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The Chief Ladiga Trail is a paved rail trail of about 39 miles that runs northeast from downtown Anniston through Weaver, Jacksonville and Piedmont to the Georgia line, where it joins the Silver Comet Trail. The route follows the old Seaboard Air Line grade, so the grade never gets steeper than a gentle rail climb. The Calhoun County miles cross farm country, wetlands and the Jacksonville State University campus. Beyond Piedmont the trail enters the Talladega National Forest, crosses Terrapin Creek on former railroad trestles, passes below Dugger Mountain and crosses the Pinhoti Trail on its way to State Line Gateway Park. Mile markers count up from the state line.
Chief Ladiga Trail
Your comfort. Prognosticated.
-Cory
In a typical year the Chief Ladiga Trail has about 105 to 164 days of excellent weather for popular activities such as hiking, birding, e-biking, biking, dog walking, walking, and running, with March, October, and November the best months.
Hourly comfort scores for the next 15 days of weather, tuned to your activity and your own thresholds.
Plan your visit to this trail. Get the best windows for a comfortable outing.
Enjoy the Chief Ladiga Trail!
In half of past years, color along the Chief Ladiga Trail peaks November 3 to 12, typically around November 8. The trail has 35% deciduous coverage, with the majority being chestnut oak, sweetgum, white oak, pignut hickory, yellow-poplar, and southern red oak.
A narrow gauge East and West Railroad train first ran this corridor in October 1882, linking Broken Arrow, Alabama with Esom Hill, Georgia. Chief Ladiga, a Muscogee leader, signed the Treaty of Cusseta in 1832 and gave up the Creek Nation's remaining lands in east Alabama. He then sold half of his own land to speculators for two thousand dollars, and that tract became Jacksonville. The Seaboard Air Line bought the East and West in 1902 and finished its link to Birmingham by 1904. From May 1947 the Seaboard's stainless steel Silver Comet streamliner rolled through here with sleepers, lounges and diners. The Silver Comet made its last run in June 1969. Later freight customers included the Army at Fort McClellan. In 1989 CSX gave notice that it would abandon the line. The Calhoun County Commission and the City of Piedmont bought the first 22 miles of the corridor in 1990 with a Land and Water Conservation Fund grant. A 1993 ISTEA grant paid for the first 8.9 miles of pavement. Weaver and Jacksonville opened their sections in 1998. Cleburne County finished its nine miles in 2007, and in 2008 a gateway at the state line joined the trail to Georgia's Silver Comet Trail. Rails to Trails Conservancy inducted the pair into its Hall of Fame in 2009. In April 2025 Anniston completed a 6.5 mile extension into its downtown, bringing the trail to about 39 miles.
Silver Comet TrailPinhoti Trail
