Radnor Lake State Park with Kids

If you live in Nashville and have kids, you NEED to take them to Radnor Lake. It has to be one of the most beautiful places in all of Tennessee. Of course, any state park is daunting when you’re taking your kids there for the first time- That’s why I’m here to help you out with all the details you need to feel like a pro BEFORE you go.
 

 
Radnor Lake has two trails that children in particular would enjoy- The Otter Creek Road trail is paved and you can ride bikes on it and bring your dog there for a walk. It’s a popular trail that goes along the lake and it’s perfect for smaller children. You can see it on the map in between the two red dots.

You can also access the aviary from the Otter Creek Road trail. The aviary includes a 550 foot boardwalk and aviary complex and houses several birds of prey ranging from great horned owls to bald eagles.

 

 
If your kids are a little older and can handle a 1 1/2 mile easy walk, I strongly recommend that you take them on the Lake Trail for an experience you can’t get at any other park in Middle Tennessee.

 

 
What makes Radnor Lake different from other parks is that most of its trails don’t allow joggers, bicycles or pets– and you are absolutely not allowed to leave the trail for any reason. That’s because it’s actually protected as a Class II Natural Area, which means that the land is preserved in its natural state as much as possible.

Because of this, it looks very different from a Warner Park trail on either side of the path. You will see far more plants and far more wildlife. In fact, Radnor Lake is considered to be one of the best places to watch songbird migration in all of Tennessee. On a Lake Trail walk we took yesterday, just look at all we saw…

 

 

An adorable and very unafraid young deer…

 

 

Reptiles…

 

 

Gorgeous wildflowers…

 

 

Turtles for days…

 

 

A very noisy wild turkey…

 

 

A log that had been gnawed in the middle by beavers…

And too many songbirds to count- several of which we had never seen before. At one point, a hawk swooped low over our heads- We were thrilled.
 

 
We were also fortunate to spot a friend, who hiked the rest of the trail with us.

And this brings me to my next important point.

Radnor Lake is a well-populated park, and this means that moms can feel reasonably safe taking their kids there alone. I love hiking with my husband, but I like to have a few local trails the kids and I can hit on summer weekdays, too, and this is definitely one of them. When we went on a Thursday morning, the trails were busy, but not so busy that it took away from the experience.

Another important point- Food is not allowed on the trail. Save your snacks for before or after the hike.

To find out more and see what kinds of special activities are happening at Radnor Lake, check out the Radnor Lake State Park website as well as the Friends of Radnor Lake website.

Have fun- and if you have any Radnor Lake tips of your own, feel free to share them in the comments!