Things to Do in Nashville, Indiana

This is Indiana’s largest state park, at nearly 16,000 acres, and people call it the Little Smokies. There are almost 20 miles of park roads with overlooks, 10 numbered hiking trails, mountain bike trails and 70 miles of horse trails. Climb the 90-foot fire tower on Weed Patch Hill, the third-highest point in Indiana.

★ Good to know The covered bridge at the north entrance has a 9-foot clearance and 3-ton limit, so RVs and trailers should use another gate.

These are the two direct descendants of the old art colony, and both are free. The Art Gallery, founded in 1926, fills 15,000 square feet with work by 60 artists plus a historic collection. The Art Guild, in the historic Minor House on Van Buren Street, pairs early colony paintings with today’s representational artists.

★ Good to know Both take donations, and ticketed workshops or events can cost extra.

Steele and his wife, Selma, bought this land in 1907 and built the House of the Singing Winds, adding a large studio in 1916. Selma gave the property to the state in 1945. Today it covers 211 acres with gardens, lily ponds, five hiking trails and the 92-acre Selma Steele Nature Preserve.

★ Good to know The inside of the house is seen by guided tour only, and tours need registration, so book before you drive out.

The Music Center is a 2,000-seat indoor hall along Salt Creek that books national country, rock, pop and tribute acts. The smaller Brown County Playhouse on Van Buren Street stages plays, puppet shows and tribute concerts. Between them there’s usually something on a fall weekend.

★ Good to know Check both calendars when you pick your dates; most shows are ticketed in advance.

Hard Truth Distilling Co. is on Old State Road 46 and was named Indiana Distillery of the Year in 2024 by the New York International Spirits Competition. It offers tastings, distillery tours and a 21-and-over ATV tasting trip. Bear Wallow Distillery, in the Gnaw Bone area, pours from 19 whiskeys. Brown County Winery has free tastings at its Gnaw Bone winery and its downtown tasting room.

★ Good to know Bear Wallow’s group tours are for 8 or more and need a reservation; walk-in tastings do not.

The Brown County Historical Society runs both on Gould Street, and both are free. The Pioneer Village is an outdoor museum of 19th-century buildings, with push-button audio stories inside. The History Center next door has exhibits and runs living-history demonstrations.

★ Good to know The village grounds are open daily, but the buildings open only on weekend and holiday afternoons.

If the state park is too busy, these two free preserves are quieter. Hitz-Rhodehamel Woods, a 512-acre Nature Conservancy preserve just north of town off State Road 135, has a 3-mile loop. Sycamore Land Trust’s Laura Hare Nature Preserve at Downey Hill is 5.5 miles east on State Road 46. Its 655 acres have about 6 miles of loop trail and gravel road.

★ Good to know Downey Hill’s gravel lot holds only five cars, so go early on fall weekends.

Yellowwood covers about 24,000 acres near Nashville, centered on 133-acre Yellowwood Lake, which was finished in 1939. The Lake Trail runs 4.5 miles, and there are more hiking and horse trails through the forest.

★ Good to know A section of the Tecumseh Trail here is closed until further notice, so check the DNR map before a long hike.