Johnny Molloy - 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: Nashville: Including Clarksville, Gallatin, Murfreesboro, and the Best of Middle Tennessee

Dedication

This book is dedicated to the people of Nashville and Middle Tennessee, whether theyre natives or transplants.

60 HIKES WITHIN 60 MILES: NASHVILLE

Copyright 2022, 2016, 2010, 2007, and 2002 by Johnny Molloy

All rights reserved

Printed in the United States of America

Published by Menasha Ridge Press

Distributed by Publishers Group West

Fifth edition, first printing

Project editor: Ritchey Halphen

Cover and interior design: Jonathan Norberg

Cartography: Steve Jones and Johnny Molloy

Cover photos: ( Front ) Bluff Trail, Harpeth River State Park (see ); all Johnny Molloy

Interior photos: Johnny Molloy, except where noted

Copy editor: Kerry Smith

Proofreader: Emily C. Beaumont

Indexer: Meghan Miller Brawley/Potomac Indexing

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Molloy, Johnny, 1961 author.

Title: 60 hikes within 60 miles, Nashville / Johnny Molloy.

Other titles: Sixty hikes within sixty miles, Nashville

Description: 5th edition. | Birmingham, AL : Menasha Ridge Press, 2022. | Includes index. | Summary: Hike near Nashville, Tennessee, on 60 of the areas best trails! The best way to experience Nashville is by hiking it. Get outdoors with veteran Tennessee outdoorsman Johnny Molloy, with the full-color edition of 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: Nashville. A perfect blend of popular trails and hidden gems, the selected hikes transport you to scenic overlooks, wildlife hot spots, and historical settings that renew your spirit and recharge your body. Provided by publisher.

Identifiers: LCCN 2021023029 (print) | LCCN 2021023030 (ebook) | ISBN 978-1-63404-340-3 (pbk.) | ISBN 978-1-63404-341-0 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: HikingTennesseeNashville RegionGuidebooks. | TrailsTennesseeNashville RegionGuidebooks. | Nashville Region (Tenn.)Guidebooks.

Classification: LCC GV199.42.T22 N376 2022 (print) | LCC GV199.42.T22 (ebook) | DDC 796.5109768/55dc23

LC record available at lccn.loc.gov/2021023029

LC ebook record available at lccn.loc.gov/2021023030

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Birmingham, Alabama 35233

Visit menasharidge.com for a complete listing of our books and for ordering information. Contact us at our website, at facebook.com/menasharidge, or at twitter.com/menasharidge with questions or comments. To find out more about who we are and what were doing, visit blog.menasharidge.com.

DISCLAIMER Though the author and publisher have made every effort to ensure that the information in this book is accurate at press time, they are not responsible for any loss, damage, injury, or inconvenience that may occur while using this bookyou are responsible for your own safety and health on the trail. The fact that a hike is described in this book does not mean that it will be safe for you. Always check local conditions (which can change from day to day), know your own limitations, and consult a map.

For the latest information about destinations in this book that have been affected by the coronavirus, please check the phone numbers and websites in the trip profiles. For news and updates about the coronavirus in Tennessee, see covid19.tn.gov.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Map Legend

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to thank my wife, Keri Anne, and the hardworking folks at Menasha Ridge Press for all their help in making this fifth edition a reality.

Johnny Molloy

We wish to acknowledge the Indigenous tribes of Tennesseethe original custodians of its lands for millennia.

The Publishers

Hikers stand at the mouth of historic Dunbar Cave (see ) .

FOREWORD

Welcome to Menasha Ridge Presss 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles, a series designed to provide hikers with the information they need to find and hike the very best trails surrounding metropolitan areas.

Our strategy is simple: First, find a hiker who knows the area and loves to hike. Second, ask that person to spend a year researching the most popular and very best trails around. And third, have that person describe each trail in terms of difficulty, scenery, condition, elevation change, and other categories of information that are important to hikers. Pretend youve just completed a hike and met up with other hikers at the trailhead, we tell each author. Imagine their questions; be clear in your answers.

An experienced hiker and writer, Johnny Molloy has selected 60 of the best hikes in and around the Nashville metropolitan area. From the rail trails and urban hikes that make use of parklands and streets, to flora- and fauna-rich treks along the numerous area lakes and hills in the hinterlands, to aerobic outings in the mountains, Johnny provides both hikers and walkers with a great variety of hikesall within roughly 60 miles of Nashville.

Youll get more out of this book if you take a moment to read the Introduction () will help you understand how useful topos can be on a hike and will tell you where to get them. Though this is a where-to rather than a how-to guide, experienced hikers and novices alike will find the Introduction of particular value.

As much for the opportunity to free the spirit as to free the body, let these hikes elevate you above the urban hurry.

All the best,

The Editors at Menasha Ridge Press

PREFACE

Welcome to the fifth edition of 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: Nashville . Ive added several new hikes to the latest incarnation of this hiking guide. The state of hiking in metro Music City continues to improve. New trailsincluded in this bookhave been constructed and greenways expanded. Beyond hiking, Nashville is best known as the capital of country music and of Tennessee. Situated in the Cumberland River Valley and surrounded by hills of the Highland Rim, Nashville and its environs are nothing if not historic. In fact, many of the trails included in this guidebook have a historic bent, allowing visitors to walk both in nature and back in time.

Nashvilles first white settlers floated to the location on flatboats from East Tennessee. They headed down the Tennessee River, then up the Ohio and Cumberland Rivers to reach the area that would become the city, which is located near a large river-side flat where American Indians had been living for millennia. Simultaneously, long huntersearly pioneers who went on extended hikespenetrated the basin from the east to find plentiful game attracted by the areas natural salt licks.

Early in its history, Nashville became the northern terminus of the Natchez Trace, a trade and transportation route connecting the city with Natchez, Mississippi, 444 miles to the southwest. In the early 1800s, boatmen walked north from Natchez after floating their crops and goods downriver from the Cumberland River Valley, the Ohio River Valley, and points north. Later, simple farmers settled in the Nashville Basin, opening what was then the west by clearing fields and building walls of stone that are now a Middle Tennessee hallmark. Slave labor was also essential in much of Tennessee's early development.