Places · Park
Timberland Park
Williamson County's nature park on the Natchez Trace Parkway, just south of the Highway 96 ramps: an interpretive center, a butterfly garden, an overlook and about five miles of trail. It opened on 80 acres in 2014 and grew to about 325 in 2015, when the county joined it to the Big East Fork reserve.
The facts
Where and what.
- What it is
- Park
- Town
- Franklin, Williamson County
- Website
- wcparksandrec.com
- Phone
- 615-232-4154
- Hours
- Every day, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. The county's brochure gives 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. from November through February.
- What it costs
- Free.
- Parking
- At the interpretive center, off the parkway.
- What is there
- A 2,000-square-foot interpretive center that runs on solar power, a butterfly garden, restrooms, picnic tables and an overlook.
- Nine trails, about five miles in all, one of them accessible.
- The state bought the first 80 acres from the Maxson family in 1975 for a folk arts center it never built, declared them surplus in 1996 and deeded them to the county in May 1999.
- Leashed pets are welcome. RVs fit, but there is no dump station.
- The Double Arch Bridge closure runs north from the Highway 96 ramps; the county places the park south of them and has posted no closure.
- Neighborhood guide
- Leiper's Fork: where to live, what it costs, the trade-offs
- Sources
- Williamson County Parks and Recreation: Timberland Park
- Williamson County Parks and Recreation: Timberland Park brochure
- Williamson Herald: Timberland Park's 10th anniversary (Nov. 1, 2024)
- National Park Service: Double Arch Bridge to close for construction (Apr. 10, 2026)
- Williamson County Parks and Recreation: map of parks and centers
This month
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On the Frontline
Where we have written about it.
Nearby
Also in Franklin.
Double Arch Bridge.
The Natchez Trace Parkway's concrete bridge over Birdsong Hollow and Highway 96, finished in 1994 and the first segmental concrete arch bridge built in the United States. It has been closed to cars, bikes and walkers since April 15, 2026, while a permanent safety barrier goes on and it is repainted; the Park Service expects it back in spring 2027.
Aspen Grove Park.
Park in Franklin, ranked 18th in The Parks & Greenways Atlas.
Bicentennial Park.
Park in Franklin, ranked 17th in The Parks & Greenways Atlas.
Eastern Flank Battlefield Park.
Park in Franklin, ranked 20th in The Parks & Greenways Atlas.
Harpeth River Greenway.
Park in Franklin, ranked 15th in The Parks & Greenways Atlas.
Jim Warren Park.
Park in Franklin, ranked 14th in The Parks & Greenways Atlas.
Pinkerton Park & Fort Granger.
Park in Franklin, ranked 7th in The Parks & Greenways Atlas.
The Park at Harlinsdale Farm.
About 200 acres of the Harlin family's old horse farm on Franklin Road, which the city bought in 2004 on the condition that it stay a park. It opened in 2007 for walking, fishing and picnics, and the main barn reopened in August 2025 as a place to hold events.