Nashville Best Of 2026 · Best Playground
Dragon Park
A giant mosaic sea serpent winding through the grass, a brand-new playground, and a story that touches the heart of Nashville. Fannie Mae Dees Park, known to everyone as Dragon Park, is our pick for the best playground in Nashville.
The Verdict
Why Dragon Park Earns the Title
Every city has playgrounds, but only Nashville has the Dragon. The centerpiece of Fannie Mae Dees Park is a colorful sea serpent sculpture covered in handmade mosaic tiles, its humps rising out of the lawn as if it’s swimming through the park. Kids climb all over it, hide in its curves, and pose for photos, while grown-ups discover new details in the tiles every time they visit.
The rest of the park keeps the fun going. A brand-new playground reopened in 2025 with climbing structures, slides, and swings for kids of all ages. Add shady picnic tables, covered shelters, tennis courts, and open lawns, plus Hillsboro Village’s cafés and treats just steps away, and it’s the perfect Nashville family outing.
1978
Park Created
~1,000
Volunteers Helped Make the Mosaics
2025
Brand-New Playground Opened
Free
Admission, Every Day
Things to Do
A Day at Dragon Park
Pack a picnic, bring the kids, and plan to stay a while.
Climb the Sea Serpent
Part sculpture, part jungle gym. Look closely and you’ll spot faces, symbols, and scenes the community pressed into its tiles, including a portrait of Fannie Mae Dees herself.
The New Playground
Reopened in 2025, the renovated playground offers climbing, sliding, and swinging for kids of all ages, with swings for big kids and bucket seats for little ones.
Picnics & Hillsboro Village
Grab a shaded picnic table or reserve a covered shelter for a birthday party. Hillsboro Village is right next door for lunch, coffee, or a post-playground treat.
The Story
The Woman Behind the Dragon
In the 1970s, an urban renewal project near Vanderbilt tore down an entire neighborhood. Its fiercest opponent was Fannie Mae Dees, a nurse and activist who fought to save the home she shared with her mother, even placing a coffin out front to protest the death of her community. Her home was demolished, but one plot of land was left undeveloped.
In 1978, that land became a park named in her honor. Chilean-born artist Pedro Silva was brought in to create a sculpture that would help heal the community, and about 1,000 neighbors helped design its mosaic tiles. Completed around 1980, the sea serpent was restored in 2017 and 2018 by the Hillsboro-West End Neighborhood Association, with some of the original volunteers returning to help.
“Technically it’s a sea serpent. To Nashville, it will always be the Dragon.”
Nashville Best Of Editors
Plan Your Visit
Find the Dragon
Dragon Park sits at Blakemore Avenue and 24th Avenue South, between Vanderbilt and Hillsboro Village. Admission is always free.
Location
Fannie Mae Dees Park
2400 Blakemore Ave
Nashville, TN 37212
At 24th Avenue South, near Vanderbilt.
Parking Tips
Street parking is available along 24th Avenue South, but it fills up fast on sunny weekends. Arrive early, and bring sunscreen and water on hot summer days.
Picnic Shelters
Planning a birthday party? Reserve a covered picnic shelter through Metro Parks at (615) 862-8408, Monday through Friday, 8 am to noon.
Go Find the Dragon
Pack a picnic, grab the kids, and spend a sunny afternoon at Nashville’s most magical playground.