We have enjoyed our three night stay camping at the River Rocks Landing Resort in Gadsden, Alabama. We came here to bike the Chief Ladiga Trail, which is our fourth ‘hall of fame’ trail.
The trail is a former CSX railroad corridor and is named named for the leader of the indigenous Muscogee (Creek) people who created the original pathway. The Chief Ladiga Trail is a regional playground, with very gentle slopes, that passes through welcoming towns, pastoral landscapes, and a forest of pines and dogwoods.
We rode it from Piedmont, Alabama into the Duggar Mountains following the lovely Terrapin Creek, and crossing it often via bridges. We continued the ride into the protected wilderness of the Talladega National Forest, all the way to the Georgia state line! At that point it was pretty trippy to have one foot in Alabama and one foot in Georgia.
Alabama’s Chief Ladiga Trail connects seamlessly with Georgia’s Silver Comet Trail (which we rode yesterday) making these combined trails the second-longest paved pedestrian path in the country and we biked 36 miles of it.
- Ted: “This is a great trail. The weather was cooler and great for the gentle uphill to Georgia, and sunny for the brisk afternoon ride back.”
- Sue: “I’ve got to say that this trail is my favorite of the trip. The beauty of the surroundings, the mild temperature, and the lack of wind were a winning combination. Loved biking here!”
Here are details of our ride on the Chief Ladiga trail via Sue’s ReLive video: