Cycling in Anniston & the Chief Ladiga Trail

Anniston is the western trailhead of a rail-trail bucket-lister: the Chief Ladiga Trail runs about 33 paved miles from Michael Tucker Park through the college town of Jacksonville and tiny Piedmont to the Georgia state line, where it fuses with the Silver Comet Trail for roughly 95 miles of continuous car-free pavement — one of the longest paved trail rides in America. The grade is old railroad flat, the scenery shifts from farm valleys to the pine ridges of the Talladega National Forest edge, and Rails-to-Trails named it a Trail of the Month in 2025.

This is a trail-town trip rather than a resort one. In Anniston, the restored Victorian Hotel Finial courts riders with in-room bike racks in its deluxe rooms and points guests to Wig’s Wheels, the Noble Street shop that rents comfortable Electra day bikes a half-mile from the trail’s southern end. Up the corridor in Piedmont, Elevated Grounds pairs espresso with $8-an-hour bike rentals (e-bikes too) right off the trail — a handy turnaround point or mid-ride refuel.

It suits first-time tourers and credit-card bikepackers especially well: flat mileage, towns spaced for water stops, and a straight shot toward Atlanta for point-to-point riders. Day riders can out-and-back to Jacksonville’s depot or Terrapin Creek near Piedmont.

Spring and fall are prime; summer rides should start early with bottles topped off in every trail town, and mild winters keep the corridor open year-round.