New trail opening brings Coldwater Mountain in Anniston, Alabama, to about 50 miles of singletrack

The hopes for Coldwater Mountain in Anniston, Alabama, have been ambitious since the very beginning. In 2012, IMBA Trail Solutions drew up plans for 60 miles of trails at the site, with a goal of making Coldwater “into a world-class mountain biking destination over the next 3-5 years.”

Thirteen years on, Coldwater Mountain boasts about 50 56.5 miles of singletrack and has just landed the first Leadville qualifying mountain bike race east of the Mississippi, dubbed the “Coldwater Trail.” Over a million dollars was invested in trails recently, delivering a mix of new and improved singletrack with an eye toward moving the region from an IMBA Bronze-level Ride Center to Silver.

Another $1.1M for trails

Since 2012, about $4M has been invested in the trails at Coldwater Mountain, according to the former President of Northeast Alabama Bicycle Association (NEABA), Tom Nelson. Last year, Innovate Alabama decided to invest $1.1M at Coldwater, and a Coldwater Expansion committee was formed to decide how the money would be spent. The committee “was comprised of several individuals that represented different groups within the cycling community in the area,” according to Ross H. Martin of nearby Jacksonville State University. “We had a public input meeting and conducted a poll to help us make the best decisions with the money.”

Funds were earmarked to construct new trails and rework some of the more popular, signature trails like Bomb Dog. Professional trail builders from Rock Solid Trails and Anniston-based Flow Motion were contracted to complete the majority of the work, with volunteers chipping in to handle the rest.

Southern Traverse opens a whole new zone to trail development

The most ambitious upgrade to Coldwater is the newly opened Southern Traverse trail, an 8.5-mile-long, intermediate-level singletrack connector that spans from one end of the property to the other. The new bi-directional trail starts near the bottom of Bomb Dog and traverses the south side of Coldwater Mountain until it reaches the Oval Office trail. Hence, the name, Southern Traverse.

But don’t let that fool you; this trail has plenty of ups and downs along the way! If you ride it in the direction I did, the trail gains 985ft of elevation and drops 870ft overall. (Coldwater boasts almost 1,000ft of vertical between the high and low points in the trail system.) Most will ride Southern Traverse to create a loop with existing trails like Chilhowhee, and of course Bomb Dog, for a 20+ mile ride. And that’s not all.

Southern Traverse will “allow us to start connecting trails up to the top of the ridge,” Nelson told me. “There’s a lot of property over there.”

Riding all the trails at Coldwater Mountain today would easily clock 50+ miles with very little doubling back. With fresh access to the south side of the property, the original 60-mile trail vision is surely within striking distance.

The Flow Motion build team started at one end of the trail, and Rock Solid at the other. The two teams cut trail until they met in the middle. All told, the 8.5-mile trail was completed in less than nine months.

There wasn’t any signage when I rode the Southern Traverse trail on April 3, but all major construction, including rock work, appeared to be complete. Massive bench cuts allow the trail to hug the sides of the mountain, and the trail builders used large rocks to create optional features to keep things interesting.

The new trail corridor appears to be cut a bit wider than some of the existing trails at Coldwater, and Nelson tells me that’s by design to make the system more race-friendly for passing, at least in places. Plus, it’s pretty common for a new trail corridor to shrink over time as vegetation returns and riders establish the preferred line.

Like the other trails at Coldwater, the Southern Traverse trail is open to electric mountain bikes.

Classic favorites like Bomb Dog are being re-worked

Signature trail Bomb Dog was among the first trails to open at Coldwater, and it’s remained a favorite. The blue trail is a must-ride for first-time visitors, and as a result, it sees a lot of wear and tear. A portion of the $1.1M grant is being used to rebuild part of upper Bomb Dog, including the iconic “berm with a view” as seen in the photo above, to make the trail more sustainable.

A new jump line is also being built, as seen above, and should be open soon. “The new jump line intersects Baby Bear but is an independent trail that parallels the Bomb Dog climb back up to Baby Bear,” Nelson said. “This allows people to session the jump line with the parallel climb up the end of Bomb Dog.”

To ensure the Coldwater Trail race runs smoothly, a tunnel is being constructed at a crucial trail intersection. The club plans to tackle this project on their own, using volunteers to get the massive sectional culvert system in place and backfilled with dirt.

Destination: upgrade

With these and other investments, Anniston is hoping to earn an IMBA Silver Ride Center designation. Birmingham, about an hour to the west, is working toward the same goal.

Local advocates are hoping to attract even more riders, and not just to Coldwater. With the support of the Oxford Cycling Association, a jump track is being built beside a baseball field in nearby Oxford, and the trails at McClellan regularly host high school mountain bike races for riders from all over the state.

Once the Coldwater Trail race rolls into town in October, most, if not all, of these upgrades should be complete, making backers’ grand 2012 vision all but official: Anniston is finally a world-class mountain bike destination!