Hiking in Bledsoe Creek State Park: 45 Minutes from Nashville

Just minutes down the road from Nashville, you won’t want to miss the easy hiking, lake access or campground in Bledsoe Creek State Park.  

With 4.5 miles of gentle hiking trails, 57 campsites, fishing and boating opportunities, and tons of wildlife to observe, this place is the perfect for a weekend getaway for just about anyone.  

Come with me, and Luna, as I hike in Bledsoe Creek State Park.

Important Links 

Bledsoe Creek State Park website

Trail Map – Bledsoe Creek State Park 

Bledsoe Creek Camping – Make Reservations Here

Campground Map – Bledsoe Creek State Park

Hiking Backpack Freebie

Location

Located just 45 minutes from downtown Nashville, this little state park is perfect for a day trip or a weekend getaway at their campground.

More specifically, Bledsoe Creek State Park is located just outside of Gallatin, TN (Sumner County), and lies along an off-shoot of the Cumberland River, or Old Hickory Lake.

With the park entirely located along the banks of a lake, this would be a great place for kayaking, boating and fishing.  

You can easily enter this state park into your favorite Maps app, or you can use the address below if that doesn’t come up automatically.

400 Zieglers Fort Road
Gallatin, TN 37066

History

Long before it was a state park, the land now known as Bledsoe Creek State Park served as hunting grounds for indigenous peoples.  Tribes including the Cherokee, Chickamauga, Creek, and Shawnee hunted here as the land supported an abundance of wildlife.  

Which leads us to 1779 when a fort was settled by 2 brothers close by.  The 2 brothers were Isaac and Anthony Bledsoe, yes the very same name given to the park.  

As overhunting occurred, as it did in much of America, the Native Americans moved on, or were eventually forced out.  

The park itself was founded in 1973 and became Tennessee’s 35th state park.  The park sits on the banks of Old Hickory Lake, an impoundment of the Cumberland River.  The lake was created with the completion of the Old Hickory Dam by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1954.     

But for those of you who don’t care about the park’s history very much, let’s skip to my most frequently asked question.  

Time to Spend here

I often get asked, how much time should I spend here or there.  This is a tough question to answer because you might have different interests than me.  But I always try my best to give you an idea of how long to spend here.

If you are here to hike, you will only need a half a day or a full day at most.  This park is pretty small, with only 169 acres and 4.5 miles of trails.  I spent about 4 hours here hiking the trails.  But if you want to extend your hiking by having a picnic here, I would still say you only need 1 day.

If you are here to boat/kayak and fish, then you might want a day or a weekend to explore Old Hickory Lake.  I did not fish or kayak here, but feel free to spend some time on the water.

If you are here to camp and escape the hustle and bustle of life, then this is the perfect place for a weekend getaway or even a few extra days.  There are over 60 campsites for tents/campers and RVs and most of them are right along the banks of the lake.  

Again, these are just my estimates of time to spend at Bledsoe Creek State Park.  But below is my itinerary.  Feel free to copy, adjust or ignore, but here is how I spent my 4 hours here.  

My Itinerary

Saturday: Arrived around 8am and parked near the park office.  Luna and I then hiked the Mayo Wix Trail, Shoreline Trail and the High Ridge Trail.  I stopped in the gift shop and then headed back home.  Total Time: under 4 hours here.

Camping

There are 57 paved camping sites and 10 gravel sites at Bledsoe Creek State Park, each with a picnic table, grill and the typical fire-ring.  

The campground is dog friendly and looked very nice when I hiked by it.  If I were to camp here, I would definitely try to get the sites near the lake!  They looked fairly well spaced out and who wouldn’t want to be that close to Old Hickory Lake.  

Here are some details about the sites.

Details

• 44 sites have 50/30/20-amp service and can accommodate campers larger than 20 feet
• 14 sites have 30/20-amp service and can accommodate campers less than 20 feet
• A dump station is available year-round  
• A laundromat is available year-round  
• There are 2 bathhouses for hot showers
• Ice and firewood are sold onsite 
• Sites 4, 18 and 43 are ADA approved (Americans with Disabilities Act)

The coolest thing about camping in this state park, is from anywhere that you camp, you are walking distance from a trail.  This gives you easy access to be able to go hiking in Bledsoe Creek State Park.  

Hiking

There are over four and a half miles of hiking trails ranging from easy to moderate, winding through the woods and along the water’s edge. The Mayo Wix and Birdsong Trails are paved and ADA compliant.  

The gentle trails along the banks of Old Hickory Lake made for a pleasant morning of hiking solo.  Well, not entirely solo as my yellow lab Luna was with me.  

I hiked 3 of the 7 trails in Bledsoe Creek State Park and even saw some wild turkeys and a fawn nestled along the trails.

List of Trails

• Birdsong Trail – 0.25 miles – ADA accessible
• High Ridge Trail – 1.3 miles
• Mayo Wix Memorial Trail – 0.75 miles – ADA accessible
• Owl Ridge Trail – 0.25 miles
• Shoreline Trail – 1.3 miles
• Woodchuck Hollow Trail – 0.20 miles
• Tennessee History Trail – 0.35 miles

My Hike

As usual, I was one of the first people in the park so I parked right at the Visitor’s Center/Park Office.  I always recommend getting started early whenever getting to a state park, especially a Tennessee State Park.  

Once I grabbed a map and figured out where I wanted to hike, I got Luna out of the truck and we started hiking in Bledsoe Creek State Park.

Mayo Wix Trail – Easy

We started out on the paved and ADA compliant Mayo Wix Trail.  We saw a few people here walking laps and getting some exercise on this perfectly smooth trail.

It was a calm and shaded part of the park and after we did half of the loop of this trail, we picked up the High Ridge Trail.  Here is where the real hiking began.

High Ridge Trail – Moderate

This trail starts right at the edge of Bledsoe Park Road.  We crossed the road from the Mayo Wix trail and started on High Ridge Trail.

It didn’t take long to hit a little bit of a hill for some elevation gain and head up a well-shaded path.  Luna and I hiked up and we had a pretty view of the lake below us.  

As we hiked along this ridge, the path was easy and I was beginning to wonder why this trail was called Moderate.  

But then we reached the stairs.  But because we were hiking around the park clockwise, we got to go down the stairs instead of up!

Down the stairs we went and then the path just ended.  Yup, just like that.  The trail markers changed from white to red and signaled we were now on the Shoreline Trail.

Shoreline Trail – Easy

From here on out you are hiking along…can you guess?  The shoreline!

Yes, it’s an obvious name, but this is a very pretty trail.  

I hiked at the water’s edge and as there were no fisherman nearby, I threw a stick for Luna to retrieve.  Swimming is one of her favorite things to do so I make sure to allow her to do this as often as possible.  

With a few benches along this trail, you can stop and admire the lake or watch the kayaks and boats on the water.  

We continued on past the boat ramp, past the campsites nearest the water, and kept looping around the park.

There was another dock and many serene lake views as this trail led us back to where we parked.  

Upon getting back to the car, I went into the gift shop and picked up my required magnet and sticker.  (Our cooler and refrigerator are covered from all of our trips!) Then it was time to get going and head home.

Conclusion

Bledsoe Creek State Park is a little state park just north of Nashville, TN.  With the quiet woods and well-kept trails, don’t miss out on hiking in Bledsoe Creek State Park if you are in middle Tennessee!

As usual, if you have any questions about this article that I didn’t answer, feel free to reach out via [email protected] any time!

Happy Hiking!