Nashville Hiking Meetup

* To register for this hike, please sign up on the park's event page at https://tnstateparks.com/parks/event_details/long-hunter/#/?event=autumn-wildflowers-sunset-in-the-glades-9-24-23

FYI, I'm posting this hike here to give Meetup members first dibs, but the hike is limited to the first 10 who sign up on the park event page. Once the event is full, the park event page will say "Sold Out" and it won't allow anyone else to sign up.

Meeting Time: 6:00 PM
Meeting Place: Couchville Cedar Glade parking lot
Hike Distance: 1 mile
Estimated Hike Time: 2 hours
Difficulty: Easy
Hike Leader: Jason Allen

Autumn evenings are often spectacular in the cedar glades. You can discover rare and unusual plants while it's still light out, enjoy a beautiful sunset from the prairie area, and then take in the awesome night sky while standing on large slabs of cedar glade limestone. And if you're lucky, you may hear (or see) some of the glade's night critters, too!

Join wilderness guide Jason Allen as we explore and learn about this habitat that's sometimes called the Tennessee Desert. Feel free to bring a light source, although we won't use artificial light unless necessary.

This is a flat, easy one-mile hike. No pets, please. Insect repellent recommended.

Welcome to autumn!

Directions to Couchville Cedar Glade:
From I-40 exit on Highway 171 and go south on South Mount Juliet Rd. for about six miles then bear left onto South Mt Juliet Rd. The parking area is one half mile on the right. From I-24, exit at Old Hickory (southeast Nashville near Hickory Hollow Mall) and proceed east for approximately 12 miles. Turn right at South Mt Juliet Rd about one and one half miles past the Long Hunter State Park entrance. The parking area is one half mile on the right.

HIKE STATS:
Time: Hike starts promptly at 6:30 P.M.
Place: Deep Well entrance of Percy Warner Park (Google Maps)
Distance: 5½+ total miles
Estimated Hike Time: 2+ hours
Difficulty: Moderate (Can be very strenuous for novice hikers - Headlamps/flashlights are needed)
Hike Leader: Mike Hicks
Notes: Dogs on a leash okay (Park regs require no more than 6-ft leash - you may be ticketed if you fail to use a leash!)

The Mossy Ridge Trail is the longest of the three loop footpaths in the Warner Parks. An ideal training hike, the path leaves the Deep Well trailhead and winds through rich hollows and dry ridges of the Harpeth Hills, making frequent but never sustained elevation changes. Scattered in the woods are big trees and a spring-fed waterfall. At 4.5 miles, the Mossy Ridge Trail qualifies as a full-fledged hike that will not disappoint.

Description courtesy of Johnny Molloy

Note that because of changes to parking/access at the Deep Well entrance, the hike is now ~5.5 miles.

Directions to Deep Well entrance of Percy Warner Park:

From the point where Highway 100 begins at Highway 70 near the Belle Meade Post Office, head west on TN-100 1.7 miles to the large stone gates on the left with Deep Well Entrance sign that mark the entrance of Percy Warner Park (Immediately after the Vaughn Gap Rd/Music City Bikeway Stop Light). Turn left from Highway 100 and pass through the gates, staying right when the road splits. We meet at the Highway 100 Trailhead (1st Pavilion on the left - small pavilion after the 1st set of parking areas). If coming from Old Hickory Blvd or further west, the Entrance will be on your right ~¾ miles past the Old Hickory Blvd Red Light between Edwin and Percy Warner Parks (Just before the Vaughn Gap Rd/Music City Bikeway Stop Light).

We have dinner afterward at Sam's Place Belle Meade sports bar (6051 TN-100, Nashville, TN 37205 at the HWY 100 & HWY 70 split).

Standard Notice, Disclaimer:
Meetup organizers/ leaders are not guides. Expect the same risks and take the same precautions you would take if you were hiking alone. You are solely responsible for you own safety and well-being.
By signing up for this and/or attending this Meetup event, you acknowledge, understand, accept, and agree that hiking and other activities can be dangerous and can cause serious bodily injury and possible death. The organizers of this group and current and former members can not be held responsible or liable in any way for the actions of any participant-including you- at ant event.
All attendees participate at an event at their own risk and are solely responsible for any damage to their property, and/or any injury to themselves or their guests.
By signing up for this event, you affirm that you understand this disclaimer and that you knowingly and voluntarily agree not to bring any type of a claim arising out of or related to this Meetup event against the organizers of this Meetup group.