The Silver Comet Trail

THE LONGEST PAVED BIKE PATH IN GEORGIA Map

From Silver Comet Trail

The Granddaddy of all bicycle trails in Georgia is the Silver Comet Trail. Heck, it might be the Granddaddy of all bike trails in the US. It runs almost 64 miles from Smyrna to the Alabama State line, mostly on what was once the railroad track used by Seaboard Railroad’s Atlanta to Birmingham line. If you continue through Alabama on the Chief Ladiga Trail it will take you 96 miles, all the way to Anniston, Alabama. The road is paved, relatively flat (3% overall grade), and is completely off roads used by cars, except for a few crossings, and a very short patch in Western Polk County. So how does one write a good article about this unique attraction just 13 miles outside of Atlanta. Well, you probably have to ride the whole darned thing.

On Oct 2, 2010, The Urban Baboon and three close friends set out to do just that. The longest I had ever biked in one day up to that point was 32 miles. Our plan was to drive two vehicles out to the Highland Station parking lot in Smyrna, drop the smaller car there, cram the five of us (we needed a driver) and four bikes into the minivan and be dropped at Esom Hill, near the State line, and then have the driver go back to Highland Station and leave the van there for us when we finished. The beauty of this plan was its simplicity. The downside was there was no turning back.

At Esom Hill, there is a small parking lot close to the Alabama border. It is quiet and serene and there are no facilities there. The nearest place for any supplies or amenities is in Cedartown, about 7 miles away. In order to say that you rode the entire trail, you need to head west first about .3 miles to get to the archway that makes up what they call Stateline Gateway Park, not much of a park, but a fitting starting point for a day on two wheels.

The Polk County portion is the least travelled part of the trail. The 7 miles to Cedartown run by farms and fields. It is also the most hilly portion of the trail with a few noticeable inclines and descents. At Cedartown, there is a depot where supplies are available, though you are required to walk you bike in front of the store. The next stretch to is a bit more of the same, about 14 miles to downtown Rockmart. We used this as our first breakpoint. Rockmart has a nice little park and a fair number of businesses very near the trail that could be of use to the Trail Rider. We had originally planned to lunch here, but it was only about 10:30 am, so we took a short break and rescheduled lunch for Dallas. Rockmart is the lowest point on the trail, so the rest of the route is uphill, but fairly gentle, almost unnoticeable.

The next section contains the longest isolated stretch of the whole journey. After the last Polk County Trailhead at Coot’s Lake, you travel 11.5 between trailheads. The tradeoff for the isolation is you get the most scenic stretch of the entire trail. Coot’s lake is a pretty piece of water. About 2.6 miles East you cross through the 800 foot long Brushy Mountain Tunnel. Exiting the tunnel you pass through the Paulding Wildlife Management Area. We actually saw wild turkeys on the path, but other wildlife might be possible. You then cross the Pumpkinvine Creek Trestle , a 750 foot long railroad bridge, just west of the Rambo Trailhead. Both the Tunnel and the Trestle are worth the stop to look around, but we didn’t as we had miles to go, and had been there before. Rambo is a fairly amenity free parking location, but if you continue another two miles to Tara Drummond, there’s accessible restrooms and water.

By the time we reached Dallas, our group of four had significantly separated into two groups of two, so we skipped lunch because we were to far behind. From here to Smyrna the path gets progressively more crowded as you get closer and closer to the city. And this is the area where you see the most road crossings. The trade off for lack of serenity is the comfortable feeling that you are not too far from help, should it be necessary, and after 40 miles under your belt, this is good to know. You cross through Hiram, leave Polk County, and go through Powder Springs and Mableton. Once in Cobb County, there are some nice walking trails off the Comet, near Center Road (Wildhorse Creek) and Concord Road (Heritage Park). The road gets pretty straight and pretty crowded the rest of the way. At the Floyd Road trailhead, there’s a bike shop. When you get to mile marker Zero at Mavell Road you are not actually done, there is still a mile to go principally uphill to reach the Highland Station Parking lot.

For a trip of this magnitude, preparation is far more important than usual. The three chief concerns are water, food, and bike maintenance. Water is crucial. I read a post somewhere where they said that you should also bring a camera, so that when you run out of water you can sell it to get more water. I travelled with a 72 oz. camelback which I filled and drank three times, with only one bathroom break. Food is another important consideration, I calculated on a website that six hours of moderate riding for someone of my size would burn about two days worth of normal meals. I packed a case of Power Bars and ate all but two. Bike maintenance is a lesser worry, because the trail is clean and paved, but you should travel with essential repair tools including a flat tire repair kit, air pump, and bike wrenches, just in case, it would be awful to be stranded a long time in certain areas.

The 64 mile trek is not normally for the casual rider, like myself. It took me a little over 7 hours to complete with significant and well needed breaks. The faster two riders finished about an hour ahead of us. The beauty of the Silver Comet Trail is that you can bite off as much or as little as you want. Most people use the Cobb portion of the trail, probably due to its proximity. But the best portion is in Polk County. My recommendation for the more casual rider is that you put in at either Hiram, Polk Chamber of Commerce, or Rambo and head West to Rockmart. There you can eat lunch or whatever and then return back to your original spot. This way you get at 32-38 round mile trip hitting most of the highlights of the road, with a nice place to stop to break the work in two.

Bike Trail Essentials
Approximate Time: 6-8 hours (allowing breaks)
Approximate Distance: 64 miles
Trail Surface: Paved
Features: Small Georgia Towns, Rolling Countryside, Bridges, Trestles, Tunnels, Lakes, Rivers, Wildlife

Overall Rating: A

Scenic Quality: A
Athleticism: A+
Solitude: B
Value: A
Parking: Free (Various Locations)
Hours of Operation: Daylight Hours
Facilities: At many trailheads
Maps: Silver Comet Website, Trail Express, Google, and
Path Foundation
County: Polk, Paulding, & Cobb

Brushy Mountain Tunnel

Another Georgia Abandoned Tunnel Map

From Brushy Mountain Tunnel

The Greater Atlanta Area is home to a number of interesting things to see and do. Some are better or bigger than any other place in the world. A notable example of this is the longest paved bike trail in the United States, a path that starts in Smyrna, Georgia and leads all the way to Weaver, Alabama, just outside Anniston. The Georgia portion of this path is called the Silver Comet Trail. I have now biked the entirety of the Silver Comet, and what I believe is the most notable spot on the trail is the Brushy Mountain Tunnel.


This 800-foot long, three story high tunnel runs right through Brushy Mountain. The tunnel was originally built in 1912, but simple observation shows walls of concrete. What occurred was that the tunnel was expanded (principally heightened) in 1968 to accommodate modern three tiered freight cars that became more prevalent in the modern era. Seaboard Rail stopped using this passageway in 1988, which allowed the tunnel to take on its new role as an actual destination on the Silver Comet.

The Best way to get there by bike is to get on at Rambo or Paulding and head west which is either 8.5 or 11.5 miles away, respectively. You will drive over the 750 foot long Pumpkinvine Creek Trestle and through the Paulding Wildlife Management Area, which makes up the prettiest stretch of the trail, in my opinion. It is also the longest portion between trail heads at 11 miles, so you need to be prepared because there are no restrooms or places to get water or other necessities. If you continue on to Rockmart, which will take your one way distance up to 18.25, you get what I think is the best slice of the Silver Comet Trail Pie.



If you are looking to hike to the tunnel, or just want a shorter bike trip, the best thing to do is start at Coot’s Lake and travel the 2.6 miles East to the tunnel, which makes for a pleasant 5 mile walk on paved surfaces. The grade to the tunnel is upward from both directions but long and gentle.


I recently set out to capture the entirety of the trail on film and I include a bit longer video of me crossing through the tunnel below. The photos come from a different day earlier this year. As I have come to truly enjoy having the Silver Comet Trail right in our backyard, I think its most interesting attraction, the Brushy Mountain Tunnel, sitting slightly less than an hour away from Atlanta, is deserving of mention in its own right. 


Trail Essentials
Approximate Time: 1-1.5 hours (Hiking)
Approximate Distance: 5 miles (Coot’s Lake to Tunnel and back)
Features: Lakeside view, Large Tunnel

Overall Rating: B

Scenic Quality: A
Athleticism: C
Solitude: B
Value: B
Parking: At any of the Trailheads mentioned, Free
Hours of Operation: Daylight hours
Facilities: At Palding (Standard) or Coot’s Lake (Portables)
Maps: here, not really needed
County: Polk

Heritage Park Trail (Cobb Co)

A Walk in the Park MAP

From Heritage Park

As a person always looking for a nice place near the city to get out of the house, get some exercise, and take a walk, I stopped by a really nice newer park in Mableton Georgia, just off the Silver Comet Trail. I always prefer in my walks, good exercise, a little history, a peaceful getaway, and something pretty to look at. I found another nice Atlanta sanctuary in Heritage Park in Cobb County.

Heritage Park must be relatively new because I couldn’t find it on Google Maps. As a matter of fact, its seems to be surrounded by other parks, which I find nice, because it keeps the crowds to a minimum, giving me the break from the city I need. It actually attaches at one spot to the Silver Comet Trail, which even keeps the bicyclists at bay.

Well, as far as Nature goes, there’s some lovely views of Nickajack Creek, along with the Georgia Native Plant Society’s attempt to place a number of Georgia Native Plants in on Central Location for education and awareness. You cross the creek on an ironwork bridge and near the end you see a small, but enjoyable cascading waterfall.

Anything named Heritage Park must have a little history to its credit. On the Trail, you will find the ruins of the Concord Woolen Mills. There are actually two structures from the mills there and the experience is diminished a little by the presence of large metal support structures, designed to preserve the mills, especially during the construction of the East West connector. The Mills were destroyed by the Union troops in a side skirmish during the Atlanta Campaign on July 4, 1864. The Mill was targeted because one of its functions was to produce Confederate Uniforms. The last part of the Mill is unfortunately on private property so it can only be viewed from one direction.

On the Hiking/Exercise scale, this pathway is a little underwhelming, except for the very end of the trail, it seems they have found the only mile of flat land in Northern Georgia. The pathway is 1.7 miles long and requires a round trip to get back to your parking spot.

There are two interesting and very quick side trips you can make. Just before the ruins, there is a way to get to the Silver Comet Trail, and if you take a quick right a go a couple of hundred feet you can walk across a bridge over the East-West Connector and view the beautiful Atlanta traffic. At the very end of the trail, a few hundred feet beyond the Battle of Ruff’s Mill historic marker is the Concord Covered Bridge, the oldest remaining covered bridge in public use anywhere near Atlanta. It too was burnt down in the Battle of Ruff’s Mill but rebuilt in 1872.


Trail Essentials
Approximate Time: 1.5 hours
Approximate Distance: 4 miles
Trail Surface: Compact Soil, Wooden Bridges.
Features: River Views, Riverside Walk, Historic Ruins, Small Waterfalls, Important flora.

Overall Rating: B
Scenic Quality: B
Athleticism: C
Solitude: B
Value: A-

Parking: Free
Hours of Operation: Open Year Round, Sunlight Hours
Facilities: At Trail Head.
Maps: No Trail Marked, but very easy to follow except from the Ruins to the Covered Bridge.
County: Cobb

Sweetwater Creek

THE VANISHED TOWN OF NEW MANCHESTER map

People have been telling me for months, you “gotta go to Sweetwater Park.” And I’ve been putting it off because I’ve learned that nothing can live up to that much hype. (Also, since its only about 15 minutes outside the city, near Lithia Springs, I’d thought I’d save it for a weekend when I had little time to spare.) Well, I went and I can honestly say that I hadn’t had as much fun hiking in a very long time.

The trail (map here) has almost everything I want out of a good hike. A little history, something beautiful to see. It’s a little lacking in the athleticism of the trail meaning this is a good hike to take kids along, or if your just starting out or don’t get out much.

What it lacks in getting your heart to race due to physicality, it does another way. The Creek itself is littered with Thousands of tiny rocks (Much more extensive than the Palisades) that you can walk (and sometimes jump) across for at least a mile. My friend and I stayed out on the water jumping rock to rock for over an hour. This is why this trip was so enjoyable.

But wait there’s more: Sweetwater Creek is home to the ruins of the lost city of New Manchester. At its peak, the town boasted 500+ residents and was home to the New Manchester Manufacturing Company. The Factory was five stories high (Tallest building in the area at that time) and housed a 50,000 pound waterwheel to power the production. Much like the Roswell Mill, the Company had many orders to supply the Confederates during the Civil War and, much like Roswell, it became a target for General Sherman. (And much like Roswell, many of its women and children were taken away). All that remains is the remnants of the Factory, which stands as a centerpiece to the park.

A short distance after the ruins, you will come to a waterfalls area. The falls are short, and with the lack of water we are getting they are nothing spectacular. The cool thing is, with the rocks on the water, you can walk right up to it. It is still a picturesque sight (I took way more photos than I posted here, feel free to click into any of the photos to see the complete gallery)

Now from here you can double back, which will put your adventure at about 3-3.5 miles. Or you can continue on through the wildlife trail back to the trail head. This section is moderately strenuous and will cap the hike out at about 5.5 miles.

So if you here folks talk about Sweetwater as a great place to go, they are probably right. You can find a list of upcoming events at the park here, courtesy of the Friends of Sweetwater Creek.

Trail Essentials
Approximate Time: 4 hours (2.5 if you go to the falls and back)
Approximate Distance: 5.5 miles
Trail Surface: Compact Soil, Rocks
Features: Ruins, River Views, Small Waterfalls, River Rocks
Overall Rating: A-
Scenic Quality: A
Athleticism: C (B- if you go the full 5.5 distance)
Solitude: B
Value: A
Parking: $3 (Nov 2007)
Hours of Operation: Open Year Round, Sunlight Hours
Facilities: None
Maps: Posted at Trailhead, Maps available, or Trail Map (Trails are clearly blazed)
County: Douglas County

Concord Covered Bridge

HAUNTED BRIDGE OF COBB COUNTY...map

From Concord Cover...

There are 16 covered bridges left in the State of Georgia. All but two of them are within about two and a half hours of Atlanta. The only one in Atlanta that is still in use today is the Concord Covered Bridge (Alternately known as the Nickajack Creek Bridge) in Smyrna (Cobb County).


You can if you so choose drive your car across it. It has only one lane, being built in 1872, when cars were barely even thought of. It stands 131 feet long and 16 feet wide spanning the Nickajack Creek on Concord Road.


Now, I do plan on photographing all twelve Georgia Covered Bridges. But the reason I trekked to this one was because of what I read in Weird Georgia . Apparently, some people claim that its haunted.

The story goes something like this. If you park your car on the bridge, turn off your lights, and place a Snickers Bar on your roof, you will hear the scurrying of feet and hands on your car roof, and the Snickers bar will be gone because Snickers really satisfies the dead. It is supposedly the ghosts of some children, who drowned (or were drowned) in the creek below. Well that’s the story.


First problem, if you get your car onto the bridge at night, and turn off your lights, the road is busy enough that you will be either crashed into, or honked at to move before the ghostly kids can do their thing. Second Problem is that the Snickers bar will melt in the Atlanta heat on your car roof making a mess that even living children wouldn’t touch. I brought Snickers bar and the only thing it attracted was ants. If someone sees it differently let me know.


But, it is an interesting piece of Americana, with a Historic Marker sign. It is also very near the Historic Ruff’s Mill (where a civil war battle was fought), the Heritage Park Trail with great mill ruins, and the Silver Comet Trail for Biking enthusiasts.

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.