Explore the best rated trails in Elberton, GA, whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the Heritage Trail (SC) and Cambridge Gateway Trail . With more than 12 trails covering 40 miles you're bound to find a perfect trail for you. Click on any trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
Thought I’d provide some clarity here, as the Firefly Trail is pretty disconnected and there are few trail amenities, but it has a lot of potential: Dudley Park near downtown serves as both the trail head of the Athens side and as the nexus for both the Firefly Rail Trail and the North Oconee River Greenway (so you can extend your ride in Athens by adding the Greenway). After parking, follow the trail along the river (or take a shortcut up through the woods) to reach the Firefly Rail Trail. You’ll see a bathroom, water fountain, and picnic pavilion for the park. Just off the trail there’s a bike repair station. Note: restrooms are locked in the evening and the water fountains are winterized in colder months. There’s no lighting on the trail. The Trail Creek aka rebuilt “Murmur” trestle and the bridge over the North Oconee are the highlights here. The Firefly trail is currently in segments spaced far from each other: Athens side - 2.9 miles Winterville - 1.5 miles Maxeys - 1.1 mile Woodville to Union Point - 6.5 miles The shady, three-mile connection between Athens and Winterville should be complete in spring of 2026, provided the final easements can be acquired. None of the other segments have reliable trail amenities and the towns are all very, very small. In Winterville, Pittard Park has bathrooms that may be open. In Woodville, about a mile past the trailhead, there’s public bathroom behind CJ’s BBQ that’s sometimes open. The longest segment of the Firefly Trail is actually from Woodville to Union Point, at just under 7 miles one-way, partially shaded. The Woodville trail head is just a parking lot right now and is easy to miss if you aren’t GPSing it. The trail head at Union Point is pretty but there’s no facilities currently. I recommend a trip into town… “The Point” is a grocery store/restaurant open 7 days a week, even on Easter. For now it’s your best bet for beverages and a snack on this segment. When complete, the Firefly Trail will be about 40 miles from Athens to Union Point. Check back to see the progress.
If you park at the Sandy Creek Nature center, you can ride this trail and then join the Firefly Trail, which has the new bridge in place, and ride all the way to Winterville. The Firefly portion of the trail passes a convenience/gas store if you need water/food/bathroom. At that juncture you can also turn right, cross Lexington Road and continue on a trail into UGA, or towards East Athens on the other fork. This you can get a good 2-3 hr ride using all spurs.
Enjoyed a great ride on the trail with friends. We parked at Sandy Creek Nature Center and road all the way till it ended at Carriage Lane. It’s completely paved, it was our 1st trip so we did get a little confused but had no problems navigating back to where we started. We ended up with 14+ miles round trip which made for a great ride. Lots of other cyclists, walkers, and runners. But not crowded on the day we went during the week. Highly recommend
Wanted to provide a more recent review. Rode most of the trail yesterday with my wife. It is well marked, well maintained and beautiful ride. The path is hard pack - not concrete or black top so it is not super smooth. There are several things to see and placards to read that explain the features of the old railroad. Also a cemetery from the 1700s and a fun tressel towards the end. The only negatives were that my wife thought there were too many roots. There are roots and I rode a mountain bike so I didn’t really notice them as ‘bad”. Also there is about a 2.5 mile section you have to ride on the road in the middle. It is a country road and traffic was lite and the cars were respectful of us and rode slowly around us. There were benches and picnic tables along the route if you wanted to stop and just sit for a while. We only saw 2 other people walking their dogs. It was a fun trail for novice riders not looking for single track. Enjoy -
The trail now connects downtown Athens to Winterville road. It's a fun couple miles to bike or hike on smooth pavement the whole way. There are water fountains and benches as well. Lots of fun to connect the Firefly to the North Oconee Greenway and bike about 10 miles around Athens!
Parts of it were very pretty, and overall pretty well maintained (but with a fair amount of roots in some areas). But about 1/3 of the 9 miles were on roads with no shoulder. Not busy roads, but not what we expected of a “rail trail”. Also a lot of spiderwebs on the trail.
Great trail. Listed as closed, figured that we would just be out the drive if it was closed. Could never figure out why it is listed that way. It is beautiful and well maintained.
This trail is great place for the serious runner to do time trials, which is probably why it is used for a few local races. It's mostly flat with only one incline. Some people are scared of running here because of a quarter mile stretch through a rough-looking neighborhood but after running here weekly for 18 years I've never had a problem. The surface is blacktop and has only a few small patches where freezing has caused the surface to heave up. I like to park near the fountain in uptown Greenwood and run the sidewalk south for a half mile until I hit the trail at the railroad museum. Alternatively, I like to park at the end at Florida Avenue. You can tack on extra mileage by running through Mathews Mill Village or around uptown Greenwood. There is a water fountain near Howard's on Main, just a few hundred yards of the fountain. I wish the city and county cared more about this trail and maintained it regularly - they only seem to pay attention to it before the Festival of Flowers in June.
I run on this trail regularly. There are good places to park at the western end of the trail, near the depot, and at the Boozer Complex playing fields. The trail is mostly covered with grass and gravel now but if you run slowly it's pretty good. If you don't mind running on the road a good way to extend the run is to continue on the asphalt surface past the Boozer Complex, cross route 34 and then go down Eddy Road where there is very little traffic. There is a restroom at the Boozer Complex and a water fountain that sometimes works.
We got short rides going north and south from Spring Street entrance. The trial was broken up with highway construction projects. I’m sure trail is beautiful but check first as heavy equipment was everywhere.
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