The northwest corner of Franklin Road and Old Hickory Boulevard is one of the busiest intersections on the Brentwood line. It is also where the next trail into Radnor Lake will begin. Park Manager Steve Ward described the idea to NewsChannel 5 last December:
"The noise of the intersection is where you're gonna start this hike, you're gonna hike to one of the quietest places in Nashville within 3 miles."
The ridge between that corner and the lake is now in state and Friends of Radnor Lake hands. The trail across it does not exist yet. For this season, the only way onto Harris Ridge is one of three ranger-led hikes: Friday, November 27; Friday, December 11; and Friday, January 1. All three require registration. Buying the land took about fifteen years. What happens next depends on labor.
The ridge came first, the corner came last
The Harris Ridge effort began in 2010 as a partnership between the Harris family, Friends of Radnor Lake and the State of Tennessee. Over six years and about $4 million, it brought 89 acres along Radnor's southeastern border into the park. A gift from the Adams family, the largest private donation in the Friends' history, paid for the last of those acres. The Friends say the purchases protected "the last undeveloped ridgetops viewable from our trails."
That gave the park a ridge but no door onto it from the east. The missing piece was a parcel with road frontage, and it sat at the corner. The Friends had kept that tract on their acquisition list since 2015, but it did not come up for sale until 2024. It closed in two stages:
- January 2025: Friends of Radnor Lake bought the first three acres from Mantra LLC, and the owner held the six adjoining acres while the state arranged its purchase.
- October 2025: The State of Tennessee bought the remaining six acres with a $3 million federal Land and Water Conservation Fund matching grant. The Friends put in $1 million plus land valued at $3 million, which transfers to the state as the grant match.
NewsChannel 5 described the nine-acre purchase as roughly 20 years of planning and $8 million in partnerships. The Mantra Tract links the southern end of the Harris Ridge holdings to Old Hickory Boulevard, with frontage on both Old Hickory and Franklin Road. That frontage made it the missing piece. A ridge can be preserved without a road, but a trail open to the public needs a parking lot.
What 2026 was spent on
The first job on the new land was cleanup. On Saturday, January 10, 28 volunteers worked from noon to 3 p.m. in the rain across all nine acres. They picked up trash, sorted recycling and staked off two chestnut trees before the two houses on the site came down. When Ward talked to NewsChannel 5, he had been direct about what was there: "This property has a lot of trash on it and invasive plants."
By mid-March, the park was inviting hikers to see the progress, "including demolition of two residences." That moderate hike with Ward and Ranger Brandon Jarratt covered less than a mile on fairly flat ground. It ended with 45 minutes of picking up trash. On March 21, 21 visitors came. The Friends' plan for the corner is to return the nine acres to their natural state and plant it as part of the Native Grasslands Initiative. The tract will also hold the future trailhead.
Why the trail is still a plan
The land question is settled. Every step left on the Friends' project page is a construction or staffing step:
- Clear trash and invasive exotic plants from the new properties.
- Design and build the trail.
- Build a bridge over Lakemont Drive.
- Build a 100-car parking area and trailhead.
- Add three new staff positions so the trail can run safely for visitors and neighbors.
The trail described there is a 3.5-plus-mile strenuous route built to National Trail Standards. It would start at Otter Creek Road near the east end of the Lake Trail and wind along Harris Ridge to Franklin Road. Ward gave NewsChannel 5 a range of 2.5 to 3.5 miles one way.
The ridge's slope is the reason the trail is slow to build. The Friends say the incline means the trail "will take many man-hours of labor." Volunteer projects in 2026 and 2027 include trail work. As of the Friends' project page, the State of Tennessee had not added staff for the project. Park staff have been working on it as time allows while also serving about 2 million visitors a year at Radnor. In December 2025, NewsChannel 5 reported that the park hoped to open the Harris Ridge property sometime in 2026, with the trails to follow once other projects were done.
So the ridge stays off-limits for now. The Friends say rangers "periodically lead hikes for visitors in these closed to public areas on recently acquired properties." The Radnor Lake State Park rules already prohibit all off-trail use. Under those rules, a hike with Ward is the only way to walk the ridge before the trail exists.
Three Fridays on Harris Ridge
On November 4, the Friends announced three hikes "to see our newest 29 acres of land as part of the Harris Ridge Trail Project." Park Manager Steve Ward leads all three.
| Date | Time | Registration page |
|---|---|---|
| Friday, November 27 | 8 to 10 a.m. | After Thanksgiving hike |
| Friday, December 11 | 1 to 3 p.m. | International Mountain Day hike |
| Friday, January 1, 2027 | 8 to 10 a.m. | New Year's Day hike |
All three follow the same rules, and they are stricter than a usual morning at Radnor:
- Meeting point: 800 Old Hickory Blvd, at the corner tract, not a Radnor parking lot.
- Effort: The park rates all three as strenuous, more than two hours with 200-plus feet of incline and decline. The December listing describes a 150-to-200-foot climb from the parking area up to the ridge.
- Ages and pets: 13 and up. No pets.
- Timing: The November hike starts promptly at 8 a.m. Late arrivals cannot join, and no one can leave early.
- Cost: Free as a hiker, or $10 as a hiker plus donor.
- Gear: Good hiking shoes, water and hiking poles.
The December 11 hike is capped at 20 people. The November listing says Ward will cover the future trail planning process along with the planned parking area and trailhead. It also says moderate hikes on the new land were planned for December and January. The listings note that schedules can change. The host contact on the state park page is the best place to confirm a date.
Choosing a Friday
Each date suits a different kind of week.
The November 27 hike falls the morning after Thanksgiving, eight days after this post goes up. It is the best choice for walking the ridge with family who are in town for the holiday, as long as everyone is 13 or older and can handle two hours of climbing. It is also the hike where Ward plans to talk through the trail plan, the parking area and the trailhead in the most detail.
The December 11 hike is the only afternoon option, from 1 to 3 p.m., and it falls on International Mountain Day. Its listing caps the group at 20 hikers.
The January 1 hike falls on Tennessee's First Day Hikes date. The state says details for those statewide hikes will come closer to the holiday. At Radnor, the New Year's Day listing is the strenuous Harris Ridge hike, starting at 8 a.m. at the Old Hickory corner.
All three start at the corner tract, where the finished trail's parking area and trailhead are planned, and visit the new acreage on the ridge. Ward told NewsChannel 5 he expects the trail to have "one of the best views in Middle Tennessee or the metropolitan area at least." Until volunteers and staff finish the work, these Fridays are the only chance to check that view.
The Mantra Tract shows how much a parcel's location can matter. Nine acres with road frontage at the right corner became the trailhead for a ridge the park had owned for years. If you own acreage next to protected land, or a parcel that a larger plan depends on, and you want to understand what it could be used for, Greg Sanford brings principal-level land experience across Williamson County and Middle Tennessee. Request a private consultation.
