From the flat, rails-to-trails glide of the Silver Comet to the technical singletrack of the north Georgia mountains, the Peach State packs an astonishing amount of variety into two wheels. That’s why you can pedal past Civil-rights landmarks in the heart of Atlanta, roll along a converted railroad named for a racehorse in the west Georgia hills, or trace the Atlantic coast through maritime forest on a barrier island. Whether you’re chasing your first 10-miler, training for a big ride, or hunting berms, there’s a Georgia trail with your name on it.
Here are 21 of the best, spanning every corner of the state.
1. Silver Comet Trail
Best bikes: road or hybrid
If Georgia has a signature ride, this is it. The Silver Comet runs 61.5 paved, car-free miles from Smyrna, just northwest of Atlanta, west through Cobb, Paulding, and Polk counties to the Alabama state line. There it links up with Alabama’s 33-mile Chief Ladiga Trail, forming one of the longest continuous paved trail systems in the country at roughly 95 miles end to end. Built on a former rail corridor, it’s mostly flat and beginner-friendly near the eastern end, with gentle grades and tree cover the deeper you go. Multiple trailheads, bike rentals near Floyd Road, and rest stops make it easy to ride any distance you like.
2. Stone Mountain Trail
Best bikes: road or hybrid
This 19-mile PATH Foundation route connects Midtown Atlanta to Stone Mountain Park, threading together some of the region’s most significant sights along the way: the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park, the Carter Center, and the Fernbank Museum of Natural History, before delivering you to the granite dome itself. It’s a mix of protected off-street path and on-street bike lanes, so route-finding takes a little attention and there are a few honest climbs. Ride it and you’ll cover more Atlanta history and neighborhood texture than any car tour could offer.
3. Man O’ War Railroad Recreation Trail
Best bikes: road or hybrid
One of west Georgia’s finest rail-trails, the Man O’ War runs 13.5 immaculately paved miles through Harris County, from downtown Pine Mountain south through Hamilton to Mulberry Creek near Cataula. The name honors both the legendary racehorse and the Central of Georgia Railway’s Man O’ War passenger train, which once ran daily between Columbus and Atlanta. The ten-foot-wide asphalt path passes near Callaway Gardens and F.D. Roosevelt State Park, with five trailheads, mile markers, and informational kiosks along the way. Expect more elevation change than you’d guess from a rail-trail (500-plus feet total), which makes it a quiet favorite for training. It’s completely free, and an extension toward Columbus is slated for 2026–2027.
4. Atlanta BeltLine
Best bikes: hybrid or road
The BeltLine is reshaping how Atlanta moves. Built on a ring of former railroad corridors, this paved network will eventually form a 22-mile loop connecting 45 neighborhoods around the city core. The Eastside Trail is the most popular and liveliest stretch, lined with murals, breweries, parks, and patios. It’s flat, wide, and welcoming to families and first-timers, though it can get crowded on weekends. Come for the ride, stay for the food and people-watching.
5. Big Creek Greenway
Best bikes: road or hybrid
A leafy escape in Atlanta’s northern suburbs, the Big Creek Greenway stretches close to 20 miles across Alpharetta and Forsyth County on twelve-foot-wide concrete and boardwalk. It follows the natural line of Big Creek through forested corridors where you might spot deer, wild turkeys, or blue herons. Flat, shaded, and well-marked, it’s a go-to for a relaxed cruise or an easy training loop close to the city.
6. Firefly Trail
Best bikes: road or hybrid
This growing rail-trail connects Athens to the small town of Union Point along a historic rail corridor, with about 12 miles currently open of an eventual ~39-mile route. Paved and gentle, the Firefly Trail passes trestles, farmland, and classic small-town Georgia scenery. It’s a favorite of the college-town cycling crowd and a great example of a community steadily building out its trail mile by mile.
7. Arabia Mountain PATH
Best bikes: road or hybrid
Just east of Atlanta near Lithonia, the Arabia Mountain PATH winds about 12 miles through the Davidson-Arabia Mountain Nature Preserve, a surreal landscape of exposed granite monadnocks, rare plant life, and quiet woodlands. The paved trail rolls past lakes and the moon-like rock outcrops that make this preserve unlike anywhere else in the state. It’s an easy, family-friendly ride with genuinely unusual scenery.
8. Chattahoochee RiverWalk (Columbus)
Best bikes: road or hybrid
Columbus has quietly become one of Georgia’s best cycling cities, and the RiverWalk is the centerpiece. This roughly 15-mile paved path traces the Chattahoochee River past historic mill buildings, downtown, and near the city’s famous whitewater course. Flat and scenic, it’s ideal for an unhurried ride with plenty of places to stop, refuel, and watch the river go by.
9. Columbus Fall Line Trace
Best bikes: road or hybrid
The RiverWalk’s partner in the Dragonfly Trails network, the Fall Line Trace runs about 10.5 miles on a former rail line through Columbus. Together the two trails give the city more than 20 continuous miles of paved riding and have Columbus positioned to become a genuine cycling destination. The Trace is flat, paved, and links neighborhoods, parks, and schools across town.
10. Carrollton GreenBelt
Best bikes: road or hybrid
The GreenBelt is a rare gem: a fully paved, roughly 19-mile loop that completely encircles the city of Carrollton in west Georgia. Because it’s a continuous circuit, you can hop on anywhere and ride as far as you like without backtracking. It connects parks, campus, neighborhoods, and greenspace, and it’s become a point of civic pride and a model for what a mid-sized Georgia city can build.
11. Cricket Frog Trail
Best bikes: road or hybrid
Running about 15 miles through Rockdale County, the Cricket Frog Trail is a paved rail-trail that links Conyers and the surrounding area, including a connection near the Georgia International Horse Park. It’s flat, easygoing, and a good option for riders in Atlanta’s eastern suburbs looking for uninterrupted miles.
12. Augusta Canal Trail
Best bikes: gravel, hybrid, or mountain
Along Georgia’s eastern edge, the Augusta Canal Trail follows the towpath of a historic 19th-century industrial canal through the Augusta Canal National Heritage Area. About 8 miles of packed natural surface and pavement trace the water past old mills and wooded banks. Because much of the towpath is unpaved, wider tires are your friend here. It’s a flat, history-rich ride, and you can pair it with a canal boat tour if you want to make a day of it.
13. Jekyll Island Trail
Best bikes: hybrid or gravel
For coastal riding, it’s hard to beat Jekyll Island. A network of loops and connectors adds up to roughly 20–25 miles crisscrossing this 5,700-acre barrier island, taking you past wide beaches, maritime forest, a wildlife-viewing tower, and the island’s Historic Landmark District. Surfaces range from asphalt and concrete to boardwalk and crushed stone, so a hybrid or gravel bike handles it all best. The riding is flat and beginner-friendly, bike rentals are easy to find, and it’s slated to connect into the broader East Coast Greenway.
14. Suwanee Creek Greenway
Best bikes: road or hybrid
This peaceful Gwinnett County greenway runs several miles through forest on a mix of boardwalk and pavement, connecting toward the Ivy Creek Greenway for a longer, mostly flat outing. the Suwanee Creek Greenway is well-signposted and shaded nearly the whole way, with restrooms at both ends, making it a reliable choice for a calm suburban ride. Just take care on the wooden boardwalk sections after rain.
15. Peachtree City Golf Cart Paths
Best bikes: hybrid or road
Peachtree City is unlike anywhere else in Georgia: roughly 90 miles of multi-use golf-cart paths lace the entire town, so you can bike to schools, shops, parks, and lakes almost entirely car-free. Locals use them for everything, and for visitors it’s a genuinely novel way to explore a whole city on two wheels. Bring a map, or just wander, that’s part of the fun.
16. Aska Adventure Area
Best bikes: mountain
Time to head into the mountains. Near Blue Ridge in the Chattahoochee National Forest, the Aska Adventure Area offers about 17 miles of interconnected singletrack. Expect steep climbs, spine-tingling descents, stream crossings, and high-elevation views over the Blue Ridge, with a range of technical rock-and-root sections. It’s a north Georgia classic and a rite of passage for mountain bikers in the region.
17. Allatoona Creek Park
Best bikes: mountain
Billed as Georgia’s largest purpose-built mountain bike trail system, Allatoona Creek Park in Acworth packs 30-plus miles of singletrack into the metro Atlanta area, ranging from fast and flowy to rocky and technical, plus jump lines and a pump track. There’s something for every skill level, and the volunteer-maintained trails host the popular Voodoo Race each summer. Remarkably close to the city for how much riding it offers.
18. Bear Creek & Pinhoti (“Bearhoti”)
Best bikes: mountain
Deep in the Chattahoochee National Forest near Ellijay, the beloved “Bearhoti” loop combines the Bear Creek Trail with sections of the Pinhoti for an 18.5-mile ride with about 1,800 feet of climbing. Highlights include technical singletrack, multiple stream crossings, and the Gennett Poplar, a 400-year-old giant that’s worth the trip on its own. The broader Pinhoti stretches 100-plus miles across northwest Georgia for those chasing a bigger backcountry adventure.
19. Georgia International Horse Park
Best bikes: mountain
In Conyers, the Georgia International Horse Park is home to the mountain bike course built for the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, the first Olympic MTB course in history. With roughly 1,000 feet of elevation change packed into its layout, it remains a challenging, fast course with real pedigree, plus miles of additional trails on site. Riding where Olympians raced is a nice bucket-list check.
20. Chehaw Park
Best bikes: mountain
Down in Albany in south Georgia, Chehaw Park offers 10-plus miles of family-friendly mountain bike trails winding through natural pine landscape, alongside a nationally accredited zoo, disc golf, and camping. The trails are approachable for newer off-road riders while still being fun, making it a great destination for a family outing where not everyone is a hardcore cyclist.
21. Cartecay River Loop
Best bikes: mountain
Rounding out the list, the Cartecay River Loop near Ellijay holds a special title: it’s often cited as the oldest mountain bike trail in Georgia. This short but punchy 3.75-mile loop mixes single and double track with a technical downhill descent to the Cartecay River. It’s a fitting bookend, a reminder of where Georgia’s mountain biking scene began, in a region now billed as the mountain-biking capital of the state.
A Note on Gravel Trails
My gravel enthusiasts have probably noticed the lack of gravel options in this list. However, Georgia has some of the best gravel riding in the Southeast, actually. It just didn’t surface in the article because this list is built around named, mapped trails, and Georgia’s gravel scene is mostly route-based rather than trail-based. The north Georgia mountains are a mecca for road and gravel cycling, but the “trail” is really the enormous web of Forest Service roads threading through the Chattahoochee National Forest — you follow a GPX route, not a signed path, which is why it doesn’t fit a rail-trail focused list.
Plan Your Ride
Georgia’s trails range from stroller-friendly greenways to expert singletrack, so match the trail to your goals and check current conditions before you go, since sections of newer rail-trails are still being extended and storms can occasionally leave debris or downed trees. Pack plenty of water (many of these routes have limited shade in the summer heat), start early to beat crowds and temperatures, and always let someone know your route on the more remote mountain rides.
However you ride, there’s never been a better time to explore Georgia on two wheels. Pick a trail, pump up your tires, and go find out why so many riders call the Peach State home.
