Pumpkin Vine Creek Trestle

THE DISAPPEARING RAILROAD BLUES...map

On the West side of town, there exists a path known as the Silver Comet Trail. An ambitious endeavor to build a path for bicyclists to be able to travel from Atlanta to the Alabama border and beyond. This multiuse trail is more for the bicyclist than the hiker, because of the distance to cover, but there are some interesting points along the way if you just know where to look.

The Silver Comet Trail is built almost completely upon the one of the great rail routes that helped turn Atlanta into the great city it is. It’s unfortunate that the railroads are gone, but you can, to some extent relive the experience by traversing this multiuse path.

One of the points of interest is the 126 feet high Pumpkin Vine Creek Trestle, where you can walk (or Bike) across the creek valley as if you were a locomotive. I was a little disappointed in the view from the trestle for two reasons. There was this housing development too close to the Southwest, and Pumpkin Vine Creek was fairly puny. However the Trestle itself was pretty impressive.

You can reach the Trestle by parking at the Rambo Station (so called because of the Rambo Nursery situated just next to the lot. And walking about a mile West to the Bridge. The Station is on the West side of Dallas on Highway 278. Just look for the signs for the Rambo Nursery.

I’ll write more about the Silver Comet Trail at a later date. A quick note is that if you continue up the trail across the trestle in about 8.5 miles you will reach the Brushy Mountain Tunnel.