Shelby: Forests, Trails and Music History

If you choose Shelby for a trip, you can focus on nature and cultural history. Options range from a paved route for pedestrians and cyclists to large park and forest areas, as well as music museums and historic houses. To help with your planning, start with a simple question: Would you like your trip to focus more on landscapes and outdoor activity, or on exhibitions and history?

Trails and Forest Landscapes

The Shelby Farms Greenline is 12.94 miles long and paved. It connects pedestrians and cyclists in Midtown Memphis, running through Shelby Farms Park to Cordova. Its stated length and paved surface give you a concrete point of reference if you’re planning a longer walk or bike ride. The park itself covers 4,500 acres and is located in Memphis, Tennessee. It is home to a herd of bison that roams an area of just under 50 acres. The park’s area and the herd’s habitat refer to different scales within this natural setting.

The Meeman-Shelby Forest State Natural Area offers a different forest landscape in Shelby County. The 11,000-acre natural area is located within Meeman-Shelby Forest State Park. It is one of the largest contiguous areas of old-growth hardwood bottomland and upland forest on Chickasaw Bluff in Tennessee. The terms bottomland forest and upland forest make clear that different types of forest are part of the landscape here.

T.O. Fuller State Park also combines landscape and history. Located in Shelby County within the southern city limits of Memphis, it covers 1,138 acres and has diverse wildlife. Historically, it was the first state park east of the Mississippi and the second state park in the United States to open to African Americans. Nature and an important chapter in the history of public parks therefore come together here.

A Tennessee State Parks notice from September 2025 lists all-terrain wheelchairs, an adult-sized changing table and a half-mile accessible trail at T.O. Fuller State Park. If you’re planning to use these amenities during your visit, check their current status in advance.

Music, Museums and Historic Houses

At the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, the tour begins in an authentic church from the Mississippi Delta, built around 1906 and reconstructed inside the museum. The museum also contains an exact replica of Studio A. The Hall of Records displays albums and singles released by Stax and its subsidiary labels between 1957 and 1975, and includes a listening station. The exhibition combines a close-up look at music history with spaces and objects that offer insight into how it was created.

Other places offer historical insights from very different perspectives. Davies Manor Historic Site has an arboretum trail and offers guided tours of the log house. The Morton Museum of Collierville History is housed in a Gothic Revival religious building dating to around 1873. If you’re interested in metal art, the Metal Museum is dedicated exclusively to the art of metalworking. The museum’s sculpture garden features more than 20 sculptures.

Plan Your Stay Around Your Interests

When planning your hotel stay, it’s worth deciding first what you’d like to focus on: the Greenline and park landscapes, music history, or historic houses and museums. Then check whether the location of your chosen hotel suits the places you actually want to visit. This keeps your plans focused on your interests without grouping different attractions into a single itinerary.

Discover more destinations: Fisherville, Collierville, Millington, Bartlett, Brunswick, Memphis, Maury County, Scott County

For the broader travel overview: Tennessee.