up for sale.