Memphis Hiking Areas: 3 Trail Picks From Base
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3 places to hike from a Memphis base
Memphis isn’t a hiking destination first, but three spots handle real trail time between city sights and day trips, and one lets you walk across a state line on foot.
- Shelby Farms Park, East Memphis. One of the largest urban parks in the US, at roughly 4,500 acres, nearly 5 times the size of New York’s Central Park, with more than 40 miles of trails through woods, meadow, and along the Wolf River. Free to enter, bike rentals available on site.
- Overton Park, Midtown. A mix of paved and wooded trails inside the city, closer to downtown than Shelby Farms, good for a short walk between a Sun Studio visit and dinner rather than a dedicated hiking day.
- Big River Crossing. Not a trail in the usual sense, but the mile-long pedestrian and bike bridge over the Mississippi from downtown into West Memphis, Arkansas, is a legitimate flat out-and-back walk with river views the whole way, free and open year-round.
Best months to hike around Memphis
April through early June and mid-September through early November give the most comfortable trail weather, dodging both summer’s heat and the worst of spring’s storm risk. Summers regularly push past 90F with high humidity, carry more water than feels necessary and hike earlier in the day. Spring (March-May) carries real tornado and severe-storm risk, check a weather-radar app before heading out rather than trusting a clear morning to hold.
Do any of these connect to the day trips?
Not directly, none of Shelby Farms, Overton Park, or Big River Crossing sits on the route to Tunica, Clarksdale, Oxford, or Shiloh, they’re city-based add-ons rather than stops along the way. Fit one in on a city-core day rather than trying to combine it with driving time.
Which of these fits a single spare morning?
Big River Crossing is the easiest fit. It sits inside the downtown core, walkable from most Beale Street-area hotels, and a relaxed out-and-back crossing takes under an hour. Shelby Farms and Overton Park both need a car or rideshare to reach, so treat either as its own half-day block rather than squeezing it between other stops.
One practical note for Shelby Farms specifically: the park is large enough that the trailhead you park at matters, the Hyde Lake area near the visitor center is the easiest starting point for a first visit, and bike rentals there mean you don’t have to commit to a single trail length in advance.
Read more: see our Memphis nature spots guide for gardens and quieter green space, or the main Memphis, Tennessee guide for how these fit a full base itinerary.