One of the MANY things I love about Tennessee is the fact that the state parks are free. I think many Tennesseans take this for granted!

I was born and raised in Nebraska and unfortunately our parks are not free there. You have to get a permit to put on your car in order to park in any of the state parks. The permits are required when entering all state parks, state historical parks and state recreation areas. Now, you can get a permit for $20 for the year, however, your having to pay to go enjoy the outdoors! It is absolutely fabulous that Tennessee has chosen to make this a free thing and I think it encourages us to go out and be in the parks and enjoy the beautiful landscape of Tennessee.

The other thing I love about this is our Greenways. They are beautiful, recreational, and oh soo much fun! I know I have taken my daughter there a few times just to take pictures. You have such beautiful landscape for your pictures.

One of our agents, Dawn Franklin, often bikes from the Dam at Percy Priest all the way to the Titans Stadium! Here are some beautiful pictures she has taken along her path. With fall setting in and the trees turning colors, I’m sure it’s just getting more beautiful!

 So, this fall, head out on the greenways! Go check out some of our incredible State Parks! Enjoy the wonderful landscape of Tennessee and take advantage of the awesome gift our State has given us by allowing us to enjoy it all free of charge!!

Click here to visit the City of Murfreesboro website.

Posted by:  Jody Stahly

Wooden bridges span several creeks along the way, a favorite stopping point where kids love to throw stones into the creek below in a make-shift target practice. Eventually you’ll pass groves of bamboo-esque cane along the river just before you reach the incredible Cumberland River Pedestrian Bridge. Your goal as a new cyclist is to wind your way up the path to the bridge before you run out of breath!

Once you reach the center of the bridge, you’ll enjoy a stunning view of Opryland Hotel’s glass rooftops in the distance. It’s not unusual to catch a sight of a barge or tugboat meandering along the Cumberland River below. If you picked up some of those binoculars I suggested, this is a great time to whip ‘em out! The current of the Cumberland is swift: if you have any doubt, focus on an object floating in the water and watch how quickly it disappears from sight!

Spring is in the air. So when the appointments are over, the paperwork’s done, one of my favorite Nashville pastimes is hitting one of the many Nashville Greenways.

Maintained by Metro Parks, the greenways are a series of recreational paved and natural pathways that connect neighborhoods, local parks, points of interests, and most importantly, connect people to nature. Before I explain why I enjoy the Nashville Greenways so much, let me tell how I stumbled into one of my favorite leisure activities.

For years I have enjoyed visiting the beaches in and around the Destin, Florida area. Seaside, Rosemary Beach, Watercolors. It’s almost a Nashville vacation staple to hit the Emerald Coast annually for many folks in Middle Tennessee (this, incidentally, is why Bob Parks opened our sister company, The Premier Property Group in that area). One of my favorite activities has always been renting a bike and riding the trails that link all these cool beaches and communities together, enjoying the natural terrain and its inhabitants along the way.

I was reminiscing about that bike & beach experience one day when a friend suggested I get on one of the newly completed Nashville Greenways. So I did.

Although I’ve been riding now for a few years on many of our Greenways, two have quickly become my favorites: Shelby Bottoms in East Nashville (five miles of paved trails) and the Stones River Greenway near the Percy Priest Dam (ten miles of paved trails). If you’re up for an adventure, the two greenways actually connect around Lebanon Road in Hermitage.

Posted By: Jack Miller