Is there a reliable way through Shelby Park right now? Metro Parks still lists the Bendelow Lane Bridge as closed, along with Eastern Lake Road and the boardwalk by the observation deck. Two places have stayed steady all season: the Shelby Bottoms Nature Center at 1900 Davidson Street and the Cornelia Fort Airpark Trailhead. Nearly every November program happens at one of those two spots. For the rest of the fall, a good day in the Bottoms means picking one of them and staying put.
The Routes Under Repair
Metro Parks keeps a running facility closures page, last updated October 16, 2026. Shelby Park has one of the longer entries on it. Most of the closures are pieces you use to get from one part of the park to another:
- Bendelow Lane Bridge is being replaced and is listed as closed "for the next 4 months." Guardrails were scheduled to go in from Monday, August 31 through Friday, September 4.
- Eastern Lake Road is closed during a construction project that started August 24.
- Lakeview shelters 1 and 2 have limited access during the same project.
- The upper tennis courts are temporarily closed for maintenance.
- The Shelby Bottoms Greenway boardwalk near the observation deck is closed for repairs. It sits about half a mile in, near the wetland area.
Metro hasn't published a scope or reopening date for the shelter project, the tennis courts or the boardwalk. Treat each one as closed until the closures page says otherwise.
The Bridge That Outlasted Its Schedule
The Bendelow Lane work has been going on longer than the current notice suggests. WKRN reported on April 10 that crews would start demolishing the old bridge on Monday, April 13, to build a "newer and safer" one. Metro Parks told the station the closure would last about four months. By that estimate the bridge would have reopened around mid-August. The October closures page still lists it as closed and still says "the next 4 months."
The detour WKRN described in April still shows how to get around the area.
- The closed stretch is part of the Shelby Avenue South curve, from Long Avenue to the north end of the Mission Hollow parking lot.
- Drivers can still reach the Mission Shelter parking area from the south. Through-traffic is blocked.
- Walkers were told to use the paved trail through Lillian Hollow, which starts at the Shelby Community Center.
- City officials asked everyone to stay out of the construction zone, because interference could slow the work down.
The Shelby Community Center building has a closure of its own: Metro lists its gym as closed to the public. The Lillian Hollow trail is the route WKRN reported. The gym is a separate closure.
The big Davidson Street repair is a different project, and it's done. Metro's final public notice describes stabilizing the riverbank and repairing the roadway after rain damage in April 2025. Parks Board minutes from January 6, 2026 list that work as complete. So the street in front of the Nature Center is open, and that helps explain why the Nature Center makes such a dependable home base this season.
Where the Calendar Holds Still
The Nature Center's fall 2026 program guide runs through November 25. Almost every remaining event takes place at the building or at the Cornelia Fort trailhead. Many of them are built around staying in one place: sitting with binoculars, writing, crafting, listening. With the routes through the park this broken, that kind of programming fits the season well.
At the Cornelia Fort Airpark Trailhead
- Sunday, November 1. Nashville Neighbors for Native Plants holds its fall co-op plant pickup here. The group's goal is "pollinator pathways across town one yard at a time," and details are at neighbors4nativeplants.org.
- Saturday, November 21, 9 to 11 a.m. The Cornelia Fort Bird Sit is birdwatching from a chair at the wetland, timed for migrating waterfowl and wetland birds. Bring a chair and a warm blanket. Some binoculars are available to borrow, and no registration is needed. Perry Haga leads it.
The bird sit happens at the wetland on the Cornelia Fort side, while the boardwalk near the observation deck is fenced off. It's a convenient way to see the wetland without the boardwalk.
At the Nature Center, 1900 Davidson Street
- Saturday, October 31, 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. 4-H Wildlife Explorers Club for grades 4 through 12, run by UT-TSU Extension volunteers. No registration needed. It meets again November 21.
- Friday, November 6, 5 to 7:30 p.m. Craft Night: Junk Journals, with the Nashville Junk Journal Club. Ages 13 and up, registration required.
- Saturday, November 7. Jr. Naturalist: Beginning Birds with Lena Friedman at 9 a.m. for ages 6 and up. Habitats and Changes with John Michael Cassidy at 11 a.m. for ages 16 and up. Wax Paper Fall Leaf Collecting with Patrick Oakes at 1 p.m. for ages 7 and up. All three require registration.
- Friday, November 13, 10 to 11 a.m. Writing in the Wild, led by volunteer Kelsey D. Mahaffey. Workshopping continues until noon. The program suggests walking the 1-mile greenway loop first.
- Saturday, November 14. "Leave the Leaves" Day runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. with crafts, critters and the case for letting leaves stay on the ground, and no registration needed. The seasonal book club with the Master Gardeners of Davidson County follows at 2:30. This fall's book is The Last Garden in England by Julia Kelly. At 4 p.m. there's a sound bath with John Paul of Sunblink Sounds.
- Thursday, November 19. A puppet show at 9:30 a.m., then Homeschool Day: Fall Changes from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. for grades K through 8.
- Saturday, November 21. Makerspace: Biomimicry runs as a drop-in from 1 to 3 p.m., and Hazel Miller's Autumn Colors Walk starts at 2 p.m. during that window, registration required.
- Wednesday, November 25, 1 to 3 p.m. An open-house fall crafts session, no registration needed.
To register, email [email protected] or call 615-862-8539. The sound baths have their own signup link, which is listed in the program guide.
The Days the Doors Close
The Nature Center's schedule has a few gaps. It's closed Wednesday, November 11 for Veterans Day and Thursday through Saturday, November 26 to 28, for Thanksgiving. The fall guide ends with the November 25 crafts session, and Metro hasn't posted a December program for the Bottoms yet. If you're planning the long weekend, the Thanksgiving closure starts the day after the last event in the guide.
The Colors of Shelby art show and sale, a partnership of The Chestnut Group, Friends of Shelby Park & Bottoms and the Nature Center, was scheduled for October 22 to 25, with proceeds set aside to improve the park's nature spaces.
The Greenway Growing Toward the Bottoms
The other big outdoor change in East Nashville this fall is downriver. WSMV reported that city leaders celebrated the opening of the River North Greenway during Mayor Freddie O'Connell's weekly roundtable in early September. FOX 17 reported that the new segment runs along the Cumberland River near Oracle's future campus. It's the first piece of an East Bank greenway planned at nearly two miles. City leaders say the finished route will connect to a future pedestrian bridge to Germantown and continue along the river toward Shelby Bottoms.
At the opening, Metro Parks Director Monique Odom told FOX 17 that greenways "connect people to their neighborhoods, to one another, and to the natural spaces that make Nashville such a special place to call home." The connection to Shelby Bottoms is still in the future, and no date has been announced. For now the new segment ends near Oracle's campus, and Shelby Bottoms is reached the usual way, through the Nature Center on Davidson Street or the Cornelia Fort trailhead.
Most of the fall guide is still ahead, from the November 1 plant pickup to the November 21 bird sit, while the bridge, boardwalk and shelters stay on Metro's closures list until the city updates it. If you love Shelby Bottoms and are thinking about a home within walking distance of Davidson Street, Tammi Weed would be glad to show you which nearby blocks have the easiest walk to the Nature Center. Schedule a White-Glove Consultation.
