Harris Ridge Trail Project

Project Details

The Harris Ridge Trail Project is a 20+ year public-private partnership between Friends of Radnor Lake, the Harris Family and the State of Tennessee to expand our current trail system at Radnor Lake while also preserving critical property for future generations in line with our mission. This has resulted in partnerships with adjoining landowners, family foundations and individual donors as we continue to work toward systematically acquiring a corridor of land from Radnor Lake State Natural Area to Old Hickory Boulevard on the east side of the natural area. The result of this will be to create a 3.5+ mile trail from a new trailhead and parking lot on the northwest corner of Old Hickory Boulevard and Franklin Road in Brentwood, which will join Otter Creek Road within Radnor Lake State Natural Area & State Park.

From 2011 to 2017, Friends of Radnor Lake and the State of Tennessee worked together to acquire 89 acres of new land. Since 2017, we have worked with numerous partners to plan, prepare, and begin the development of the Harris Ridge Trail. Research partners and volunteers worked under the direction of park management to clear invasive-exotic plants, which uncovered previously undocumented historic features on this land with the assistance of Dr. Doug Heffington. In addition, vegetative research, thanks to Dr. Robert Loeb, has been conducted on most of this new property as part of our design process for the future trail to ensure we do not damage any historic sites, sensitive plant communities and/or to highlight those as part of this future trail.

In 2024, the Mantra Tract, which would connect the southernmost boundary of the Harris Ridge properties to Old Hickory Boulevard, went on the market. Thanks to the willingness of the landowner and funding from a Federal grant, a family foundation and private donors, these parcels were purchased and provide the opportunity for a parking lot and trailhead which will better serve our visitors and future generations of hikers.

Our next steps for this project range from clean up of the new properties from trash, removal of invasive-exotic plants, trail design and construction, construction of a bridge over Lakemont Drive, construction of a 100 car parking area and trailhead and addition of three new staff to operate the new trail safely for our visitors and neighbors.

When completed, the Harris Ridge Trail will be a 3.5+ mile strenuous trail, built to National Trail Standards, which will begin at Otter Creek Road near the east end of the Lake Trail and will meander the Harris Ridge to Franklin Road.

Due to the incline of the ridge, building this trail will take many man-hours of labor. Volunteer projects in 2026 and 2027 will include work on Harris Ridge Trail. While there has been no additional staffing added by the State of Tennessee for this project yet, the park staff has continued to dedicate their time and expertise to this project as time allows while also covering all of their responsibilities for 2 million visitors annually enjoying Radnor Lake.

Special thanks to Church of the Advent for your support of our volunteer projects.

Check the Radnor Lake State Park Events Page for scheduled hikes.

Learn more about our land acquisitions.