Beaman Park — Attraction in Nashville-Davidson

Recent find but a great casual day hike without driving sooo far outside of Nashville. Felt very safe on trails and park upkeep very good. Parking somewhat limited so go early? Have been fortunate to get last available parking spot on the two occasions we’ve hiked here. The first time we went we parked at Nature Center—if you check website they have listing of events like guided hikes, talks and even yoga in park. We (my son, his bestie and me) did “Pollinator hike” meeting at nature center for introduction and then guided hike from there going over some of the wildflowers, history of park and mechanisms of pollination within local ecosystem. Isaiah was our guide—very knowledgeable, funny and positive attitude. Definitely had a great day/intro to park. The next time we navigated to the entrance (yes, this was necessary, it is a LARGE piece of land with multiple entrances) where we had option of 3-4 different trails, pretty sure we did Highland Loop, but wouldn’t swear to—that might be the 12 mile hike and ours was only a bit over 2. Trails are well-marked with color spots on trees subtly identifying which way to go at forks in trail. All the trails were well-travelled and definitely had been groomed of some of debris (branches, etc) from recent heavy storms. Plenty of chances to take a break by stream and skip stones. Very family-friendly, saw many on trails with small children along way. Didn’t encounter any major waterfalls or exotic caves like Ive found hours out if town but for the 30 min drive it’s great to get into nature and clear mind, also nice that there are short loops and longer trails well-outlined. Definitely a treat to leave civilization without hours roundtrip of driving...

This review is from a trail running point of view.

First time running the Beaman trails starting at Highland Trail head.

We did a 7 mile loop. I believe you can get about 11 or 12 miles running the entire loop. Not sure on that though.

My experience initially was "wow this is easy!". Nice gentle hills for the first few miles, easy terrain to navigate. Mostly gravel, some roots. Beautiful scenery, very woodsy. Ok, so into mile 4 we started seeing lots of incline. Our total elevation gain according to my garmin 1237 ft. By mile 5 I was thinking I'd like to be done! But we forged on, still many more hills to climb, luckily they are fairly short, good leg burners. I run Percy Warner trails often so I'm used to the white loop 2.5 miles and the red loop 4.5 miles. I can pretty much run those without stopping, slow pace. I couldnt do that after mile 5 here, we walked the hills for mile 6 and 7. Overall i really enjoyed the run. Our run started at 7am on a Saturday morning. Very little activity, only saw a few other folks. Several creek crossings in the 7 mile loop so that's fun. The trails were in good condition, not muddy. I imagine during a rain it gets muddy.

Looking forward to...

Beautiful place to hike! The Creekside Trail follows the bank of the beautiful Horton Creek that is shallow with a smooth rock bottom. There is easy access to the water. On the opposite side huge bluffs overlook the stream. Rock formations of limestone and shale are common along the trails. The park is a favorite hiking area in the spring because of the huge variety of wildflowers including some on the endangered list. All 3 trails are listed as moderate, and we found that to be accurate. There are exposed roots and the conditions can be very slippery after a rain. The trails have many narrow sections where hikers have to be considerate and allow others to pass. Dogs on leashes are allowed, but be sure your dog is physically fit enough to handle the hike. Please be kind and pick up after your dog. A hiking stick is helpful because of the terrain. Beaman Park is much less crowded than Warner Parks. IMO the areas we hiked are not very handicap accessible past the Initial Creekside Trail entrance off Little Marrowbone Rd. It’s also not stroller friendly. We saw backpacker baby carriers being used. We love the park and will return. Next time we will try the entrance next to the...