Riverfront Station Layover, Nashville
Part of the full Nashville From BNA: Broadway and the Ryman
Nashville’s Riverfront Station sits inside Riverfront Park itself, a few minutes’ walk from Fort Nashborough’s log stockade, the lawn at Ascend Amphitheater and the footbridge over the Cumberland, none of which charge anything.
Riverfront Park’s log fort and open-air amphitheater
Riverfront Park runs along the west bank of the Cumberland at the foot of Broadway, and the northern end of it holds Fort Nashborough at 170 First Avenue North. The settlers who founded Nashville put the original up in 1780; what stands now is the third attempt at a replica, the first built in the 1930s under Roosevelt’s public works program and the second taken down in 2015. The current stockade and history center opened in 2017, along with a plaza on the site given over to the region’s Native American history. Self-guided visits run daily, 9am to 4pm, and cost nothing.
Ascend Amphitheater is the southern end of the same park, and it opened on July 30, 2015 as an open-air venue for 6,800: 2,300 in fixed seats under an angular metal canopy and another 4,500 on the grass behind them.
On a day with nothing booked, the lawn is simply a park with a view of the water, gates open and nobody checking anything. On the other days it is a concert venue and the whole southern half of the park goes behind a fence, which is worth knowing before you plan an afternoon around sitting on that grass.
Cumberland Park’s climbing wall on the stadium side of the river
The far bank of the Cumberland is a different kind of park. Cumberland Park opened in 2012 on six and a half acres beside the football stadium, and it is built for climbing on rather than sitting in: a rock wall called the Gorge cut into the slope, a run of stepping stones called Scoops, and a playground with a sandpit, a maze, a seesaw and a splash pad.
North from the park the East Bank Greenway runs three and a half miles along the water, paved the whole way, which is further than a few free hours needs but does answer the question of which direction to walk. A tours and activities platform runs an electric bike tour that covers more of the riverside than a walk can in the same time.
Six trains a day into Riverfront Station, and none at the weekend
The WeGo Star is a weekday commuter line from Lebanon, thirty miles east, calling at Martha, Hamilton Springs, Mt. Juliet, Hermitage and Donelson before it terminates here. Six trains come in and six go back out, all of them clustered at either end of the working day: arrivals at 6:35, 7:30 and 8:15 in the morning and 4:10, 4:50 and 5:40 in the afternoon, departures at 6:53, 7:45 and 8:25 and then 4:20, 5:10 and 5:55. The full run from Lebanon takes 55 minutes. A one-way ticket bought at Riverfront is $5.25.
Nothing leaves this platform between 8:25 in the morning and 4:20 in the afternoon, so anyone off an early train is committed to eight hours downtown with whatever came off the train with them.
Riverfront Station has no airport connection of its own
WeGo Route 18 is the only public transit between downtown and Nashville International Airport (BNA), and it does not come down to the river. It loads at Bay 14 on the Fourth Avenue side of WeGo Central, about ten minutes on foot up the hill from the platform, costs $2 each way, runs every 30 minutes from 5:50am to 11:15pm and takes 34 to 40 minutes, longer in the afternoon rush.
Three or four hours covers the fort, the amphitheater lawn and the far bank without hurrying. If you would rather spend them on music than on the water, the full Nashville layover guide starts five blocks up the same street, on Lower Broadway, where the bars have live country going from mid-morning.
Frequently asked questions
What should I do during a layover near Riverfront Station in Nashville?
Stay on the riverbank. Riverfront Park runs north and south from the platform: Fort Nashborough, a log stockade replica at 170 First Avenue North, is free and open for self-guided visits from 9am to 4pm, and Ascend Amphitheater's grass lawn a few minutes south is a public park on any day without a show. Crossing the pedestrian bridge puts you in Cumberland Park on the east bank, six and a half acres with a climbing wall and a splash pad. None of the four costs anything.
Does the train to Riverfront Station run at weekends?
No. The WeGo Star runs weekdays only, in the morning and the afternoon, six trips each way. On a Saturday or Sunday the platform is closed and the park around it is not, so the walking itinerary above still works, you just cannot arrive or leave by rail.
Can you cross to the east bank from Riverfront Station on foot?
Yes, and it is the reason to be at this end of downtown. The pedestrian bridge starts a couple of minutes south of the platform and crosses the Cumberland in about ten minutes, landing on the plaza beside the football stadium with Cumberland Park immediately downstream. The East Bank Greenway runs three and a half miles north from there along the water, which is more than a layover needs but useful if you want a direction to walk in.
How do I get from Riverfront Station to Nashville International Airport?
There is no rail connection. WeGo Route 18 is the only public transit to BNA and it loads at Bay 14 on the Fourth Avenue side of WeGo Central, about a ten-minute walk uphill from the platform. The fare is $2, buses go every 30 minutes from 5:50am to 11:15pm, and the ride takes 34 to 40 minutes, closer to 45 in the afternoon rush.