Owl's Hill Still Has a Trail Closed From January's Ice Storm. Here's How to Plan Its Fall Anyway.

Eight months after Winter Storm Fern, where in Brentwood can you still see the damage?

Not at Crockett Park. Its city page lists normal hours again, dawn to 10 p.m. Not at Granny White Park either. The city used it as a storm-debris processing site last winter, and this Saturday, October 3, it hosts VETFEST and the one-mile Heroes Stroll. Radnor Lake, just over the county line, reopened in early March.

The damage is still visible at 545 Beech Creek Road South. The Owl's Hill Nature Sanctuary trail map carries a short notice:

Our South Ridge Trail will be closed until further notice due to extensive damage caused by Winter Storm Fern.

That one line shapes the whole season at Owl's Hill. The sanctuary was already a place you plan for. It sells tickets, caps attendance and doesn't allow pets. With its ridge trail out of service, this fall goes more smoothly with a plan.

What the storm did, and why the city recovered faster

Fern arrived early Saturday, January 24, and lasted through Sunday. WKRN reported about half an inch of ice on trees and power lines across the hardest-hit stretch of Middle Tennessee. That was enough weight to bring down limbs across the region. By January 30, Brentwood said its crews had removed more than 300 downed trees. By March 11, the city had collected more than 260,000 cubic yards of debris in its first pickup phase, with a second phase set to finish by March 28.

Those figures describe a public works job. City crews, city trucks and city debris sites cleared roads and parks on a city schedule. Owl's Hill is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit on about 300 acres. Its trails are kept up with its own money. The Visit page says day-pass fees help pay for trail maintenance, land management and the care of its owls. Its support page asks for annual gifts to maintain and improve the trails. No reopening date for South Ridge has been published.

The land was set aside long before the trails were built

Owl's Hill limits access because of how it began. Huldah Sharp and her husband, Walter, bought a 140-acre farm from the Roy Elam family. After Walter died, Huldah placed restrictive covenants on the land. In 1972 she sold it to the University of Tennessee Nashville for research and nature-preserve use. In 1983 the university conveyed it to Cheekwood. Cheekwood hired a full-time naturalist in 1988, restoration began in 1991, and more than 130 Eagle Scout projects helped turn a former cattle farm back into habitat. The sanctuary became an independent nonprofit in the spring of 2007.

The sanctuary says it restricts access "to protect the fragile habitats and diverse wildlife" of a property that is home to more than 2,000 species. Leadership is also new. Sandy Obodzinski was named president and executive director in August 2025, following Susan Duvenhage. A campus master plan by Hodgson Douglas Landscape Architects, funded by a challenge grant from the Andrea Waitt Carlton Family Foundation, is complete and posted on the sanctuary's master plan page.

What a day pass gets you this fall

The basics haven't changed. Day passes cost $5 for anyone age 3 and up. Children 2 and under get in free, and parking is free. You can buy a pass online or at the visitor center, but only on the day you visit, because there are no advance reservations. Pets are not allowed, even on a leash. Trained service animals are welcome. Picnics are allowed in the orchard.

Hours run Monday through Saturday, 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the last pass is sold an hour before closing. The visitor guidelines say the gate locks at 3 p.m., while the Visit page says 4. Plan to be inside by 3.

Here are the named trails on the sanctuary's printed map, with the one closure the trail-map page currently posts:

South Ridge and the Orchard Family Trails share the top mileage on the map, at 1.2 miles each. Ask at the visitor center about current trail conditions before you head out. The Old Oak Overlook is the shortest trail on the map and leads to a white oak the sanctuary says is 350 years old. Sharp Creek Trail follows the creek, where blue-eyed Mary, a rare spring wildflower, comes up in season. The Orchard Family Trails connect the visitor center, the ponds and the orchard, and the pond platform is a good place to watch birds and butterflies. The arboretum has labeled trees. This time of year, the labels can tell you which tree you're looking at when the leaves change.

The ticketed fall calendar

The guided programs are where the closure matters least, because a guide picks the route. Most of these programs have limited space, and buying tickets ahead either guarantees your spot or saves money.

Fall Color Hikes. Six Saturday mornings: October 17, 24 and 31, and November 7, 14 and 21. Every hike starts at 9:30 a.m. and costs $15 per hiker. Guides lead the walk and follow how fall is progressing on the property. The hike is rated moderately strenuous and is open to ages 14 and up, with minors accompanied by an adult. Cameras and binoculars are welcome. Space is limited, and tickets are sold in advance. The sanctuary doesn't say which trails the hikes will use this year.

Lantern Hikes. Two Friday nights: October 2 from 7 to 9 p.m., and November 6 from 6 to 8 p.m. The cost is $18 per person, for ages 12 and up. The route covers 1.5 miles of moderately challenging natural-surface trail. Headlamps and flashlights aren't allowed, and the sanctuary provides lanterns. Guides listen for owls, coyotes, crickets and frogs and tell stories about the property's history. The gate opens 30 minutes before the start, and late arrivals can't join. You're welcome to pack dinner and picnic on the grounds beforehand, and since the sanctuary is pack-in, pack-out, take your trash home with you. The October hike is tomorrow.

Native Plant Sale. The sanctuary's line is "Fall is the best time to plant." The sale offers native seeds, perennials, trees, shrubs, grasses and vines. Online presale runs October 15 through 20, with pickup on Friday, October 23, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. The in-person sale is Saturday, October 24, from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Quantities are limited and all sales are final. October 24 is also a Fall Color Hike morning, so one Saturday trip can cover both.

Owl Day. Saturday, November 7, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tickets are $15 for ages 13 and up and $10 for children 12 and under if you buy online, or $17 and $12 at the door. Ages 2 and under are free. Online sales close at 8 a.m. that day, and walk-up tickets go on sale at 9:45. The sanctuary's non-releasable owls are featured in presentations at 10:15, 11:15 and 12:15. The day also includes an owl craft, owl-pellet dissection and a scavenger hunt. A Fall Color Hike starts at 9:30 the same morning. Because the hike is for ages 14 and up and Owl Day is built for all ages, a family could split up for the first hour and meet at the owl enclosures.

A few rules apply to every fall program. Programs go on rain or shine. They're canceled only if the National Weather Service puts Williamson County under a severe weather warning, and in that case you get a Day Pass credit good for 30 days. Tickets aren't refundable, but you can transfer one to a friend or family member by calling 615-370-4672 before the program date. There's no communal water fountain, so bring a refillable bottle. The sanctuary also recommends insect repellent.

Fitting it into a Brentwood weekend

This first weekend of October has events across town. The Friends of the Brentwood Library fall book sale runs October 1 through 4 at the John P. Holt Brentwood Library, 8109 Concord Road. On Saturday, October 3, Brentwood Public Safety Day runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 330 Franklin Road. VETFEST is the same day at Granny White Park, 610 Granny White Pike, with the Heroes Stroll at 9:30 a.m. Last winter, Granny White Park was where the city processed its storm debris. This weekend it's hosting a festival.

If you'd rather visit on a slower Tuesday morning with a $5 pass, check the Visit page before you drive out. The sanctuary posts maintenance closures there, and it closed for maintenance as recently as September 29.

I've watched land around Brentwood and Franklin change hands and change shape for three decades. Owl's Hill exists because one family put covenants on their farm decades ago, and that history is part of what this side of Williamson County is today. If you're curious how old agreements like that still shape property and open space around here, or you just want to compare notes on a favorite Owl's Hill trail this fall, I'm glad to talk. Loy Hardcastle · Let's Connect.