Georgia Wilderness Society
Rail Bike Trip
May 7,2026
A new adventure awaited three GWS members as we met up in downtown Blue Ridge, Georgia on 7 May, 2026. The sky was cloudy and the chance of rain was fairly high. But we lucked out with only an occasional mist. It turned out to be a great new experience for us.
Irene & I camped at Morganton Point Camp-ground Tuesday night through Friday morning. Terry and Rosemary Ross were there when we arrived Tuesday, but had to leave early the next morning. Holly Payne had also spent a couple of nights there, but had left just before we arrived. After setting up camp, we sat around with the Rosses a while, then all but Rosemary walked out to the beach to enjoy the beautiful view across the lake with the Blue Ridge mountains in the background. We had planned to dine at the marina restaurant, but could not raise them on the phone, so the four of us went to the Toccoa River Restaurant for dinner beside the river.
GWS On Rails
By trip leader Curt Cole
On Wednesday, Irene and I visited the shops in town and viewed the many beautiful photo-graphs that were displayed in the old courthouse. We never fail to visit this site, as it always has interesting art of some kind. Bonnie Gehling, who chose to stay in a motel, met us at Tipping Point Brewing for a drink and Karaoke (no, we did not sing.) Afterward, we had a delicious dinner at Southern Charm, which mostly serves country food.
The bikes have no floor board so the feet must be kept on the peddles all the time, although they freewheel when not peddling. We crossed a few bridges and ran beside Cherry Log Creek as we proceeded southwest. Other than geese and turkeys, we didn’t see much wildlife. Around 10:45, we came to the turnaround point which I believe was Lucius Road. Here, the two staff members placed a very lightweight turntable on the tracks and proceeded to spin the bikes around for the return trip.
There were roughly 8-10 railbikes used that day. Each had 4 seats. There were just the three of us on our “bike.” After a safety lecture, we began a bit after 10:00. We encountered 8 road or driveway crossings along our 5.5-mile route. We stopped at all crossings, and a staff member from the trailing bike would walk to the road crossings and flag us through. We passed the occasional house or business but for the most part it was a wooded route.
Thursday morning, we met Bonnie at the train depot, then strolled up to our railbikes. These are four-wheel railbikes (cars really) with peddle-assist, having plastic wheels and a small battery. We all expected to have to peddle some but soon found that peddling is not required. In fact, the vehicles go so fast that it isn’t practical to peddle when at top speed.
The return was uneventful but scenic. We stayed dry and the temperature was nice. Curt was elected to “drive” and all survived. Driving one of these simply consists of operating the thumb throttle and hydraulic brake lever, as on a conventional bike. Cost was about $66 each for the 90-minute, 11-mile round trip. All three of us declared we’d do it again. I have since found that another operator, in Andrews, NC, runs trips of 9 miles round trip for about the same price. I’m putting that on my to-do list. Other outfits operate these bikes around the country. Search on “rail bike tours.” Try it. You’ll love it.
