Hello, thought I’d drop a message in here discussing the trail I rode yesterday (Sunday 8-10-08). I have lived down here in Lee County for 6 years and only just now discovered it. There is a portion of the Bartram trail in Macon County located in the Tuskegee National Forest, between the cities of Auburn and Tuskegee, AL.
The trail is for hiking and biking. It is a very well marked trail, extremely easy to follow. There are some hills that get your dander up. A fair amount of erosion on the hills make them more difficult than they otherwise would be.
There were several fallen trees across the trail in places. Most of them were easy enough to hop over. One or two of them I had to stop and lift my bike over. One I attempted to hop and didn’t quite make, resulting in a minor tumble
. The area is heavily wooded so there are a fair amount of tree roots. Although, not as many roots as the other trail I have nearby, (Flat Rock Park, Columbus, GA).
The trail surface changes often from packed earth to soft sand to gravel. If you aren’t paying attention this could result in some ground time. There is one section where even though the trail is well worn the foliage on either side crowds in making it hard to see what the trail is doing beneath you. The low visibility, changing surface composition and erosion irregularities can lead to a fall or two
.
All in all it was a challenging ride for me. I started at the Ranger station off highway 186 on Forest Service Road 949 and road East towards Highway 29, crossing FS roads 905, 906, and 908. Total round trip was 7.5 miles according to my GPS. It took me 1.5 hours to complete. I know that is probably a pitiful time by some standards. My bike is a 15 year old Specialized Hard Rock with no shock absorption whatsoever. Someone with a better bike and in better condition than me might consider it an easy trail. My butt, and I will call it moderate. For reference I consider the MB trail at the entrance to Cheaha SP difficult.
There isn’t much extra special about the trail other than according to Google Earth someone once saw Bigfoot half a mile north of the trail. I brought my camera just in case but for now I’m still saving for retirement
. You will see a lot of piney hill tops and hardwood bottoms. It does beat moping around the house on a Sunday afternoon staring at the grass that needs to be cut.
