I am in a deeply committed, borderline unhealthy relationship with this park. I've spent an…read moreirresponsible amount of my life here and it keeps turning me into an endurance athlete against my will. First 100+ mile bike ride? Here. First ultra marathon? Here. At this point I'm one trail run away from qualifying for something I didn't sign up for. I also golf here more than a retired grandpa in Florida. Like, aggressively. If you need a tee time, sorry, I might already be there. I've made friends, ran races, had full character development arcs, and I see the same deer so often that we're basically on a "head nod" basis. I've named them. They know my schedule. One of them owes me money. Honestly, Nashville Parks should either sponsor me, put my name on a bench, or issue a restraining order.

Shelby Park in East Nashville has quickly become one of my favorite parks to hit up for a weekday…read moreevening or weekend afternoon walk! I have been making my way to all the Metro parks and Shelby Park sits high on my list right now, and for good reason! The park is well equipped with all the park staples and even a few specialty areas. I come here for the trails, as I love wandering around the park, through the woods, by the golf course and around the water. Just something about it all that makes the walks a bit more enjoyable. In addition to the trails the park offers the classic park offerings such as playgrounds, gazebos and sporting fields. The park is well kept and clean. All parks are a bit worn and dated, but it is not enough to detract from the park itself. Nashville does a good job keeping the parks in good working order, as well as clean. Overall, I am a fan of Shelby Park!

I found this park from a Yelp search. It's the perfect place to go walking or running. I go to the…read morefar end of the park and run the greenway. It's absolutely beautiful. The start of the greenway is a bridge with running water below. You can follow this path for a few miles. I do an out and back that's about 5 miles. I felt very safe here. I see a lot of other walkers and runners.

This is such a great park!!!! We love coming here with my kids every time we visit family. This…read morepark has so many amenities and it's great to see people outside!! 1. The playground is awesome. Taylor Swift went to high school in Hendersonville. So she herself paid for the playground equipment for the kids. And I must say the playground equipment itself is super cute! Love the castle. It's awesome to see celebrities give back to their hometown. And they have a take a book leave a book library for the kids. Amazing! 2. Such a great spot for a quick fishing trip. I always see lots of people on the shore fishing and a few in their kayaks as well. On our most recent trip, my father in law caught a small bass. Of course we let it back into the water, but my kids were so excited to see their grandpa hook one. 3. There's also a handful of tennis courts that were being perused. The walking trail is a great way to enjoy the beautiful spring weather and get some exercise! And with the scenery, it's a nice spot for a date or picnic with the family. Just be careful where you step since there are a lot of ducks roaming the area. 4. And the bathrooms are spotless!!!!! I had to throw that in there. This is such a great place for families and to enjoy the fresh air.

From Gallatin Pike, Isaac Litton Park doesn't look like much, but I promise it is worth a stop by!…read more Located on the campus of Isaac Litton High School, the park features all the classic park offerings from playgrounds to walking paths to gazebos and sports fields. But this park also has tennis/pickle ball courts and a sand volleyball court! Both of which are lit, which is something not many other metro parks offer! The park is hidden in plain sight with not many people utilizing it for whatever reason. I honestly recently discovered it after driving by for years, so I get it. I usually will pop by one a weekend morning for a chill walk after a gym session or a coffee run. The walking paths are not much here and are honestly just sidewalks, as the park has more activity based offerings than trails. However, the short trek is worth the time, especially due to the convenient location to my normal weekend activities. Overall, solid metro park worth a visit!

Very nice newly updated playground with turf!…read more Safe for young kids. Huge lawn to run. Sand volleyball court. Tennis courts. 2 pavilions. Bonus: yellow school buses always park in the lot next to the playground, so toddlers can geek out like they do. Con: No swings. Next to a high school. Park in the school parking lot.

We loved the loop you can run or walk on and the pavilions you can have lunch in or rent!! So much…read morespace to relax and enjoy the Spring weather! We love that you can bring your doggies too. Great place for families or just a day out enjoying the fresh air!

Nice playground and splash pad. My daughter likes to spend time there…read more Sometimes they sell there shaved ice, which is not too healthy.(

Founded in 2012, with 112 acres, this park has picnic shelters, and a paved walking/jogging path…read more It's a very large, undeveloped land with greenery and walk ways. The park itself is only about thirty acres, but it's the gateway to the 80+ acres of the Whites Creek Greenway. Joseph Brown Mullins was a self made, successful African American land developer in the area in the 1920s and 1920s. The greenway itself borders a fine line between "lush and undeveloped" and "messy and unmaintained", so it really will depend on if you're a glass half-full, or glass half-empty kind of person. There are two loops, and one one-way path across the way to Hartman Park, and it isn't marked or anything, so check a map before you come and have a plan.

I don't know where the greenway ends and the park begins. I didn't see any distinctive signage to…read moredelineate the two. That lead to a confusing visit. Greenways are too large to try to take on the way that you would a park. I think I would have enjoyed Mullins Park more had I known where I was going and what I was doing. As it was, I sort of felt dropped in to the middle of a greenway with a lot of overgrown vegetation. Truth be told, the overgrowth reminded me of Children of the Corn and it sort of creeped me out. Despite there being a paved path that goes the length of the greenway, the isolation of the park, the lack of people taking advantage of the park (although it backs up to a neighborhood) and the 'wrong turn' vibes I got while exploring on my own, I didn't want to spend much more than I had to and I got the heck out of dodge. Again, I think a contained, defined park system would make more sense. From what I could gather -- and what I experienced -- the park is the lip of the greenway and it's just too large to take on in an afternoon. You should know where you're going and what you're doing which takes away some of the point of checking out a park. All the above said, I wouldn't label this as a destination park. I would imagine that locals have a better sense of what's going on and where to go than I did. A couple of closing thoughts: 1.) I enjoyed seeing a large amount of butterflies doing their thing. Seeing them made me realize I never see (or, pay attention to) butterflies out and about. 2.) I don't spend a lot of time in Bordeaux and I should explore it more. It's deceptively close to Downtown but feels a world away. It offers a suburban feel with city access. I wonder if the realtors have realized this...

Decided to ride out to Granny White Park with my 13 month old to burn off some energy and get some…read moresunlight in before bedtime. It was the perfect night. This park is excellent for toddlers- so much to play with and experience. My son can walk but this park would also be great if you had a crawling baby. There is a smaller children's area that is turfed and has many different play items that kept my son's interest. He did not want to leave. Lots of park are difficult to take this age to just based on there not being enough equipment for them to play with while also not being safe/hazardous for toddlers. Would highly recommend this park!!! Pros: - fenced in - so many swings - clean bathrooms - lots of parking - fun and enjoyable

I go here often on weekday mornings with my three kids (ages 4, 3, and 1), and it's probably the…read morebest park in the Nashville area for young kids especially if you have multiple children. Parking is incredibly easy since the lot is huge. The playground is fully fenced, which is one of the biggest reasons I love coming here. At many other parks there are creeks, busy walking paths, or playgrounds located too close to roads. Here, the playground is nicely separated from other activities, making it much easier to keep multiple kids safe. The restrooms are nearby and have always been clean during our visits. The playground itself has plenty to keep my kids entertained, and I especially appreciate that I can let my 1-year-old explore without constantly worrying about dangerous drop-offs or easy escape routes. The only areas that require a little extra supervision are the large blue slide and the spinning play feature. The park is nicely shaded and has several tables around where you can sit and enjoy a snack or lunch. I believe you can also rent the pavilions with tables for parties. If you have toddlers, preschoolers, or several young kids to keep track of at once, this park is hard to beat. It's safe, well-designed, and one of our family's favorite places to spend a morning.

This park sits in front of the high school and actually seems to be a part of the high school. I…read moreguess this is because it is a small town.

Whites Creek Park sits in front of Whites Creek High School. It has a tennis court, a soccer field,…read moreand three baseball fields. It has 19.70 acres, and was established in 1978. Part of the high school and the school's pool have been used for Metro Parks' purposes, but it seems as if that doesn't happen much anymore. A lot has happened in this park, including talent shows, concerts, and various sports. Adult baseball leagues have been utilizing these field since the mid-1970s.

Tom Joy Park was founded in 1991, and sits at 6 acres. It has a playground, a picnic shelter, and a…read morepaved walking/jogging path. It sits behind an elementary school. This property has an interesting history. This land was originally purchased in 1882 (over 91 acres total) by Tom Joy and his family to create a family estate and elaborate greenhouses. As a florist, Joy's Flowers is today one of the oldest florists in the country. Tom Joy even became the director of the Society of American Florists. He died in 1937, and a parcel of the land became the Tom Joy Elementary School two years later, presumably donated by Tom's widow. The school itself was built in 1939, and by the 1980s was due to be condemned and replaced with a new community center. The neighborhood organized and fought, for a couple of reasons. They knew that a new building would be ineligible for grants and funding. They knew the building could be saved with some elbow grease, and they also knew they needed a "cause" to organize the community around. They prevailed and Metro Nashville not only helped to save the school, but they were able to pump $78K into building this park. Today, the park is a small spot of land, and has a cute little pavilion. The playground equipment is a little dated, but charming.

According to the sign in the park, Tom Joy is a neighborhood. What? I can't be the only person new…read moreto this info. Before my trip to Tom Joy, I'd lumped a lot of locations in this side of town into the 'Highland Heights' neighborhood. According to signs, that's not accurate. Whether the neighborhoods are of realtor origin or had been there and ignored by people outside of the block-radius, there's a lot to the northeast side that hasn't been well-documented on Yelp (and other Nashville-related publications). That's a shame. Literally, it's a shameful situation. There's more to Nashville than a few neighborhoods which get written about over and over and over again. I try to do my best to write about them. Join me. Anywhoo, back to Tom Joy Park. This is a neighborhood park, next to a school. I understand why these exist but they always make me feel a bit creepy to go to, seeing as I don't live in the neighborhood and don't have kids at the school. It makes me feel like I am a walking 'stranger danger.' I guess that's another distinction between neighborhood parks and destination parks. The park itself is a decent-sized circle/oval with young trees dotting the perimeter and a giant mature tree by a corner. Since it's level, flat and, mostly, open it's a perfect place for kids to run themselves to exhaustion and for teachers/parents to keep an eye on them without extending much effort. From a kids point of view, the crown achievement of the park is the playground. It looks fairly new and there are a couple of areas to explore/dominate. From an adult/parent point of view, there are benches for sitting, a pavilion for lunching in groups and a well-paved, clearly-defined circular path for walking or running (but, probably walking). Tom Joy Park isn't a park you're likely to seek out if you don't live in his part of town. If you do, however, it's a perfectly fine place to go for a concentrated walk or to bring your kids so they can let off some steam. And if you find yourself on a Saturday afternoon with nothing to do and some Nashville wanderlust in your heart, it's a perfectly fine place to spend some time exploring your metro. Do this. I promise there's more to the city than Downtown, Germantown and Green Hills. And for all those 'East Nashville' types, this is a good time to remind you that 'East Nashville' is an area of town made up of neighborhoods... neighborhoods (evidently) like Tom Joy.