Just seven miles southwest of downtown Nashville, Radnor Lake State Natural Area (Otter Creek Rd., 615/373-3467) provides a natural escape for visitors and residents of the city. Eighty-five acre Radnor Lake was created in 1914 by the Louisville and Nashville Railroad Company, which impounded Otter Creek to do so.

The lake was to provide water for the railroad’s steam engines. By the 1940s, the railroad’s use of the lake ended and 20 years later the area was threatened by development. Local residents, including the Tennessee Ornithological Society, successfully rallied against development and Radnor Lake State Natural Area was established in 1973.

There are six miles of hiking trails around the lake, and Otter Creek Road, which is closed to vehicular traffic, is open to bicycles and walkers. A nature museum at the visitors center describes some of the 240 species of birds and hundreds of species of plants and animals that live at Radnor. The visitors center is open Sunday–Thursday 9 a.m.–4 p.m. and Friday–Saturday 8 a.m.–4 p.m.

Radnor is well-used and well-loved by Nashvillians, and for good reason. Very few American cities have such a large and pristine natural area so close to the urban center.