One Road Trip, Three Trails: Swamp Rabbit, Atlanta Beltline, and Silver Comet

Road Trip!

Last week I had a conference to attend in Atlanta.  I drove and, of course, took my bike.  This gave me the chance to check out three trails that had been on my must-ride list:  The Swamp Rabbit Trail in Greenville, SC, the Atlanta Beltline, and the Silver Comet Trail, just outside Atlanta.  Here is my report.  

Swamp Rabbit Trail, Greenville, SC 

The Swamp Rabbit Trail is a 28 mile network of trails around the city of Greenville, SC.  Ten years ago, the Rails to Trails Conservancy had an article about how successful the trail had been as a vehicle of economic development, with many businesses opening up alongside the trail.  I got off 85 onto 276.  (I parked at the lot of White Duck Tacos on Airport Rd.).  I hadn’t planned things very well, so I made a couple of wrong turns, but the access to the trail is easy from I-85. I was in a hurry to get to Atlanta so I only rode about 4 miles, but it was a really enjoyable trail and I look forward to having more time to ride on it!  I forgot to take my own pictures, so I give you a couple from Traillink here. I found out after I got back to Raleigh that one of my students lives nearby the trail and that she and her mom often ride the trail out to Traveler’s Rest, SC. 

Atlanta Beltline

The Atlanta Beltline is a work in progress that will be the active transport equivalent of the interstate beltlines which ring so many American cities.  It will be a 22 mile corridor which combines multi-use trails, parks, housing, and a wide variety of other destinations.  After my conference had more or less finished for the day, I rode my bike over to the eastern side of the Beltline.  It was a beautiful day and so many people were out—walking, biking, rollerblading.  You don’t take your bike here to ride fast.  At many places, I was riding at a walking pace.  The beltline encompassed so many destinations!  Restaurants, grocery stores, parks.  It was a wonderful experience to see so many people enjoying the outdoors.  

Pictures below show excellent signage;  Atlanta Botanical Garden, bikes parked near Trader Joes, and other destinations along the Beltline; lots of people out walking.

Silver Comet Trail

The Silver Comet is a 61.5 mile paved rail-trail that funds from Smyrna (north-west of Atlanta) to the Alabama state line, where it connects with the 34 mile Chief Ladiga Trail.  The Silver Comet is named for a train that ran on this route up until 1969.  Through the work of the Georgia Department of Transportation, local communities and foundations, the abandoned railroad line was converted into a rail trail whose Cobb County section opened in 2008.  Plans are in the works to connect the Silver Comet to the Atlanta Beltline.  

I took some time off the conference to check out the Silver Comet on Saturday morning.  I started out at the Florence Rd. trail head (milepost 11.7).  There was a big parking lot with around 20 cars parked.  I saw two men getting their gear together to ride and went over to talk to them.  One of them said that Atlanta was not a safe city to bike in and that he had decided to buy a house somewhere near the Silver Comet for biking reasons.  They also mentioned that closer to Atlanta the trail was often very crowded with walkers and bikers. Just as I was getting onto the trail I came across two young men riding along with heavy backpacks and some other gear.  I rode with them and we talked for a while.  They were two Georgia Tech students on spring break, who had started off from campus at 7 that morning and were planning a multiple day bikepacking trip over to Anniston, AL (near the end of the combined Silver Comet and Chief Ladiga Trail).  This was their first long distance overnight bike adventure. They were planning on doing around 80 miles on their first day. Good work Charles and Carson!  The trail was paved and basically flat.  There was a steady stream of people of all ages and ethnicities that either I passed or who passed me. One couple told me about a tunnel (the Brushy Mountain Tunnel), four miles from where we were.  They encouraged me to at least go that far.  When I got there, I ran into several groups of bikers congregated there.   All in all I did about 38 miles on the Silver Comet and was able to get to Atlanta to make the afternoon sessions of the conference!  

I could really see a weekend biking trip to Atlanta, combining both the Beltline and the Silver Comet—you just have to put up with some car traffic before you get on your bike.