Harpeth River State Park: Narrows of the Harpeth

Early November customarily means agreeable weather for those participating in outdoor activities in middle Tennessee. With the highs this weekend forecast to be in lower 60s, today was no exception. But because exterior house painting remains high on my must-get-done-before-winter list, we agreed that a short hike would be all we could tackle this weekend. We'd been to the state park named after iron ore magnate Montgomery Bell many times, but we had never visited the site of his forge located in another state park in a neighboring county. Offering 2.1 miles of mostly trail hiking, Narrows of the Harpeth was just what we were looking for.

Starting at the trailhead up the hill from the parking area, it is just a few steps before you reach the bottom of the trail leading to the bluff overlook. This is a rather steep climb, greatly aided by the presence of wood stairs. The views from the bluff did not disappoint and were, in fact, fairly spectacular. This trail ends where private property begins, so your return to the bottom is the same.

   Climbing the wooden steps

 

  

Harpeth River

 

Resting on rock

 

Back at the base of the bluff, we headed in the opposite direction for a walk along the Harpeth leading to another parking area built with canoeists in mind.

 

Trail leading to float access point

 

Retracing our steps along the Harpeth, we were soon back at the foot of the bluff. Turning right, we followed the trail leading to the site of Montgomery Bell's old forge. There is an information panel near the site providing details on the life of Mr. Bell and the operation of his forge. In a nutshell, somewhere around 1818-1820, under the direction of Mr. Bell, slaves hand cut a 100 yard tunnel through the limestone bluff, diverting water from the river to the forge. Because the river loops back around the bluff to within 200 feet of itself (hence, the "Narrows" moniker), the river water would flow through the forge and back into itself. Back in the day, this feat of engineering was nothing short of genius, a "masterpiece that is recognized today as an engineering landmark and a national historic landmark," according to the information board.

 

Site of the forge. Once upon a time this falling water was harnessed and powered . . .

 

. . . this:

 

 

So proud of his marvel was Mr. Bell that he lived within the sound of the waterfall and was buried across the river (on what most likely remains private property). The trail ended at the tunnel, so we performed an about-face and marched back to the trailhead. Now where we started, on the other side of the bluff and adjacent to the parking area, there is a wooden staircase which winds down by the river, allowing visitors a look at the tunnel inlet. This completed our rather scenic and educational trek (the junior members of our party are all about education, you know) through the Narrows. This is another highly recommended hike, though if you have bad knees, you may want to skip out on the bluff trail.

 

Looking from the inlet side of the tunnel