Biking Georgia's Silver Comet Trail

The Silver Comet Trail follows the path of the former Seaboard Air Line Railroad which ran luxury passenger trail service between Birmingham, Alabama and New York City from 1947 to 1969. Seaboard Air Line Railroad was named in 1875, and the term "air line" then referred to a railroad that offered the shortest route between two points.

This 61 mile paved trail includes three trestles and a tunnel and as a rail-trail now offers 15 restrooms, 10 water fountains, 17 wheel-chair accessible accesses, and loads of rest benches as seen below.

That blue sign and paint blazes seen in the background between the benches in the photo above points to a mountain bike/off-pavement trail. Here's a close-up of the sign...

They do have some rules for the mountain bikers:

The 12-foot wide paved trail is in excellent repair, and at its western terminus at the Alabama state line, Alabama's Chief Ladiga Trail extends an additional 33 miles creating the country's second longest paved continuous trail after Minnesota's Paul Bunyan State Trail.

The Georgia Department of Transportation purchased this right-of-way in 1992 and opened the first segment of recreational trail in 1998. I first biked from the Smyrna trailhead and immediately fell in love with the trail and quickly decided that its beauty qualified it for my favorites list. So the next day, I drove to the Hiram trailhead and biked a second segment of the trail which then cemented my decision.

Heading west from Smyrna, the trail has an uphill bent to it. In fact, I was surprised because it seemed to me that in places it exceeded the 2% or 3% maximum incline usual for railroad grades. In numerous areas, it had drop-offs on one or both sides that looked to be 50 feet or even greater. A lot of blasting and cut and fill had obviously been employed in constructing the roadbed.

Here's one of the bridges...

Bridges and underpasses get users safely over or under many roads, but the few road crossings had push buttons to trigger traffic signals to stop the motor vehicles. An abundance of signage along the trail provides info and warnings and at the bottom, each sign gives the current mileage from the eastern trailhead at Smyrna. Below is the 14.69 mile marker.

The Pumpkinvine Creek Trestle, built in 1901, is seen below. It is 750 feet long and 126 feet high...

Below is Pumpkinvine Creek, and off in the far upper right corner of the photo is a peek at the subdivision of large homes on the hillside...

This section is the most remote and travels through some of the 25,000 acre Pauling Wildlife Management Area.

Trail access:

Reach the Smyrna side of the Silver Comet Trail off of I-285, Exit 15/Route 280/South Cobb Drive. Head north on South Cobb, turn left on Cumberland Parkway SE, then right on Gaylor Street. The trailhead is near the shopping complex. Brown directional signs are provided.

The Tara Drummond Trailhead is popular: on Seaboard Drive just south of Hwy 278.

Reach the Esom Hill trailhead from US Highway 278 west. Near Mile Marker 1, turn south on Hardin Road. The trailhead is 0.5 mile up the road on the right.

The closest trailhead to the Pumpkinvine Trestle and the Brushy Mountain Tunnel is the Rambo Trailhead adjacent to the Rambo Nurseries at 279 Tucker Blvd., Dallas, GA, south of Hwy. 278.

There are numerous access points with parking and various other facilities along the trail's entire route.