Calhoun County is blessed to have the longest paved rail
to trail project in the US running through its heart, connecting the cities of Piedmont,
Jacksonville, Weaver and Anniston. Cities like Anniston and Oxford are
developing bike share plans that include bike routes and lanes. In the meantime, you can see much of our County while staying on your bike.
Our part of the trail picks up 13 miles outside Piedmont at the State Line, where it connects
to Georgia's Silver Comet trail leading into Smyrna.
The City of Piedmont maintains this entire section, which
wanders through and along the edge of the Talladega National Forest and
includes beautiful views of Terrapin Creek, intersects with the Pinhoti Hiking
Trail and surrounds you with picturesque landscapes including Dugger Mountain. As you enter Piedmont, trail users frequent
the Eubanks Welcome Center, for the facilities or the hospitality and history
one finds there. The trail runs through Piedmont's quaint downtown, which
includes the infamous Solid Rock Cafe, with it's delicious occasional Sunday
buffet, menu favorites like Chicken Salad, and the always refreshing Powerade
slushie.
Continuing for about ten miles, trail users make their
way to Jacksonville, via Germania Springs Park. The trail then enters the
campus of Jacksonville State University, just a few hundred yards from many
notable restaurants like Cooter Brown's Rib Shack, Effina's, Java Jolt and much
more! Along the trail, the Jacksonville Train Depot, much like Eubanks, is another
stop that trail users frequent for facilities and may be asked to sign in for tracking trail visitors.
Making their way to the south, trail users pass the
Jacksonville Community Center, Jacksonville's Kitty Stone Elementary and
Jacksonville High, before entering Weaver. Near the community center as well as
the schools, users will notice trail spurs for locals to use in safely
accessing the trails. As they cross Weaver's Main Street, users will notice
Elwell Park, complete with parking adjacent to Weaver's Police Station, a great
trail head if trail users plan to leave their car over night.
While the trail currently goes a short distance into
Anniston, plans have been developed to continue the trail to what was once Fort
McClellan via a spur as well as completing the old rail-bed to the downtown
area, connecting users to Amtrak's Cresent Line Route in Anniston as well as
the Coldwater Mountain Bike Trails.
In addition, as one may notice on Strava and other route tracking
apps, there are also several road routes area cyclist frequent, including the Dugger
Mountain Wilderness, DeArmanville and Golden Springs, Skyline Drive at Cheaha
State Park and much more.
