Memphis: Green Spaces Worth a Trip
Memphis’s nature side rarely makes the highlight reel next to Beale Street and Graceland, but East Memphis and Midtown both hold real green space worth a half-day.
Shelby Farms Park
The largest of Memphis’s parks by far, 4,500 acres in East Memphis with lakes, forest, and meadow alongside its 40-plus miles of trail. Horseback riding, biking, and paddling are all options here beyond straightforward walking, and there’s enough space that it never feels as crowded as a smaller city park would at the same visitor numbers.
Overton Park
A 342-acre Midtown park holding a genuine stretch of old-growth forest, plus the Memphis Zoo, the Overton Park Shell concert venue (renamed back from “Levitt Shell” in 2022), and walking paths through both open lawn and denser woods. It’s the most walkable of the city’s major parks from a Midtown hotel.
Memphis Botanic Garden and Dixon Gallery & Gardens
These two sit across from each other in East Memphis, and pairing them makes for a full, unhurried afternoon: the Botanic Garden’s themed sections alongside the Dixon’s art-museum grounds and formal gardens. Both charge a modest admission, check current rates before you go.
One honest correction: the Memphis Zoo
If you’ve read an older guide mentioning the Memphis Zoo’s pandas, that’s out of date, the zoo hasn’t had pandas since 2023. It’s still a real zoo inside Overton Park worth visiting on its own terms, just don’t plan a trip around seeing pandas that are no longer there.
One to skip for now: Mud Island River Park
Mud Island’s riverwalk and river-model park have been a genuine highlight in the past, but the park has been in redevelopment limbo for years, its monorail closed since 2018 and a planned relaunch postponed after water damage. Check its current status before adding it to an itinerary, it isn’t operating as a normal open attraction right now.
Getting to any of these
All of the above need a car or rideshare from downtown, none are in walking range of Beale or South Main. Spring brings real severe-storm risk in this part of Tennessee, and summer runs hot and humid past 90°F regularly, plan an early start either season.
For the trail-focused version of this list, see Memphis’s hiking areas , and the Memphis guide covers the rest of the city.