What Are the Best Hiking Trails in Nashville?

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For hiking inside the city, the two big choices are the Warner Parks and Radnor Lake. The Warner Parks, Percy Warner and Edwin Warner, offer more than 60 miles of trails and paved roads. They include a red-blazed 4.5-mile primitive loop through hills, hollows, springs, and meadows in Percy Warner Park (Friends of Warner Parks). Radnor Lake State Natural Area in Oak Hill has five miles of unpaved trails through the woods around a lake. It is day use only, with no picnicking (Wikipedia). For flat, paved miles, Nashville has more than 110 miles of greenway paths, according to the nonprofit Greenways for Nashville (Greenways for Nashville). The best trail for you depends on whether you want hills, wildlife, or an easy paved walk.

Trails by What You Want

You want Trail or park Length Notes
hills and woods red-blazed loop, Percy Warner Park 4.5-mile loop moderate; walk, hike, bike
a longer day 5.75-mile loop, Edwin Warner Park 5.75-mile loop moderate; hike, walk, run
history underfoot Edwin Warner loop on part of the original Natchez Trace, over a rock quarry worked in the 1930s and 1940s during WPA stonework 2.5-mile loop moderate
old-growth forest, quiet Burch Reserve trail, Edwin Warner Park 3 miles dawn to dusk; no dogs, no trail runners
wildlife by a lake Radnor Lake trails about 5 miles in all day use only; no picnicking
an easy paved walk Allee Steps loop, Percy Warner Park 1.6-mile loop easy; stroller-friendly roads nearby
flat miles on a bike or on foot the city's greenways 110+ miles paved, multi-use

Sources: Friends of Warner Parks trails page; Wikipedia, Radnor Lake; Greenways for Nashville.

Before You Hike

  1. Check the rules for dogs, bikes, and horses on each trail; some Warner Parks loops ban dogs or bikes.
  2. Bring water and start early in hot months; weather by season is in what Nashville is like in summer.
  3. Read up on the park first: what Percy Warner Park is and what Radnor Lake is.

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