The stops
1Rippa Villa
Spring Hill, Maury County
Rippa Villa was built in 1855 as one of the leading farms in Middle Tennessee, and on November 29, 1864, the day before the Battle of Franklin, the house and the families in it found themselves in the middle of the fighting at Spring Hill. The Battle of Franklin Trust, which also runs Carnton and the Carter House, gives an hour's guided tour.
Tours leave every half hour or so, and the desk gives you a time when you walk in, so the stop allows a quarter of an hour's wait before the hour inside.
- Saturday
- Monday to Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The last guided tour starts at 4.
- Admission
- Adults $22, children 6 to 15 $14. Through December 31 the house tour is $10, bought online beforehand.
- Booking
- Walk in; no reservation. The $10 price through December 31 is sold online only.
Official site
2President James K. Polk Home & Museum
Columbia, Maury County
Samuel Polk built the house in 1816, and apart from the White House it is the only home of James K. Polk's still standing. A docent takes visitors through the main house in about half an hour; the Polk sisters' house next door, the garden and the kitchen building are self-guided.
Park in the free lot across Seventh Street. After the docent's tour, the sisters' house and the garden are yours; the exhibits in Polk Presidential Hall, an 1880s church, are separate.
- Saturday
- Monday to Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. from April to October, and 9 to 4 from November to March.
- Admission
- Adults 19 to 59 $14. The exhibit hall alone, $5.
- Booking
- No reservations for families and small groups; a group of ten or more calls ahead.
Official site931-505-8019
3Columbia's Public Square
Columbia, Maury County
Columbia was laid out in 1807 on the south bank of the Duck River, and its square is the stone Maury County Courthouse of 1904 with the 91 buildings of the commercial historic district around it. Mule Day, which began as Breeder's Day in the 1840s, takes it over on the first weekend of April.
Leave the car in the Polk Home's lot and walk the few blocks east. Duck River Books is at No. 12 and Muletown Coffee Roasters at No. 23; lunch at Puckett's turns the four hours into five.
- Saturday
- The square is open streets. Puckett's, at 15 Public Square, is open 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturdays; the visitor center on North Main, 10 to 3.
- Admission
- Free.
- Booking
- No booking
Visit Columbia, downtown
Before you go
Neither house takes a reservation for a family, so the only part of the day that can run long is the wait for a tour at Rippa Villa, and the half hour on the square is the time to give back.
The Polk Home closes at 4 p.m. from November to March, which this loop never reaches. Mule Day, usually the first weekend of April, fills Columbia's square and its parking.
How we know
The timetable is worked out from the route and the time at each stop, and checked against every stop's Saturday hours and the sunset for every Saturday in the twelve months after the hours were read. The drive times are a router's, with no traffic: leave room.
- Rippa Villa. Battle of Franklin Trust, Rippa Villa; American Battlefield Trust, Spring Hill; Battle of Franklin Trust. Hours: as posted, read October 20, 2026.
- President James K. Polk Home & Museum. James K. Polk Home & Museum, the museum; Tennessee Historical Commission, Polk Home; Visit Columbia, the Polk Home. Hours: as posted, read October 20, 2026.
- Columbia's Public Square. National Register nomination, Columbia Commercial Historic District; Visit Columbia, the historic downtown; Visit Columbia, Mule Day; Visit Columbia, the welcome center. Hours: as posted, read October 20, 2026.
- Before you go. Battle of Franklin Trust, Rippa Villa; Visit Columbia, Mule Day; Polk Home, visiting.
- The drive. Valhalla (valhalla1.openstreetmap.de) on OpenStreetMap, routed October 21, 2026.
- The photograph. North Main at Columbia's square, September 2025. Photo: Antony-22, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
All 8 loops
