- Date Biked: March 18-19
- Posted Mileage 32.5
- Total miles Tracked: 66
- Type of Trail: Paved rail-trail
- Conveniences: Great visitor center in Piedmont, parks and benches at various points on the route
- Best Features: Talladega National Forest, Elevated Grounds Coffee House
- Worst Features: A few busy road crossings
- Wildlife spotted: Hawks. Turkeys.
- Vegetation: Hardwoods, pines, wildflowers
- Associated Website: https://alabama.travel/places-to-go/chief-ladiga-trail-eubanks-welcome-center
- Primary Author: James
The Chief Ladiga Trail follows the same rail trail corridor as the Silver Comet, and the two trails combine into one long supertrail that makes a great destination for anyone who loves biking. We'd spent four days riding the Silver Comet before we tackled the Chief Ladiga, and were a little worried our growing exhaustion would dampen our enthusiasm for this trail. Not to worry! The Chief Ladiga may be the shorter of the two trails, but it's an amazing ride with unbeatable scenery and plenty of trail side conveniences.
In theory, this trail could easily be tackled as a single day 65 mile ride. The Chief Ladiga is a nearly perfect rail trail, with only a few road crossings that you'll need to stop at, and mile after mile of straight, flat, paved surface in excellent condition. But why rush the experience? We divided the ride into two days to take our time and enjoy the scenery.
On the first day, we headed from Piedmont toward Anniston. This takes you through the college town of Jacksonville. The surroundings are pleasant, but for most of the journey you're never far from a highway. After a few days of rain, the clouds were lifting and we had a little company on the trail, though it was never crowded. The Anniston end of the trail has a campground and park with picnic tables and bathrooms. There are a few mild grades, but the whole trail is easy biking that could be tackled by anyone without ever shifting a gear.
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| Flat, straight, and a heck of a lot of it. |
Even though we got a little sunshine, it was windy, and we were cold by the time we got back to Piedmont. Fortunately, the bathrooms at the visitor center in Piedmont have a welcome feature that more trailhead bathrooms need: benches inside that make it convenient to change your clothes and shoes after a long ride. The visitor center staff was very friendly, and there were even some trail cats that make their home there and were happy to greet us.
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| I apparently didn't get a picture of the trail cats! But, here are some flowers made from sprockets. |
A few blocks from the trailhead we found the Elevated Grounds coffee shop. Again, the staff here was extremely friendly, and the pastries under glass at the counter were quite welcome after five hours of biking. They also do sandwiches, wraps, and breakfast bowls, so we knew exactly where we'd be eating breakfast on our return the trail the following morning.
After breakfast on Friday morning, we headed toward the Georgia line. This takes your through the Talladega National Forest, and feels like a completely different trail. A few miles outside Piedmont you leave civilization behind and start climbing a long grade up into forested mountains. The grade is never really strenuous, but you'll definitely feel it. Trestle bridges offer excellent views of the river that winds through the area. We found the ride somewhat reminiscent of sections of the Virginia Creeper Trail in Virginia, though much less congested.
One important similarity to the Creeper is that, once you finally reach the Georgia line and turn back, that long continuous grade you just came up turns into a stress-free glide back through the woods. Since we were on our sixth day of our combined Silver Comet/Chief Ladiga ride, being able to coast a significant portion of the way back to Piedmont made for a nearly perfect ending to the trip.
Cheryl and I stayed in Rome, Georgia for the trip, choosing a single hotel for the week and a lot of driving to various trailheads over the hassle of packing and unpacking at a different hotel every few days. If we return, we might consider bikepacking since there are nice campgrounds adjacent to the trail. However you approach it, this trail will reward your time and effort!
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