Narrows of the Harpeth
A short bluff climb above a horseshoe bend of the Harpeth River, paired with the hand-cut Pattison Forge tunnel that Montgomery Bell's enslaved workers drove through the ridge around 1820.
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- Length
- 0.8 mi
- Elevation gain
- 370 ft
- Difficulty
- moderate
- Route
- out-and-back
Trail conditions
No recent condition reports. Hiked it lately?
Report current conditions →Elevation
0.4 mi · 96 ft of climbing · high 615 ft · low 439 ft
Find the trailhead
Parking
Gravel lot at the end of Cedar Hill Road off Narrows of the Harpeth Road; it doubles as the canoe launch and fills early on summer weekends.
Directions to parkingWeather at the trailhead
76°FOvercast now
Sunrise 5:30 AM · Sunset 8:06 PM
- TodayRain83° / 69°F73% precip
- SatDrizzle89° / 72°F26% precip
- SunRain85° / 61°F68% precip
Forecast from Open-Meteo. Mountain conditions change fast; check again before you go.
At the Narrows the Harpeth River loops five miles around a ridge and comes back within a couple hundred yards of itself, and around 1820 ironmaster Montgomery Bell had enslaved laborers cut a tunnel straight through the neck to power his Pattison Forge — it still pushes river water through the rock today and is among the oldest surviving man-made tunnels in the country. The Bluff Trail climbs short, steep switchbacks to an open limestone overlook of the river bend and the fields beyond, then the Tunnel Trail runs along the base of the bluff to the roaring downstream tunnel mouth; out and back the whole thing is under a mile. The overlook edges are sheer and unfenced, the rock is polished slick, and the riverbank rocks at the tunnel outflow are slippery with spray, so watch kids and dogs closely. Parking shares a gravel lot with one of Middle Tennessee's busiest canoe launches, so arrive early on warm weekends; the park is free and leashed dogs are welcome.