The Silver Comet Trail

The Trail of Your Dreams

Imagine gliding along on your bike through the north Georgia countryside, crossing a 500-foot-long trestle over a rushing river below, winding between rock cliffs and weaving among tall stately pines. Imagine doing this without having to worry about cars and trucks. Now imagine doing this for 60 miles on one trail!

No, that's not a dream, it's the Silver Comet Trail. The trail begins at the intersection of South Cobb Drive and the East-West Connector in Smyrna, Georgia and runs all the way to the Alabama border. There it meets the Chief Ladiga trail in Alabama. For more information, please visit the TrailExpress site, which also provides directions to all the trailheads on the Silver Comet.

Building the Silver Comet

Soon after it was abandoned in 1989, various advocacy groups, elected officials, and individuals developed the concept of converting the railroad through Cobb, Paulding, and Polk Counties into a biking and jogging trail. The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) purchased the right-of-way as a potential commuter rail corridor and agreed to interim use as a trail.

In 1998, the PATH Foundation helped formulate a partnership between GDOT, Georgia State Parks, and all three counties. Public money for the project was administered by Georgia State Parks and private contributions were assembled by PATH. PATH also agreed to coordinate development and oversee construction of the trail, except in Cobb County, where the Cobb County DOT built the trail.

The Silver Comet is now complete to the Georgia/Alabama state line, and the Chief Ladiga Trail runs from the state line to Anniston, Alabama, providing a 95.5-mile-long continuous trail from Atlanta to Anniston.

For detailed maps of the Silver Comet, including parking, hospitals, restrooms, water, MARTA, and other points of interest, please order a copy of the Silver Comet Trail Guidebook.

We’ve also put together a guide to hotels and campgrounds along the Silver Comet and Chief Ladiga trails. Click the “Tripping” image below to download the guide.

For information on the Dasani Bikes bike checkout program, please contact the Rockmart Library at (770) 684-3022.

You may click on entries in the list below to download a PDF of each trail section. (The sections are listed from east to west.)

• Map 1 Highland Station Shopping Center to Floyd Road
• Map 2 Floyd Road to New Mackland Road
• Map 3 New Machland Road to Hiram
• Map 4 Hiram to Dallas
• Map 5 Dallas to Castle Rock Rest Stop
• Map 6 Castle Rock Rest Stop to Coot’s Lake Beach
• Map 7 Coot’s Lake Beach to Clarkwood Road
• Map 8 Clarkwood Road to Hutto Road
• Map 9 Hutto Road to Berry Road
• Map 10 Berry Road to Akes Station Road
• Map 11 Akes Station Road to StateLine Gateway Park