Warner Parks
Edwin Warner Park and Percy Warner Park, collectively known as Warner Parks, are two major public parks in Nashville, Tennessee. They are part of the park system managed by the Metropolitan Board of Parks and Recreation of Nashville and Davidson County. Percy Warner Park's front entrance is located at the end of Belle Meade Boulevard. The parks are listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Warner Park Historic District. The district is primarily within Nashville along the southern edge of Davidson County, Tennessee, but it extends into Williamson County, Tennessee as well.
Location
Roughly bounded by Little Harpeth River, Belle Meade Blvd., Tenn. Hwy. 100, and Chickering Rd., Nashville, Tennessee
2,664 acres (1,078 ha)
1927, 1930 and 1941
January 20, 1984
The two parks are adjacent to each other, separated by Old Hickory Boulevard, and are located approximately 9 mi (14 km) from downtown Nashville. They are bounded on the northwest by Tennessee State Route 100, on the east and north by Chickering Road, and partially on the south by Old Hickory Blvd. and Vaughn Road. The two parks cover 2,684 acres (1,086.2 ha), making the combined parks the second largest municipal park in the state (after Bays Mountain Park in Kingsport which is 3,750 acres). The parks offer a variety of activities, including hiking trails, cross country courses, and an equestrian center.[2]
Through funds raised by Friends of Warner Parks, the Warner Parks system added 448 acres in late 2014, expanding the park to more than 3,000 acres. Two properties were purchased for this expansion to enhance the park resources, including the 225-acre Burch Reserve with wooded hills and an old-growth forest previously owned by H. G. Hill Realty. The Burch Reserve is home to Nashville's largest cave in addition to small ponds, meadows and forestry. Ridges and hollows of the former H. G. Hill property are part of what is considered the largest old growth forest in an urban area east of the Mississippi.[3]
Activities[edit]
The parks offer a variety of trails for running and biking. Cars can drive through parts of Percy Warner park as well. There are also equestrian trails, athletic fields, and a golf course.[2] Percy Warner Park is characterized by a group of steps built into the mountain located at the entrance to the park. Walkers can traverse these steps to reach the base of many hiking and biking trails.
The parks are home to a steeplechase course that hosts the Iroquois Steeplechase, run annually each May since 1941 (with one year off for World War II) and another (2020) due to the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. It is a fixture on the National Steeplechase Association circuit. It is the only graded horse race, steeplechase or flat, that is currently run in the state.[7] It is also home to the TSSAA state championship in cross-country.
The parks are also home to two golf courses, the 18-hole Harpeth Hills Golf Course and 9-hole Percy Warner Golf Course, the Warner Park Nature Center, the Rock and Road Relay, Marathon, and 5K.[8] and the Harpeth Hills Flying Monkey Marathon.[9]