photograph courtesy overton park conservancy
Newly opened trails lead visitors deep into Overton Park’s Old Forest.
Editor’s Note: Nestled through the Memphis urban area are surprisingly tranquil green oases. If you’re ready for a break from the hustle for a spell, you don't need to travel far. From an otherworldly paddling voyage to the centering rhythm of a day on the trail, our hometown offers a wealth of opportunities to change your outlook — literally.
Until last November, a lush expanse of Overton Park’s old-growth forest stood caged behind a chain-link fence. Disputes over land usage, between the park conservancy and the Memphis Zoo, had locked this section of woods into suspended animation. Visitors could see the trees and vines, could listen to the birds, but could not let their feet sink into the loamy soil, could not look up through the canopy of leaves like skyward stained glass. At last, at the culmination of a long and thorny path, tensions broke and leaders worked together to reopen the long-closed woods. You can read plenty more about the backstory elsewhere. But now we can turn to the overstory — the crests of the trees, alive with song — and the understory, the vines and the moss, the decay and the saplings, the chipmunks and box turtles.
Behind where the fence stood, new foot trails have been constructed — a half-mile loop, enough for a brief respite from the clanging city or a longer, meditative walk, repeating the loop or doubling back. If you’ve ventured onto the trails in the larger sections of forest, the part we’re used to, these new paths will feel like a revelation: There are dips and rises, gentle curves and forks. The physical feeling of walking here is different: lighter, nimbler.
In the early spring, when the ephemeral flora bloomed, the paths were lined with shyly opening trillium, bouncy mayapple, and tiny, delicate chervil, and the flowering buckeye flashed ruby-red against sprays of pale green. A few weeks later, the trees more densely thatched, the woods were quieter, as if the leaves were blotting out the sounds of the city.
Walking on soil reorients and clarifies an over-full mind so quickly. I don’t believe I’ve ever walked out of the forest feeling quite the same as when I entered. Whether you have an afternoon to spend in exploration — breathing deeply, looking up, craning to identify birds and trees — or a mere half-hour all to yourself, the trails are open to ground you.
