Shelby Bottoms Greenway: Difference between revisions

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The **Shelby Bottoms Greenway** extends from the heart of [[Shelby Park]], past the [[Shelby Bottoms Nature Center]], and throughout Shelby Bottoms — a 950-acre floodplain preserve along the [[Cumberland River]]. Shelby Bottoms Greenway and Shelby Park are located in urban [[East Nashville]], less than four miles from [[Lower Broadway (Nashville)|Lower Broadway]] and other downtown destinations. Managed by the [[Metropolitan Board of Parks and Recreation|Metro Parks]] department of the [[Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County]], the greenway stands as one of Nashville's most significant conservation achievements of the 1990s and a signature element of the city's broader greenway network. The 960-acre Shelby Bottoms Greenway and Natural Area is one of five Natural Area Parks within Metro Parks.
The **Shelby Bottoms Greenway** stretches from [[Shelby Park]] through Shelby Bottoms, a 950-acre floodplain preserve hugging the [[Cumberland River]]. Located in urban [[East Nashville]], it's less than four miles from [[Lower Broadway (Nashville)|Lower Broadway]] and downtown. The [[Metropolitan Board of Parks and Recreation|Metro Parks]] department runs it now, and it remains one of Nashville's greatest conservation wins from the 1990s. The 960-acre greenway and natural area ranks as one of five Natural Area Parks in the entire Metro Parks system.<ref name="nashvillegov-park" />


== History and Preservation ==
== History and Preservation ==


Just adjacent to Shelby Park, with its fertile soils deposited by the Cumberland River running along its eastern boundary, the land has a long history of occupation and usage. It was occupied by Paleoindian, Archaic, Woodland, and Mississippian cultures at various times from 11,500 BC to 1600 AD, and was subsequently farmed for generations during the modern era, until as late as 1994. The lands that would become the greenway once belonged to three farms: Oakland Farm, the Fortland Farm, and Wild Acres.
The land here is rich, built up over centuries by the Cumberland River's deposits. Indigenous peoples occupied it from 11,500 BC through 1600 AD, moving across different cultures: Paleoindian, Archaic, Woodland, and Mississippian. Farmers worked the same ground straight through to 1994. Three separate farms once controlled these parcels: Oakland Farm, the Fortland Farm, and Wild Acres.


Shelby Bottoms, a floodplain characterized by agriculture and swampland, faced potential destruction in the 1980s. The owners of the land proposed a swap: they would acquire the Shelby Golf Course to turn it into a development, while the city received the Bottoms. Other ideas conceived by the landowners included dredging the bottoms to develop housing units along a "scenic parkway" or selling the property to a private landfill. East Nashville residents quickly organized an emphatic opposition and quelled these propositions.
By the 1980s, Shelby Bottoms faced serious trouble. This floodplain of agriculture and swampland caught the eye of developers. The landowners proposed a land swap: they'd take the Shelby Golf Course for development, and the city would get the Bottoms. They floated other schemes too. Dredging the bottoms to build housing along a "scenic parkway." Selling it to a private landfill operator. East Nashville residents fought back hard and won.


In the early 1990s, a small committee of Nashville citizens was asked by Mayor [[Philip Bredesen]] to identify lands in Davidson County which should be preserved as open space and parks. The committee, termed the "greenspace" committee, recommended purchase of this vast floodplain known as Shelby Bottoms. Metro Government began purchasing the land in several large tracts. In 1992, Metro Council created the [[Greenways Commission]], and in 1994 the commission announced Shelby Bottoms as its primary greenway pilot project. The master plan for the greenway and natural area was designed by Hawkins Partners, Inc., and lies within the floodplain of the Cumberland River in East Nashville.
Mayor [[Philip Bredesen]] appointed a small committee in the early 1990s to identify lands worth preserving. They called themselves the "greenspace" committee. Shelby Bottoms topped their list. Metro Government started buying up tracts. In 1992, Metro Council formed the [[Greenways Commission]], and by 1994 they'd named Shelby Bottoms their flagship pilot project. Hawkins Partners, Inc. designed the master plan for this floodplain greenway.<ref name="friendsofshelby-history" />


The mission statement written for Shelby Bottoms called for protection, preservation, and restoration of the open space as a greenway and nature preserve, with an emphasis on environmental sensitivity and passive recreational opportunities. A first phase of the trail system was celebrated with a grand opening event on October 25, 1997. Nashville's first greenway was soon under construction in Shelby Bottoms, as reported by ''The Tennessean'' in 1993.
Protection, preservation, restoration. Those words defined the mission statement. Environmental sensitivity mattered. Passive recreation mattered. The first trail section opened with fanfare on October 25, 1997. That's when Nashville's first greenway came to life at Shelby Bottoms, as ''The Tennessean'' reported back in 1993.<ref name="nashvillegov-nature" />


== Expansion and Cornelia Fort Airpark ==
== Expansion and Cornelia Fort Airpark ==


Two more sections of trail were phased in over the years following the 1997 opening, for a total of more than three miles of river frontage and more than five miles each of paved and primitive trails for visitors to explore and enjoy.
Two more trail sections got added over the following years. By then, visitors could walk or bike three miles of river frontage, plus over five miles each of paved and primitive trails.


Since 2007, two more pieces of land have been added to the Shelby Bottoms Greenway, including the latest 130-plus acres of [[Cornelia Fort Airpark]] in 2011 — the first acquisition under the Nashville Open Space Plan. Cornelia Fort Airpark was established in 1945 on land adjacent to Shelby Bottoms, in honor of [[Cornelia Fort]] (1919–1943), an inspiring figure in early women's aviation. Fort was born and raised on the land that is now the Airpark. An aviator and instructor — the first female flight instructor in Tennessee — Fort found herself giving flying lessons in the air over Honolulu on the morning of December 7, 1941, when a wave of Japanese Zeros swept past her. Cornelia Fort Airpark was opened to the public as part of Shelby Bottoms in 2014. Today, community members may be found roller blading and cycling on the runway where Fort learned to fly.
Since 2007, the greenway expanded twice more. Then came 2011: 130-plus acres of [[Cornelia Fort Airpark]] joined the park as the first Nashville Open Space Plan acquisition. Built in 1945, the airpark honors [[Cornelia Fort]] (1919–1943), a pioneer in women's aviation. Fort grew up on that very land. She became Tennessee's first female flight instructor. On December 7, 1941, she was giving flying lessons near Honolulu when Japanese Zeros roared overhead. No one who knew her story could forget it. The airpark opened to the public as part of Shelby Bottoms in 2014.<ref name="friendsofshelby-park" /> These days, cyclists and rollerbladers share the runway where Fort once learned to fly.


Today, totaling 960 acres, the greenway stretches along the Cumberland River for three miles, from Shelby Park in the south to Cooper Creek in the north, and is abutted by a residential subdivision to the west.
Today's greenway totals 960 acres. It runs three miles along the Cumberland River from Shelby Park in the south to Cooper Creek in the north, with a residential subdivision just to the west.


== Trails and Recreation ==
== Trails and Recreation ==


The greenway offers over five miles of paved, ADA-accessible trail for hiking, biking, running, skating, and wildlife watching, as well as over five miles of primitive trails for more passive activities such as walking, running, and exploring nature. The Shelby Bottoms Greenway features a relatively flat and meandering multi-use pathway, river overlooks, and an internal observation platform for studying the local ecosystem. The greenway also leads to the parks' unpaved nature trails, the Cornelia Fort Air Park, and a Cumberland River Pedestrian Bridge that joins to the [[Stones River Greenway]].
Over five miles of paved, ADA-accessible trail run through here for hiking, biking, running, skating, and wildlife watching. Another five miles or more of primitive trails invite slower exploration. The path stays relatively flat and meandering. River overlooks break it up. An internal observation platform lets visitors study the local ecosystem.<ref name="usnews" /> Unpaved nature trails connect to Cornelia Fort Air Park and a Cumberland River Pedestrian Bridge that links to the [[Stones River Greenway]].


A pedestrian bridge across the river links the Bottoms to the [[Stones River Greenway]], creating a continuous right-of-way for non-motorized commuters. Cycling is a popular activity at Shelby Bottoms, as the greenway forms part of the 26-mile [[Music City Bikeway]] that connects Percy Priest Dam and the Warner Parks.
A pedestrian bridge across the river joins the Bottoms to the [[Stones River Greenway]], creating one continuous path for walkers, runners, and cyclists. That connection matters. Cycling's huge here. The greenway forms part of the 26-mile [[Music City Bikeway]], which stretches from Percy Priest Dam to the Warner Parks.


Greenways for Nashville lists the Shelby Bottoms Greenway at 9.7 miles in total length. Two Nashville B-Cycle stations are easily accessible from the greenway and park, located near the Davidson Street entrance to the park and at the Cornelia Fort Airpark trailhead, at which residents and visitors can rent a bike to ride on the Shelby Bottoms and other connected greenways and bike lanes.
According to Greenways for Nashville, the Shelby Bottoms Greenway measures 9.7 miles total.<ref name="greenways-nashville" /> Two Nashville B-Cycle stations sit close by: one near the Davidson Street entrance, another at the Cornelia Fort Airpark trailhead. Residents and visitors can rent bikes to explore Shelby Bottoms and the broader bike network.


The greenway's main trailhead and parking are located at 1900 Davidson Street, Nashville, TN 37206, with a secondary trailhead at 2032 Forrest Green Drive. The Shelby Bottoms Greenway and Nature Park is open dawn until dusk every day.
The main entrance and parking lot sit at 1900 Davidson Street, Nashville, TN 37206. A second trailhead's at 2032 Forrest Green Drive. The park opens at dawn and closes at dusk every single day.


== Natural Environment and Wildlife ==
== Natural Environment and Wildlife ==


With approximately three miles of Cumberland River frontage, the area features bottomland hardwood forests, open fields, wetlands, and streams, providing excellent habitat for birds, amphibians, deer, and more. The greenway features bottomland hardwood forests of oak, hickory, maple, locust, hackberry, sweetgum, and sycamore trees. The greenway is also a habitat for a variety of amphibians, birds, and other wildlife, including deer, red fox, raccoons, flying squirrels, and mink.
Three miles of Cumberland River frontage give the park incredible diversity. Bottomland hardwood forests rise up everywhere: oak, hickory, maple, locust, hackberry, sweetgum, and sycamore. Open fields stretch between them. Wetlands and streams wind through it all.<ref name="tclf" /> Deer, red fox, raccoons, flying squirrels, and mink call it home. Amphibians thrive here.


Many frog species can be heard calling throughout the year, and the local birding community considers the park one of their top spots for bird-watching field trips. A wide variety of sparrows can be found, as well as Neotropical migrants and waterfowl. It is not unusual for Black-crowned Night Herons or Eagles to be spotted. Nesting boxes for Eastern Bluebirds and Tree Sparrows are a favorite sight for visitors along the trail.
Frogs chorus throughout the year. The birding community loves this place. Neotropical migrants show up. Waterfowl rest here. Black-crowned Night Herons aren't rare sightings. Eagles appear sometimes too. Nesting boxes for Eastern Bluebirds and Tree Sparrows line the trails, favorites with everyone who walks past.


The park is primarily rich river bottom land, with boardwalks over streams and wetlands and great overlooks of the river. The open fields and wet areas give much diversity to the land, with an abundance of wildflowers, birds, and amphibians.
What makes it work is the mix. Rich river bottom land anchors everything. Boardwalks cross streams and wetlands. River overlooks offer stunning views. Open fields, wet areas, wildflowers, birds, amphibians. Diversity builds resilience.


== Shelby Bottoms Nature Center ==
== Shelby Bottoms Nature Center ==


The Shelby Bottoms Nature Center was constructed at the Main Trailhead of Shelby Bottoms in late 2007 to help fulfill the mission of the park, opening the doors to enriched educational experiences for park visitors. The Nature Center is an environmental education and recreation facility of the Nashville Metropolitan Board of Parks and Recreation — a place where people can enjoy learning about the natural and urban landscape, the flora and fauna that call it home, and the cultural history of the area.
In late 2007, the Shelby Bottoms Nature Center opened at the Main Trailhead. Its purpose was straightforward: help the park's mission through education. The Nature Center sits under the [[Metropolitan Board of Parks and Recreation]] and offers a place where people learn about natural ecosystems, urban landscapes, flora, fauna, and the area's cultural history.<ref name="nashvillegov-nature" />


The Shelby Bottoms Nature Center facilities include a nature center housing natural and cultural history exhibits, programming space, art and photography exhibition space, and a library with many field identification guides, natural and cultural history titles, and children's books; an organic demonstration and teaching garden; a Cumberland River Compact rain garden; a children's Nature Play area; and the main trailhead for approximately five miles each of primitive hiking trails and paved ADA-accessible trails.
Inside the facility: natural and cultural history exhibits, programming space, art and photography galleries, a library packed with field guides and nature books. Outside: an organic demonstration garden, a rain garden, a children's Nature Play area. About five miles of primitive hiking trails and paved accessible trails radiate from the main trailhead.


The center offers a wide range of free public nature and environmental education programs, school field trips, educator training workshops, outdoor recreation programs, individual and group volunteer opportunities, student internship possibilities, Girl and Boy Scout programs, and other special activities for people of all ages.
Free public nature programs run year-round. School field trips happen regularly. Educator training workshops, outdoor recreation programs, volunteer opportunities, student internships, Girl and Boy Scout programs. Something for everyone.


In 2008, a group of community members formed [[Friends of Shelby Park and Bottoms]] to partner with the Metro Parks Department to manage, improve, and advocate for the park.
In 2008, community members started [[Friends of Shelby Park and Bottoms]] to partner with Metro Parks on management and advocacy.<ref name="friendsofshelby-nature" />


== References ==
== References ==

Latest revision as of 01:04, 24 April 2026


The **Shelby Bottoms Greenway** stretches from Shelby Park through Shelby Bottoms, a 950-acre floodplain preserve hugging the Cumberland River. Located in urban East Nashville, it's less than four miles from Lower Broadway and downtown. The Metro Parks department runs it now, and it remains one of Nashville's greatest conservation wins from the 1990s. The 960-acre greenway and natural area ranks as one of five Natural Area Parks in the entire Metro Parks system.[1]

History and Preservation

The land here is rich, built up over centuries by the Cumberland River's deposits. Indigenous peoples occupied it from 11,500 BC through 1600 AD, moving across different cultures: Paleoindian, Archaic, Woodland, and Mississippian. Farmers worked the same ground straight through to 1994. Three separate farms once controlled these parcels: Oakland Farm, the Fortland Farm, and Wild Acres.

By the 1980s, Shelby Bottoms faced serious trouble. This floodplain of agriculture and swampland caught the eye of developers. The landowners proposed a land swap: they'd take the Shelby Golf Course for development, and the city would get the Bottoms. They floated other schemes too. Dredging the bottoms to build housing along a "scenic parkway." Selling it to a private landfill operator. East Nashville residents fought back hard and won.

Mayor Philip Bredesen appointed a small committee in the early 1990s to identify lands worth preserving. They called themselves the "greenspace" committee. Shelby Bottoms topped their list. Metro Government started buying up tracts. In 1992, Metro Council formed the Greenways Commission, and by 1994 they'd named Shelby Bottoms their flagship pilot project. Hawkins Partners, Inc. designed the master plan for this floodplain greenway.[2]

Protection, preservation, restoration. Those words defined the mission statement. Environmental sensitivity mattered. Passive recreation mattered. The first trail section opened with fanfare on October 25, 1997. That's when Nashville's first greenway came to life at Shelby Bottoms, as The Tennessean reported back in 1993.[3]

Expansion and Cornelia Fort Airpark

Two more trail sections got added over the following years. By then, visitors could walk or bike three miles of river frontage, plus over five miles each of paved and primitive trails.

Since 2007, the greenway expanded twice more. Then came 2011: 130-plus acres of Cornelia Fort Airpark joined the park as the first Nashville Open Space Plan acquisition. Built in 1945, the airpark honors Cornelia Fort (1919–1943), a pioneer in women's aviation. Fort grew up on that very land. She became Tennessee's first female flight instructor. On December 7, 1941, she was giving flying lessons near Honolulu when Japanese Zeros roared overhead. No one who knew her story could forget it. The airpark opened to the public as part of Shelby Bottoms in 2014.[4] These days, cyclists and rollerbladers share the runway where Fort once learned to fly.

Today's greenway totals 960 acres. It runs three miles along the Cumberland River from Shelby Park in the south to Cooper Creek in the north, with a residential subdivision just to the west.

Trails and Recreation

Over five miles of paved, ADA-accessible trail run through here for hiking, biking, running, skating, and wildlife watching. Another five miles or more of primitive trails invite slower exploration. The path stays relatively flat and meandering. River overlooks break it up. An internal observation platform lets visitors study the local ecosystem.[5] Unpaved nature trails connect to Cornelia Fort Air Park and a Cumberland River Pedestrian Bridge that links to the Stones River Greenway.

A pedestrian bridge across the river joins the Bottoms to the Stones River Greenway, creating one continuous path for walkers, runners, and cyclists. That connection matters. Cycling's huge here. The greenway forms part of the 26-mile Music City Bikeway, which stretches from Percy Priest Dam to the Warner Parks.

According to Greenways for Nashville, the Shelby Bottoms Greenway measures 9.7 miles total.[6] Two Nashville B-Cycle stations sit close by: one near the Davidson Street entrance, another at the Cornelia Fort Airpark trailhead. Residents and visitors can rent bikes to explore Shelby Bottoms and the broader bike network.

The main entrance and parking lot sit at 1900 Davidson Street, Nashville, TN 37206. A second trailhead's at 2032 Forrest Green Drive. The park opens at dawn and closes at dusk every single day.

Natural Environment and Wildlife

Three miles of Cumberland River frontage give the park incredible diversity. Bottomland hardwood forests rise up everywhere: oak, hickory, maple, locust, hackberry, sweetgum, and sycamore. Open fields stretch between them. Wetlands and streams wind through it all.[7] Deer, red fox, raccoons, flying squirrels, and mink call it home. Amphibians thrive here.

Frogs chorus throughout the year. The birding community loves this place. Neotropical migrants show up. Waterfowl rest here. Black-crowned Night Herons aren't rare sightings. Eagles appear sometimes too. Nesting boxes for Eastern Bluebirds and Tree Sparrows line the trails, favorites with everyone who walks past.

What makes it work is the mix. Rich river bottom land anchors everything. Boardwalks cross streams and wetlands. River overlooks offer stunning views. Open fields, wet areas, wildflowers, birds, amphibians. Diversity builds resilience.

Shelby Bottoms Nature Center

In late 2007, the Shelby Bottoms Nature Center opened at the Main Trailhead. Its purpose was straightforward: help the park's mission through education. The Nature Center sits under the Metropolitan Board of Parks and Recreation and offers a place where people learn about natural ecosystems, urban landscapes, flora, fauna, and the area's cultural history.[3]

Inside the facility: natural and cultural history exhibits, programming space, art and photography galleries, a library packed with field guides and nature books. Outside: an organic demonstration garden, a rain garden, a children's Nature Play area. About five miles of primitive hiking trails and paved accessible trails radiate from the main trailhead.

Free public nature programs run year-round. School field trips happen regularly. Educator training workshops, outdoor recreation programs, volunteer opportunities, student internships, Girl and Boy Scout programs. Something for everyone.

In 2008, community members started Friends of Shelby Park and Bottoms to partner with Metro Parks on management and advocacy.[8]

References

  1. ↑ Template:Cite web
  2. ↑ Template:Cite web
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Template:Cite web
  4. ↑ Template:Cite web
  5. ↑ Template:Cite web
  6. ↑ Template:Cite web
  7. ↑ Template:Cite web
  8. ↑ Template:Cite web

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