My report on Beaman Park

beamantrails

Beaman Park is a new park in Nashville. The land was donated a decade ago, and the park was dedicated in 1999, but only it only opened officially last year. Trails are still being developed, and a nature center is slated to be built.

Not unlike Shelby Park, the park doesn’t have a very good web presence, but whoever is in charge of park development seems to be doing a great job. Everything is clearly named, and the signage is excellent. If you want to see a map, click here.

When you drive in, you are immediately confronted with a fork in the road. One way goes to the Creekside trailhead (which is, guess what, next to the creek). The other goes to the Highland trailhead (which seems to be the park’s highest point). From either one you can access the 2.1 mile Henry Hollow loop trail, which goes down into a hollow where the creek runs. The Highland trailhead provides easier access to the Ridgetop trail (you can guess where this trail goes by now, right?).

The two trails are one leaving the Highland parking lot. If you go counterclockwise, shortly you come to a sign that basically tells you a shortcut to the Ridgtop trail departs from the right. You then come to another sign, where the main trails diverge, the Henry Hollow trail turning left. You are walking along a ridgetop, which has pretty good views this time of year. Then the trail starts to switchback downhill to the creek. You follow the creek for a while, before coming to another sign that announces the Creekside trailhead. From there it's half a mile uphill to the parking lot.

It's a pleasant hike, with not a lot of people - on a nice Friday afternoon there were probably hordes over at Warner Parks. The trail was labeled "moderate" although I would call it "easy." The other trail is the same length, except you have to come back, which doubles it. It's clear that trails are still being developed, so there are likely to be more challenging hikes (if nothing else in length) as time goes on.