By: Choose901

When the sun is out, so are we—and our outdoor spaces are where you need to be!

Walk it. Bike it. Blade it. Skate it. Get the most out of the city that made it.

Check out our list of ways to enjoy Memphis’s outdoor spaces!

ON THE WATER

  • Blues City Kayaks – We bet you never thought you’d see so much of Memphis from the water! The Wolf River flows all throughout the city limits, and then some. Blues City Kayaks offers several different tours that’ll take you places you’ve never seen throughout the state.
  • Shelby Farms Park – Get up close and personal with the Hyde Lake and Pine Lake at Shelby Farms Park. There are paddleboats, paddleboards, kayaks, and canoes made available as your vehicle for water exploration.
  • SUP Yoga or Paddleboard Yoga classes are also offered at Shelby Farms via SUP901.
  • Wolf River – See how to register to paddle down the Wolf River and rent a canoe or a kayak.
  • Looking for pools in the 901? Check out this guide! They typically open after Memorial Day.
  • You can also take quick day trips to Spring River in Hardy, Arkansas, and the Buffalo River in Waynesboro, Tennessee. Either spot is a very doable day trip from the M!

SKATING / SKATEBOARDING

Let’s Go Fly a Kite

  • Find where the wind’s at and let you kite fly high! We love to fly kites at Shelby Farms Park and Mud Island!

Disc Golf

  • Shelby Farms Park Disc Golf Course – This course has 18 holes and many of them are pretty long distances compared to your average course.
  • Shelby Forest – This park in Millington is a staple for many in the Disc Golf Community.
  • Johnson Road Park (Germantown) –  A fun course that’s “mostly flat and moderately wooded” but fair warning: It is the only place one of our staff members has lost discs. A separate, fun outdoors adventure would be trying to retrieve the discs lost in the water traps here!
  • Sea Isle Park – 18 holes that are very welcoming to all abilities.
  • Bud Hill – A Memphis gem, this course is also private, so note that you might have to reach out via email to receive permission to play.
  • Kennedy Park – 18 holes at this spot.
  • Veteran’s Golfplex – Under the control of the Vietnam Veterans Association, this course plays alongside a ball golf course. Pick your poison.

Biking

  • Shelby Farms Greenline – Boasting well over 10 miles of beautiful paved bike trails, this is the “bread and butter” of biking in Memphis.
  • Hampline – Pedestrians have really gotten an upgrade on Tillman connecting Broad Avenue to the Greenline!
  • Big River Crossing – There is something for everyone on this mile-long bridge to the Natural State. From beautiful skyline vistas to photo ops, it’s an easy distance to bike and feel good about yourself. Or,  if you want to absolutely crush it, take on the 70 miles of the Big River Trail.
  • Wolf River Greenway – This 26-mile paved pedestrian pathway will eventually extend a total of 36 miles to connect neighborhoods all the way from the north end of Mud Island, in downtown Memphis, through the neighborhoods of north central Memphis, connecting to Shelby Farms and then to the cities of Germantown and Collierville, Tennessee.
  • BIKE LANES have been popping up across the city!!! Ride on, and make sure to wear that helmet.
  • Don’t own a bike? Rent one from the Hyde Lake Wheel House at Shelby Farms or from Explore Bike Share.
  • For more biking goodness, check out Choose901’s Ultimate Guide to Biking.

Rucking

  • You may have to check out this past story about the BrewRuck events to learn more about what rucking actually is, but it’s
    essentially walking with weight! The Ruck Memphis group meets for weekly social rucks aka exercise + beer.

Fishing

Running

  • Wolf River Greenway – This is a really nice trail that takes you over and alongside the Wolf River. The best part of the Greenway is that you can take many different trails and never run the same route more than once.

  • Shelby Farms Park – There are tons of options for running trails in Shelby Farms. You can enjoy beautiful mornings on the Hyde Lake (2.3 Miles) loop watching the sunrise and deer, or try
    the Dunnavant Trail that takes you from the Wolf River Bridge to the Shelby Farms Greenline. We highly recommend the “Tour De Wolf,” a nearly 6-mile course that is unpaved. If you’re bad at training for long distances, this is a great spot to do an out and back route!
  • Overton Park – Overton has a 2-mile figure 8 loop that you can add, subtract, or differentiate with paved or unpaved trails.
  • Tom Lee Park & Big River Crossing – “I get bored of the Mighty Mississippi,” said nobody ever.
  • Audubon Park –
  • Peterson Lake Nature Center – Great on the shins (shoutout shin splints…) + beautiful bridge and scenery in Collierville
  • Vollintine Evergreen Greenline – Almost 2 miles of trail in Midtown Memphis reaching all the way to the Crosstown Concourse. It’s entirely supported and maintained by community volunteers!

Star Gazing

Playtime in the Park

These parks may not be in your zip code, but they are definitely worth checking out for your next afternoon run, weekend picnic or morning playdate:

  • Audubon Park
  • Cameron Brown Park
  • Central Park
  • Chickasaw Heritage Park
  • David Carnes Park/Blue Cross Blue Shield Healthy Place
  • Gaisman Park
  • H.W. Cox Park
  • Memphis River Parks
  • Overton Park
  • Peabody Park
  • Sea Isle Park & Dog Park
About Choose 901: 
Choose901 is the guide to all things Memphis, and its mission is to help you enjoy and invest in Memphis like never before. Now is the time. Memphis is the place.