Need a green field, wooded trail, riverbank, skyline view or convincing piece of wilderness without leaving Nashville?
Start with Metro Parks.
Nashville has a surprisingly diverse park system, ranging from manicured urban greenspace to forests, trails, open fields and rural landscapes that barely feel like they're inside a major city.
But if you're planning a commercial film, video or photography shoot, you can't simply show up with a camera crew.
Here's what producers should know about filming in Nashville Metro Parks.
Do You Need a Permit to Film in a Nashville Park?
For commercial filming or photography, yes.
Metro Parks requires permits for commercial film, video and photography projects taking place on park property.
For film and video projects, productions may also need to coordinate with Nashville's Film Division in addition to obtaining the park-specific permit.
In other words:
Shooting in a Metro Park can involve both the standard Nashville film permitting process and the park-specific permit.
Current applications, rules and requirements are available through Metro Parks' Film, Video + Photography Permit page.
How Much Does It Cost to Film in a Nashville Metro Park?
For commercial film and video, Metro Parks' current daily fees are:
$150/day — Davidson County residents or businesses
$180/day — applicants outside Davidson County
For commercial still photography, the current daily fees are:
$125/day — Davidson County
$150/day — outside Davidson County
Metro Parks also offers annual commercial photography permits for $250 for Davidson County applicants or $300 for applicants outside the county.
These are the basic permit fees. Larger or more disruptive commercial productions may require additional approvals, reservations or fees.
Warner Parks Are Different
If you're considering Percy Warner or Edwin Warner Park, don't use the standard Metro Parks film rate when building your budget.
Film and video permitting in Warner Parks is currently:
$200 per hour
with a two-hour minimum.
That means even a relatively short commercial shoot starts at $400 in park fees.
Warner Parks are beautiful and incredibly useful for production, but they're a good example of why you should confirm the exact park before finalizing your location budget.
How Far in Advance Should You Apply?
Don't make Metro Parks your Friday-afternoon permit request for a Monday shoot.
Metro Parks notes that applications submitted with less than 48 hours' notice may not be granted.
For production purposes, we'd recommend applying earlier whenever possible, particularly if you have a larger crew, significant equipment, reserved areas, road or walkway impacts or anything else requiring additional coordination.
If the park is important to the creative, start the permitting conversation as soon as you're seriously considering it.
You'll Need Insurance
Metro Parks requires a Certificate of Insurance before the permit can be approved.
Current requirements call for at least $1 million in liability coverage, with the Metropolitan Board of Parks & Recreation named as an additional insured.
Your application will also ask for information including:
Park requested
Type of production
Shoot dates
Load-in and load-out times
Anticipated attendance
Equipment being brought into the park
Have a realistic production footprint before applying.
"Camera and a few friends" isn't particularly useful if you're actually arriving with a grip truck and 35 crew.
A Film Permit Does Not Give You Exclusive Use of the Park
This is important.
A standard film or photography permit doesn't automatically allow production to close a park, prevent the public from using an area or take over park facilities.
If you need exclusive use of a picnic shelter, facility, greenspace or another reservable area, you may need a separate reservation and additional fee.
Likewise, larger setups involving props, stages or significant production infrastructure may require additional approval or a separate greenspace rental.
For a small-footprint lifestyle shoot, this can be relatively manageable.
For a larger commercial, be clear about exactly how much space production needs.
Can You Put Equipment on the Grass?
Don't assume your park permit means you can build a full set wherever you'd like.
If you're bringing significant lighting, staging, props, large set pieces or other infrastructure, describe it accurately when applying.
The same goes for vehicles.
A beautiful field may look like the perfect place for your grip truck.
Metro Parks may have other feelings.
What About Roads + Walkways?
If your shoot needs to block or control a park road, trail or walkway, additional coordination may be required.
Larger productions may also be required to arrange security or Park Police support depending on the scope of the shoot.
And if the production affects Nashville's public right-of-way outside the park, additional permitting through the Nashville Department of Transportation may come into play.
This is particularly important for larger motion shoots, automotive work or productions attempting to control pedestrian or vehicle movement.
Can You Fly a Drone in a Nashville Metro Park?
Generally, no.
Metro Parks does not permit drone use outside designated flying areas, including drones being used for commercial photography or filming.
So don't build the creative around a sweeping drone shot over your Metro Park location and assume you'll solve it later.
If aerial footage is essential, discuss it with your location team early and look at alternative locations where drone operations can be legally and safely permitted.
Don't Forget About Public Art
Here's another easy one to miss.
A permit to film in a park doesn't necessarily give your production commercial rights to artwork located inside that park.
Metro Government may not own the copyright to public artwork on park property.
If a sculpture, monument or other artwork will be prominently featured in commercial advertising, you may need separate permission from the appropriate rights holder.
The park may be cleared.
The artwork may not be.
Great Nashville Metro Parks for Film + Photo Shoots
Now the more interesting question:
Where should you scout?
Nashville's park system offers much more visual variety than many out-of-town producers realize.
Here are several places we'd put on the list depending on the creative.
Shelby Park + Shelby Bottoms
Best for: Open green space, river, trails, woods, fields, greenways, natural lifestyle, running, cycling and outdoor campaigns.
Shelby is one of Nashville's most versatile park environments.
Located in East Nashville just minutes from downtown, Shelby Park and the adjoining Shelby Bottoms Greenway + Natural Area give productions a surprising amount of visual variety without a major company move.
You can find broad green spaces, mature trees, wooded areas, paved trails, primitive trails and the Cumberland River environment.
Shelby Bottoms also includes miles of greenway and trails, giving scouts multiple environments to explore rather than one obvious hero location.
For a production looking for accessible nature that doesn't require leaving Nashville, this is one of the first places we'd consider.
Bells Bend Park
Best for: Open fields, pastoral landscapes, rural Tennessee, trails and wide natural vistas.
Bells Bend is particularly interesting from a location perspective because it can feel significantly farther from the city than it actually is.
Located in the rural Scottsboro area along a bend of the Cumberland River, the park offers a much more pastoral environment than Nashville's traditional urban parks.
For advertising work that needs open Tennessee countryside without actually leaving Davidson County, Bells Bend is absolutely worth scouting.
Beaman Park
Best for: Rugged woods, hiking, dense forest, trails, outdoor apparel and wilderness looks.
Beaman gives you a very different Nashville.
The park is a heavily forested natural area in northwest Davidson County with trails and a noticeably more rugged feel than Nashville's manicured parks.
If the creative calls for hiking, woods or something that needs to feel more remote, Beaman can be a strong starting point.
It's particularly useful when you want forest rather than manicured park.
Percy Warner Park
Best for: Forests, winding roads, stonework, trails, hills, upscale outdoor lifestyle and classic Nashville scenery.
Percy Warner is one of Nashville's most recognizable natural environments and offers a combination of wooded roads, trails, mature forest and historic park architecture.
It's especially useful for elevated lifestyle, running, outdoor and potentially automotive-adjacent imagery depending on the exact production plan.
Just remember:
Warner Parks use the separate $200/hour film and video fee with a two-hour minimum.
Beautiful?
Yes.
Same price as Shelby?
No.
Edwin Warner Park
Best for: Trails, forest, creeks, open areas, outdoor lifestyle and nature.
Adjacent to Percy Warner, Edwin Warner offers another large natural environment with a slightly different mix of wooded trails, creeks and accessible green space.
Depending on the creative, it's worth scouting both Warner Parks rather than assuming they're interchangeable.
Centennial Park
Best for: Manicured lawns, urban park, monuments, city lifestyle, walking, running and recognizable Nashville.
Centennial gives you a much more polished urban-park look.
Its most recognizable feature is obviously the Parthenon, which can immediately identify Nashville.
That also means you need to think carefully about architecture, artwork, crowds, events and exactly what will appear in the frame.
For a clean urban-green-space setup close to downtown, though, Centennial is extremely convenient.
Two Rivers Park
Best for: Open greenspace, recreational lifestyle, trails, family, cycling and broad park environments.
Two Rivers can be useful when the creative needs accessible, less iconic greenspace rather than a location that screams a particular Nashville landmark.
Its connection to Nashville's larger greenway system can also make the area worth exploring for running, biking and general outdoor-lifestyle work.
Cedar Hill Park
Best for: Fields, mature trees, recreational landscapes, sports-adjacent lifestyle and broad greenspace.
Cedar Hill gives productions another option for large, relatively straightforward park environments.
It can be especially useful when you don't need a recognizable Nashville landmark.
You just need a really good park.
Which Nashville Park Should You Choose?
It depends on the creative.
If you want accessible nature + variety, start with Shelby Park and Shelby Bottoms.
If you want pastoral fields and rural Tennessee, look at Bells Bend.
If you need rugged forest, scout Beaman Park.
If you want classic wooded Nashville with winding roads and elevated scenery, consider Percy and Edwin Warner.
If you need a polished urban park, look at Centennial.
And if the creative simply calls for flexible greenspace, don't overlook places like Two Rivers or Cedar Hill.
Nashville has considerably more park inventory than the handful of locations most people see when they first search online.
Scout the Park Before You Permit It
A pin on a map isn't enough.
When scouting a Metro Park, look at the entire production footprint:
Where does production park?
How far is the equipment carry?
Can trucks access the area?
Where are the bathrooms?
Where can client and talent hold?
How busy is the location at the proposed shoot time?
Are there recreational activities we can't control?
Is the exact area we're looking at reservable?
Will our equipment footprint require additional approval?
What's the sound environment like?
A park may look perfect in photographs and be completely wrong operationally.
Finding the tree is easy.
Finding the tree with bathrooms, parking and a 50-foot equipment carry is location scouting.
The Short Version
For commercial filming in a Nashville Metro Park:
Film/video permit: $150/day for Davidson County applicants or $180/day for applicants outside Davidson County.
Commercial still photography: $125/day local or $150/day outside Davidson County.
Warner Parks film/video: $200/hour with a two-hour minimum.
Insurance: Minimum $1 million liability coverage with Metro Parks named as an additional insured.
Lead time: Applications submitted less than 48 hours before filming may not be approved. Apply earlier whenever possible.
Exclusive use: Not automatically included.
Large setups: May require additional approval or greenspace rental.
Drones: Generally not permitted outside designated flying areas.
Film and video productions may also need to coordinate with Nashville's Film Division in addition to obtaining the Metro Parks permit.
Need Help Scouting a Nashville Park?
Nashville Location Company provides location scouting, sourcing, vetting, location management and permitting support for commercial photography, advertising, branded content, film and motion productions throughout Nashville and Middle Tennessee.
Tell us what the creative needs — open field, forest, creek, trail, skyline, river, manicured lawn or something that looks like we drove considerably farther from Nashville than we actually did.
We'll scout the options, figure out which park makes sense operationally and help navigate the permitting process.
Because "somewhere green" is a creative brief.
It's just not a location yet.