Why Oak Hill's Fall Saturdays Run on a Three-Hour Clock

How many Saturdays are left this fall to walk up to the raptor boardwalk at Radnor Lake? As of Oct. 3, 2026, the Tennessee State Parks calendar shows seven more: Oct. 10, 17, 24 and 31, then Nov. 7, 14 and 21. Each one runs from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Nov. 21 listing says nothing else is scheduled after it.

That short window shapes the season. For Oak Hill and Forest Hills, most of this fall's public calendar comes from two hilltop institutions, Radnor Lake State Park and the Ellington Agricultural Center on Hogan Road. Both keep their best hours on Saturday mornings. On one Saturday, Oct. 24, their schedules line up almost exactly.

The three hours at the top of the Radnor trail

The Barbara J. Mapp Aviary Education Center is easy to pass on a regular lake loop, because getting there takes a deliberate climb. It's a 3/4-mile hike from the East Parking Area and 1 1/4 miles from the West Parking Area at the Walter Criley Visitor Center. Saturday open houses are self-guided, open to all ages, and need no registration. Visitors walk a 550-foot boardwalk past the birds of prey.

Every bird on that boardwalk is non-releasable. Each one has an injury that would keep it from surviving in the wild, so it now serves as a raptor ambassador. The park's current event listing says the aviary is fully occupied and names these residents:

• 1 Great Horned Owl
• 1 Red-tailed Hawk
• 1 Black Vulture
• 1 Golden Eagle
• 2 mature bald eagles

The park's Radnor Lake Birding page also calls the aviary fully occupied, but it counts three bald eagles rather than two.

Inside the Education Center there are captive snakes and turtles. The Ann Tarbell Library is also there, with a digital collection open to anyone researching a particular subject.

Two rules matter for anyone planning a visit. Pets can't go on the boardwalk because they stress the birds, but they're allowed inside the Education Center. The Birds of Prey Glove Programs, where a ranger brings a bird out on the glove, aren't on a set schedule during open houses. Rangers hold them when visitor numbers allow, and never when it's above 90 degrees or below 30. October and November usually fall inside that range. That makes the next seven Saturdays the most likely time of year to see a glove program.

An enclosure being readied for one more eagle

The aviary is listed as full, yet one enclosure is being prepared for a new arrival. On Sept. 28, 2026, Friends of Radnor Lake posted about a volunteer day on Friday, Sept. 25. Thirty volunteers from Nissan worked with park staff at the Mapp center, putting new gravel in three raptor enclosures and mulching around the Education Center and amphitheater. They also worked on the Flighted Enclosure in preparation for:

"the arrival of a new non-releaseable eagle this fall... ahead of our state inspection next week."

Friends hasn't given a date for the eagle or said which species it is. No arrival announcement had come out by Oct. 3, so a visit on any of the remaining Saturdays could come before or after it arrives. Park Manager Steve Ward, who hosts the open houses, is the contact listed on the event page at 615-856-2086.

Hogan Road keeps nearly the same morning hours

The second hilltop runs on almost the same schedule. The Tennessee Agricultural Museum at 404 Hogan Road, on the Ellington Agricultural Center grounds, will open on Saturday, Oct. 24, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Regular admission is free. That puts the museum's morning a single hour ahead of the Radnor boardwalk on the same day.

That evening, the museum holds its Dinner on the Lawn fundraiser at 6 p.m. The museum's flyer promises "Tennessee Tastes and Live Music." Tickets are $100 a person or $750 for a table of eight, sold through Eventbrite, and the proceeds support the museum's education programs. The flyer lists 615-837-5197 for questions.

Ellington also hosts regular meetings of local groups, most of them at Ed Jones Auditorium, 440 Hogan Road:

• Nashville Area Beekeepers Association: Sunday, Oct. 4, and Sunday, Nov. 8, both from 2 to 4 p.m. The listings show the speaker as TBD.
• Perennial Plant Society of Middle Tennessee: Tuesday, Oct. 20, with social time at 6 p.m. and the meeting at 6:30. The talk, "Plant Studs not Duds," covers woody landscape plants and alternatives to them.
• First Friday, Artifact Highlight: Indigenous Pottery: Friday, Nov. 6, 10 to 11 a.m. at the museum. Attendees learn about Mississippian pottery and make a piece of their own. Reservations through Eventbrite are required.

The plant society talk is a good fit for this time of year. For many gardeners, fall is when woody plants go into the ground. A free evening on which shrubs and trees do well locally comes just as a lot of yards are being replanted.

Oct. 24, in order

On this one Saturday, the two hills can fill a whole day without a long drive between stops:

1. 9 a.m. The Tennessee Agricultural Museum opens for its free morning at 404 Hogan Road.
2. 10 a.m. The Radnor aviary boardwalk opens. Start from the East Parking Area for the shorter 3/4-mile walk up.
3. 1 p.m. The museum and the aviary both close for the day.
4. 6 p.m. Dinner on the Lawn begins back on Hogan Road for ticket holders.

Fitting both morning stops in means seeing one in the 9-to-10 hour and the other before 1. Anyone hoping for a glove program should allow extra time at Radnor, because those only happen when rangers are free.

Radnor's next growth is on the Franklin Road side

The aviary has little room for more birds, but Radnor itself is still gaining land. In January 2025, Friends of Radnor Lake bought the first three acres at the corner of Franklin Road and Old Hickory Boulevard from Mantra LLC. The State of Tennessee bought the other six adjoining acres in October 2025. That purchase used a $3 million federal Land and Water Conservation Fund grant, which the state had to match dollar for dollar. Friends put $1 million toward the nine-acre project, plus land valued at $3 million that will transfer to the state as the match.

According to Friends' plans, the two houses on the tract are to be demolished in 2026, paid for by a family foundation grant. The land will then be cleared of invasive plants and replanted as native grassland. Eventually it will hold a 100-car parking area and trailhead for the Harris Ridge Trail Project. When finished, that project will add three miles of trail from Franklin Road to Otter Creek Road.

These are plans, not finished work. The Friends page describing them dates from December 2025, and no later public update on the demolition or trail construction has appeared. On National Public Lands Day this September, 12 volunteers from Sierra Club–Middle Tennessee hiked the Mantra tract, pulled invasive plants, and helped get the property ready for fall acquisition hikes. Those hikes are ranger-led walks through closed parcels the park has recently acquired. Friends says those hikes are announced, with registration, on the Radnor Lake State Park events page. No dates for this fall had been posted as of Oct. 3. For comparison, last year's Mantra hike took place the Friday after Thanksgiving, needed registration, and was limited to ages 12 and up. So far, any visitor parking at Franklin Road and Old Hickory exists only on the plan.

The rest of the calendar, through Nov. 21

The only weekday entry that isn't on Hogan Road is Historic Trades Days at Travellers Rest Historic House Museum, a day of historic trades and demonstrations by skilled artisans. Its event page doesn't give hours or ticket details. The museum's general schedule lists tours Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., so calling ahead before Oct. 7 is a good idea.

After Nov. 21, the park's calendar shows no more Saturday open houses.

If you're thinking about how close to Radnor's trails or the planned Franklin Road trailhead you want to live, Heather Hamel can walk you through the Oak Hill and Forest Hills streets nearest to both. Begin a private consultation.