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

Biking the Virginia Creeper Trail

 

• Date Biked: September 6, 2020 (with one pic from a previous ride)
• Total miles Tracked: 36.58
• Type of Trail: Rail trail, gravel
• Conveniences: pit toilets and picnic tables at most trail heads. Lots of private businesses also support the trail, with bike rental and shuttles and numerous restaurants. 
• Best Features: Breathtaking scenery. Long downhill grade from White Top means even novice bikers can enjoy a long ride. 
• Worst Features: Crowds! 
• Wildlife spotted: Deer
• Vegetation: Mountain laurels, hardwood forests, wildflowers. 
• Associated Website: https://www.vacreepertrail.org/
• Primary Author: James

The day after we rode the New River Trail end to end, we drove an hour west to ride the Virginia Creeper Trail, a 34 mile route that goes from White Top Mountain, through Damascus, and on to Abingdon. The Creeper trail is one of the most popular rail trails in Virginia. There are numerous outfitters in Damascus where visitors can rent bikes and get shuttled to the trail head on White Top Mountain. From there, it's 17 miles of continuous downhill back to Damascus. Even novice bikers can tackle this without working up a sweat. 

Mile after mile, the scenery is delightful. You roll through dense, shaded tunnels of mountain laurels which suddenly open up to reveal rolling hills covered with Christmas tree farms, or grassy fields where cattle graze. Dozens of trestle bridges cross rocky creeks with crystal clear water. Anywhere light makes it through the canopies of trees, you'll find wildflowers, and where the sun can't reach, mushrooms. 

Cheryl and I bike a lot of different rail trails and greenways, and have yet to run into one where private businesses support the local trail so thoroughly. There are at least a half dozen bike outfitters and shuttle services in Damascus, and numerous restaurants catering to riders. Unlike some localities we visit where the locals seem either oblivious or annoyed that there's a rail trail running through their town, Damascus, Abingdon, and Taylor's Valley understand the treasure they have with this trail and go out of their way to be welcoming. 

Which, alas, leads to the paradoxical downside of riding the Creeper. If you go there on a weekend in good weather, it's going to be crowded. And, since the 17 miles of coasting downhill is something even novice riders can handle, you wind up with a trail full of bikers who don't show the best trail etiquette. But, in addition to novice bikers, you also encounter aggressive bikers who have the strength to bike up the mountain, then race back down at lightning speed. We were there over Labor Day weekend and the ride from White Top to Damascus was stressful before we even got out of our car because of the crowds. If you have the option of going during a weekday, you'll probably have a better experience. We've also gone out of season, being all alone on a shuttle up the mountain and starting our ride in 20 degree weather, wearing two sets of gloves, but enjoying the freedom of having the trail to ourselves. 

That said, there are two segments that usually aren't crowded no matter when you ride. The first is the short, one mile ride from White Top to the North Carolina border. Especially if you've ridden up on a shuttle, riding up to the border gives the crowds a chance to disperse. The mile is rough and can be muddy. The signage isn't exactly clear either. After you follow the railbed through the woods, you reach a gravel road. Follow that road until it starts heading uphill into a private driveway. Stick to the right along the creek and you'll find the sign for the border only a few dozen yards away. 

The other segment that isn't as crowded is the entire length from Damascus to Abingdon. This is a modest uphill grade, and a lot of the tourists who come to be shuttled up to White Top stop in Damascus and never explore the rest of the trail. This is their loss, since the scenery through here is just as nice and a little easier to pause and appreciate without worrying that you're turning yourself into an obstacle for other bikers. Also, coming down from White Top, the trail is so steep that often you're so busy looking at the path directly ahead of you that you kind of miss the scenery you're passing through. The more leisurely pace you can adopt on the second half of the ride allows you more time to appreciate your surroundings. This section of the trail also has several gates you have to stop and open, which seems to keep the bikers who are hungry for speed off this part of the trail. 

Since we'd taken up two vehicles, we parked one in Abingdon then drove to White Top to ride the full length in one day, stopping for a leisurely lunch in Damascus. The next time we go, probably next spring, we're planning to tackle the uphill bike climb from Damascus to White Top. We'll report on that, assuming we survive it! For now, we'll close out with more shots of great sights along the trail, though this is only a fraction of the experiences you'll have on this ride. If you haven't tried it out yet, what are you waiting for?