Two excellent trails – the Silver Comet Trail and Chief Ladiga Trail – are close to Rome and we enjoy bicycling on them. We made two bike trips recently and enjoyed the fall colors as well as bicycling. On Sunday afternoon, Nov. 6, we headed to the Rambo Road Trailhead of the Silver Comet Trail in Dallas and rode west to the Brushy Mountain Tunnel and back, a round trip of 15 – 16 miles. You can see the trip log here: Rambo Nursery to Brushy Mt. Tunnel and back
The Silver Comet is a well used trail, especially on weekends, and it was busy on this Sunday afternoon. In addition to lots of walkers and bicyclers, we saw several hand cyclers and a unicycle which was moving pretty fast. A highlight of this section of the the Silver Comet Trail is Pumpkinvine Trestle, over 750 feet long and 126 feet above Pumpkinvine Creek.
Knowing the fall colors wouldn’t last much longer, we headed out again on Tues., 11/ 8, with our neighbors Gordon and Nadine to bike from the Esom Hill, GA Trailhead to Piedmont, AL. We were soon in Alabama on the Chief Ladiga Trail, a seamless extension of the Silver Comet Trail, and very much like the Silver Comet except not quite as wide. From Esom Hill to Piedmont is a lovely ride, gently sloping mostly downhill taking us through the Talladega National Forest and across Terrapin Creek, a good place to stop for a view of the surroundings.
To the west is Duggar Mountain with fields in the foreground as we approach Piedmont, a hospitable little town. Check out the trail stats: Esom Hill, GA to Piedmont, AL Note the push pin marker on the map. We put that in to mark what appeared to be a campground. Sure enough it is: Chief Ladiga Trail campground
In PIedmont we were rewarded for our ride by lunch at the Solid Rock Café, a locally owned sandwich and coffee shop which attracts bicyclers as well as locals.. After our 14 mile ride, we enjoyed lunch and ice cream as well. It was a delightful ride on a lovely fall day.
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