Biking the Tanglefoot Trail in Mississippi

 

• Date Biked:  January 11, 2022
• Posted Mileage: 43.6
• Total miles Tracked: 44.61
• Type of Trail: Paved Rail Trail
• Conveniences:  Storm shelters, picnic tables, restrooms, water fountains
• Best Features:   A flat, straight trail with 44 miles of easy biking
• Worst Features:  It's a flat, straight trail for 44 miles...
• Wildlife spotted:  Maybe one deer? It was very cold. I imagine there's more to see in warmer weather. 
• Vegetation: Hardwoods, wildflowers
• Associated Website:   Maps & Mileage Chart | Tanglefoot Trail
• Primary Author:  James

A lot of this, for a very long way!

January can be a rough month for biking in North Carolina. So, when we had an event in New Orleans the first weekend of the New Year, we were excited to build in two extra days for riding trails in Mississippi. We knew things might get a little chilly, but it had to be warmer than North Carolina, right?

Hah hah, no. January 10 and 11 brought some sort of polar vortex deep south that brought daytime temps in the 30s plus a savage wind chill. We got out of the car to get gas on January 10 and when I got back into the car we decided to skip riding that day and save our stamina for the following day when the high might creep over 40 and the wind gusts would die down to only 20 miles an hour. 

We are wearing pretty much every item of clothing we packed for this trip.

Despite the cold, the Tanglefoot Trail turned out to be a top-notch ride. Running from New Albany to Houston, this is an excellent overall riding experience. You are in farmland or woods for most of the trip with very infrequent road crossings. But, every ten miles or so you roll through a small town with a few businesses adjacent to the trail. You can pack light on this ride, since there's numerous places to hop of the trail to grab a bite.

The trail has several shelters along the route. Some have bathrooms and water, but most don't. The shelter in Pontotoc not only has bathrooms and water fountains, it has USB charging ports above the fountains! This was plainly designed by someone who has actually thought about the needs of people who are tackling a full day of riding. 

Water and electricity in the same tight space. What could go wrong! 

We stayed at the Trailhead Bike and Bed in Houston, which is directly adjacent to the southernmost trail head. We had breakfast at Gather, a charming coffee shop a few blocks away, then the Bike and Bed shuttled us to the far end of the trail in New Albany. New Albany is definitely the larger of the two towns, but there doesn't seem to be a lot going on at 9am on a Tuesday when the windchill is in the 20s. We snapped our mandatory photo of the trailhead arch and rolled on. 

On days you're going to ride 40+ miles, it's fine to eat cinnamon buns heavier than your coffee cup.

New Albany is proud of their trailhead! 

Looking through our photos, we have a lot of pictures of vanishing points. Except for the occasional squiggle, the trail is pretty much a straight line. In warmer weather, when we might have been more motivated to draw out the ride, it might have been fun to explore the towns of Ecru or Pontotoc. We did stop at the Algoma Country Store, which was wonderful, and highly recommended. 

Seriously, like, 50 photos identical to this. 

Ecru, MS

Algoma Country Store

A good place to eat!

One of the highlights of our ride was watching sheepdogs tending sheep!

From time to time, there are trees!

Rolling back into Houston, having our lodging directly next to the trailhead was wonderful given how cold we were by that point. Being able to transition from riding to a hot showing in under 10 minutes is a great way to wrap up a ride! We really can't think of another rail trail we've visited with such great accommodations directly adjacent to the end of the trail. This really boosts the Tanglefoot Trail up the list of the best trails we've ridden.

Trailhead Bike and Bed. Come for the biking, stay for the bed! 

The Houston trailhead.

If you like rail trails, this one is a worthy destination. Just, you know, try to time it on a day without a polar vortex. 

Downtown Houston