It’s Friday! Time for some weekend activity. Nashville offers several easy and safe hiking trails where you can enjoy the outdoors and spend quality time with family and friends. You can start hiking on trails that are less than 2-miles so you won’t be overwhelmed. When taking a hike always remember to plan ahead and prepare your gear. Here are a few safety tips to keep your hiking pleasurable and enjoyable.

Hiking Safety Tips

1: Never Hike Alone – Hiking in a group is much safer. If you get hurt then someone can help you out. To be safe have at least have three in a group. In case of an accident, one person can stay with the victim while the other goes for help. Also, hiking with a group will make it much more enjoyable. You get to learn from each other and conversing with someone will make you think less of the exhaustion you’re experiencing.

2: Choose the Proper Trail – Pick a trail that is in your skill or experience level. If you have just started hiking, don’t pick trails that are very difficult or long.

3: Know Where You’re Going – Always bring a map. You can search online to be familiar with the trail and read what other hikers say about it. It will also give you the idea of what plants or animals to avoid in the area.

4: Never Go Off the Trail – NEVER ever. This is the surest way to get lost. You are most likely to have an accident or get hurt if you go off the trail.

5: Respect Wildlife – The animals may look cute but these are not domesticated and are not used to humans.

6: Exercise Common Sense

7: Wear the Proper Footwear – wear hiking boots that offer protection to your feet.

9: Always Pack Food – Bring high protein foods. Even if it is just a short hike, always bring some food in case you’ll get hungry or you may experience some delay in your hike.

10: Always Carry a First Aid Kit

Hiking Trails

Anderson Road Fitness Trail

Length: 1.3 miles
Part of the Army Corps of Engineers’ Anderson Road Recreation Area, the trail is paved and winds through a cedar glade area beside Percy Priest Lake. View trail map.

Directions: From Nashville, take I-40 east 5 miles to exit 219 – Stewarts Ferry Pike, right on Stewarts Ferry Pike, straight on Bell Rd. 5 miles, left on Smith Springs Rd. 1 mile (there are Corps directional signs from this point), left on Anderson Rd. 1 mile. Turn left into the parking lot just past the entrance to the campground.

Couchville Lake Loop Trail

Length: 2 miles

This easy trail circles Couchville Lake, which lies adjacent to Percy Priest Lake at Long Hunter State Park. This trail is the most popular of the park’s trails, and it offers scenic views of the 110-acre Couchville Lake as it follows the shore. View trail map.

Directions: From Nashville, take I-40 East to Mt. Juliet Road, Exit 226-A. Go south (right) 6.2 miles to the main park entrance. Or, take I-24 east to Old Hickory Boulevard, Exit 62. Go north (left) on SR171, 6.4 miles to the main park entrance.

Old Hickory Nature Trail

Length: 1.5 miles
This 1.5 mile trail adjacent to the Old Hickory dam operated by the US Army Corps of Engineers consists of a 0.3 mile paved section that connects three short primitive nature trails. This easy walk is suitable for young children. Boardwalks allow hikers to travel through natural wetlands and a pond observation platform provides views of wildlife.

Directions: From Nashville, N on I-65 to Madison exit, E on TN 45 to the lake.

Shelby Bottoms Nature Park – West Loop Trail

Length: 1.8 miles
Shelby Bottoms Nature Park is an 810-acre linear park approximately three miles long and one-half mile wide. The Bottoms, which has a north and south entrance with parking areas and orientation signage, includes approximately eight miles of paved multiuse greenway trail and five miles of mulched trails, an observation platform, and river overlooks. View map.

Directions: Three miles northeast of downtown Nashville, in a section of the city referred to as East Nashville, along the west side of the Cumberland River, Davidson County, Tennessee. The main trailhead and entrance is at the end of Davidson Street, just east of the railroad trestle separating Shelby Park and Shelby Bottoms. Several signs mark the route to Shelby Bottoms.

Twin Forks Trail

Length: 1.5 miles
This hike makes a loop around the East Fork Recreation Area on the upper reaches of Percy Priest Lake. It will bring you back to where you started. East Fork refers to the East Fork Stones River. The trail has a few climbs and many obstacles, roots, rocks, limbs, etc. View map.

Directions: From downtown Nashville take I-24 east 19 miles to exit 70, left on Nissan Dr. 3 miles rt on 41 Murfreesboro Rd (toward Murfreesboro) left on Florence Rd. rt on Sulphur Springs Rd, go past Nices Mill, left on W. Buckeye Bottom Rd. look for, and follow signs to East Fork .

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