Starting October 11, Metro Parks is closing the Richland Creek Greenway boardwalk between Colorado Avenue and the 51st Avenue area so it can be replaced, and the work is expected to take about 11 to 14 weeks. Counting from that start date, the boardwalk would reopen sometime between late December and mid-January. The closest big stretch of woods to Belle Meade's front doors is the Warner Parks, which are seeing their first autumn since Ice Storm Fern caused what Friends of Warner Parks called the most severe weather damage in the parks' history.
So this season's walks go through a forest that is still recovering, and a lot of the fall calendar in those parks is about that recovery. That changes what a normal October looks like in 37205.
Three Closures Along the Usual Routes
The greenway boardwalk isn't the only closure on the west side right now. Here's what Metro and Cheekwood have posted as of early October 2026:
| Location | What's closed | Dates as posted |
|---|---|---|
| Richland Creek Greenway, 22 White Bridge Road at the NES Substation | Trailhead and parking lot, for construction | August 10 through November 6, 2026 |
| Richland Creek Greenway, Colorado Avenue to the 51st Avenue area | Boardwalk, for replacement | Starting October 11, for about 11 to 14 weeks |
| Cheekwood's Ann & Monroe Carell Jr. Family Sculpture Trail | Full trail, for construction | Since August 3, until further notice |
Metro's Parks and Recreation closures page doesn't say why the boardwalk is being replaced. It also doesn't post a detour or list which greenway segments stay open while the work is underway. The Greenways for Nashville map of the Richland Creek Greenway at McCabe Park describes 4.1 paved miles. It lists access at the Hill Center at 230 Kenner Ave N, the Lion's Head trailhead at 26 White Bridge Road, the 54th Ave walk-up at 201 54th Ave N, the Wyoming trailhead at 5100 Wyoming Ave, the McCabe trailhead at 4617 Sloan Road, and the Sloan Road walk-up at 4646 Sloan Road. The map doesn't say which of those connect to an open loop once the boardwalk comes out. The version of Metro's closures page we checked was last updated the morning of October 7.
With the greenway cut, the sculpture trail closed, and the White Bridge lot shut until November, Percy and Edwin Warner have the closest long stretches of woodland trail that Metro shows fully open this month. Metro's current closures list includes no Warner Parks closures.
The Forest Past the Stone Gates Has Changed
Fern hit both parks in early 2026. In a February damage report, Friends of Warner Parks cited an ecologist's estimate of more than 2,000 trees lost along trails and paved roads alone. In April, reporting from WPLN and BPR quoted Terry Cook estimating about 2,000 trees down along Warner Parks pathways. He said the count across the whole park could be two, three, or four times higher. Those estimates cover different areas. WPLN also reported a preliminary minimum of 5,000 lost trees, but that figure is for Nashville's whole parks system, not the Warner Parks.
The cleanup went faster than expected. Percy Warner reopened Saturday, March 21. Friends of Warner Parks wrote that work "many initially expected to take several months" was done "in just a matter of weeks." When it reopened, the primitive trails, paved trails, horse trails, and shelters were open. The mountain bike trails, the Vaughn's Creek Cross Country Course, and Burch Reserve stayed closed. We haven't found a newer announcement about those three areas. Friends of Warner Parks is the place to check before heading out on a bike.
Debris clearing continued into the summer. Friends' summer S.W.E.A.T. crew spent eight weeks repairing bridges, installing signs, and clearing Fern debris. Their work included tree removal, slope armoring, and finishing the debris clearing at Dripping Springs. The longer-term issue is the canopy. Friends of Warner Parks' Director of Resource Management, Paul Fowler, described it in the crew's August report:
"Due to canopy disturbances from Winter Storm Fern, there was an unprecedented need for extensive vegetation management and spot invasive plant removal along trails this season."
When big trees come down, more light reaches the forest floor, and invasive plants are quick to use it. That's what links the storm to this fall's calendar.
A Fall Calendar Built Around Regrowth
Friends of Warner Parks has scheduled its fall volunteer work around that regrowth. The October session targets "new growth in areas previously cleared," which means places that were already cleaned up once and are filling back in.
- Vol Call: Hiker's Eyonymus, Saturday, October 17, 10 a.m. to noon, ages 13 and up. Volunteers learn to identify invasive plants along the trails and pull them out.
- Fall 2026 Volunteer Hike, Saturday, November 7, 8 to 9:30 a.m.
- Vol Call: Pullin' Party, the same Saturday, November 7, 10 a.m. to noon, another invasive-plant removal session.
Root Nashville runs a related effort at the county level. The public-private campaign between Metro Nashville and the Cumberland River Compact aims to plant 500,000 trees across Davidson County by 2050. Its site takes donations, signs up volunteers, and accepts free-tree orders. Root Nashville's volunteer page says the Compact holds a citywide planting each spring and fall, but it hasn't posted a 2026 date yet.
The Rest of the Warner Calendar Happens in the Same Woods
The usual fall programs are still on, and they now take place in a forest with a more open canopy. The Warner Park Nature Center's fall 2026 schedule opened registration September 25. Coming up:
- Lookin' for Lichen, Friday, October 9, 1:30 to 3 p.m.
- Migration Birding at the Little Harpeth River, Saturday, October 10, 7 to 9 a.m.
- A Haunted House in Warner Woods, Friday, October 30, with sessions from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. or 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.
Friends of Warner Parks' two benefit events fall on either side of Halloween. Saturday in the Park is October 10 from 6 to 10 p.m. Sunday in the Park is November 1 from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. It takes place at Edwin Warner Park's Ridge Field, 2547 Old Hickory Blvd.
The Harpeth Hills Flying Monkey Marathon comes back on Sunday, November 22, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. The 26.2-mile course climbs more than 3,600 feet through the parks. The event listing doesn't mention any course changes tied to the storm.
Harding Road Picks Up the Rest
Cheekwood's grounds are open even with the sculpture trail closed. Cheekwood Harvest runs through November 1, and this year it debuts a Marigold River with more than 2,500 blooms. Admission is by timed-entry ticket. Gardens-only admission for nonmember adults is $21 Tuesday through Thursday and $23 Friday through Sunday, plus fees and parking. Thursday's Harvest NIGHTS, October 8 from 5 to 9 p.m., is listed as sold out. Walk-ups are allowed only for guests who can show proof they arrived by rideshare. On October weekends, Cheekwood runs free trolley parking from 4525 Harding Road. Shuttles come about every 20 minutes and aren't ADA accessible.
Holiday LIGHTS runs November 20 through January 3, 2027, from 4:30 to 10 p.m. Public tickets go on sale Tuesday, October 13. Standard nonpeak adult tickets cost $26 for Gardens only or $29 for Gardens plus the Mansion, before fees and parking. That run overlaps most of the boardwalk closure window.
Farther along Harding Pike, the Belle Meade Historic Site has a full October:
- Tennessee STEAM Festival Event, October 10, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Adults are $18 and students $12. Buying one adult ticket gets one additional adult in free, limited to one per family, and children four and under get in free.
- Fall Break Family Days, October 12 through 16, with a different seasonal theme each day.
- Autumn Wreath Workshop, October 18, 10 a.m. to noon, starting at $95.
- Trick-or-Treat 2026, October 25, 1 to 4 p.m., free. Face painting is $5 and pumpkin picking and carving is $15. Carving requires advance registration.
Belle Meade's historic properties sit on old trees and long-established grounds, so it helps to know who looks after them. If you live near Percy Warner or walk the greenway every morning and want to know how the parks' recovery and these trail closures affect the streets around them, Oak Leaf Real Estate would be glad to talk it through over coffee, maybe after a Saturday morning at the Vol Call.
