Nashville and the Middle Tennessee lakes
A ring lost in a Nashville lake or on a wedding venue lawn
Percy Priest, Old Hickory and Center Hill lakes, city parks and wedding venues
Percy Priest Lake lies about ten miles (16 km) east of downtown Nashville, with swim beaches at Anderson Road, Cook and Seven Points. Old Hickory Lake, on the Cumberland River, has its own at Old Hickory Beach, Laguardo and Cedar Creek. This page is for a lost ring at one of those beaches, and for a ring that went missing at a wedding venue, somewhere between the ceremony and the last dance.
Ring Seekers is a lost ring and jewelry recovery service that connects people who lost a ring, wedding band, watch, keys or phone in Nashville and the Middle Tennessee lakes with a metal detectorist who can search there. Tell us what happened and where. We find a detectorist who can reach the place, brief them with your map and photos, and tell you honestly if the odds are poor.
The same goes for a lost wedding ring from a reception, an engagement ring, an Oura ring, earrings, a necklace, bracelet or chain, an Apple Watch, a key fob, metal-framed glasses or a hearing aid.
Before the beach empties or the venue is cleared
At a swim beach, stand where you came out of the water. Photograph the lake from there, then the shore behind you. Note how deep the water was on you, knee, waist or chest, and drop a pin while you are still there.
At a wedding venue, ask the staff to leave the lawn as it is for now. Then find the last photo in which the ring is on your hand. Everything after that frame is the search area.
Send the pin, the photos, the time and a picture of the item on WhatsApp. Tell the park office or the venue as well, in case it is handed in.
Places we cover in Nashville and the Middle Tennessee lakes
- Nashville
- Percy Priest Lake
- Anderson Road Day Use
- Cook Day Use Area
- Seven Points
- Long Hunter State Park and Bryant Grove
- Couchville Cedar Glade
- Radnor Lake
- Old Hickory Lake
- Old Hickory Beach
- Laguardo
- Cedar Creek
- Centennial Park
- Shelby Park and Shelby Bottoms
- Nashville's greenways
- Center Hill Lake
- Edgar Evins State Park
- Franklin
- Murfreesboro
- Wedding venues across Middle Tennessee
Swim beaches, city lawns and the lakes beyond the city
Seven places, each with the detail worth putting in your message.
Anderson Road, Cook and Seven Points on Percy Priest Lake
Percy Priest holds about 14,000 acres (about 5,700 hectares) of water behind its dam, and the Corps of Engineers keeps swim beaches on it. Anderson Road Day Use has a swim beach, picnic tables, a shelter, two playgrounds and a boat ramp. Cook Day Use Area has a large sandy beach and group shelters for 75 and 100 guests. Seven Points pairs a campground with a swimming beach.
Bryant Grove is the only swim beach in Long Hunter State Park
Long Hunter State Park covers 2,670 acres (about 1,080 hectares) on the shore of Percy Priest Lake. Bryant Grove is its picnic spot and the park's only swim beach. The Volunteer and Day Loop trails are at Baker's Grove. Couchville Cedar Glade, 140 acres (about 57 hectares) on the park's east side, has a loop of about a mile (1.6 km) over bare rock among red cedars. For a loss on a trail, send the trail name and where you stopped.
Old Hickory Beach, Laguardo and Cedar Creek
Old Hickory Lake is a 22,500-acre (about 9,100 hectares) reservoir on the Cumberland River. Old Hickory Beach has a sandy swimming beach, a playground, boat ramps and a shelter for up to 100 guests. Laguardo has a sandy beach, a playground and bank fishing, and Cedar Creek is a campground with a swim beach. Fishing piers stand at Rockland, Sanders Ferry and Shutes Branch.
Centennial Park lawns around the Parthenon and Lake Watauga
Nashville's 132-acre (about 53 hectares) park on West End and 25th Avenue North holds the Parthenon, Lake Watauga, a one-mile (1.6 km) walking trail, a sunken garden, a band shell, sand volleyball courts and a dog park. On the open lawns, a photo with the Parthenon or the lake behind you helps place the spot.
Shelby Park and Shelby Bottoms beside the Cumberland
Shelby Park is a 300-acre (about 120 hectares) city park two miles (about 3 km) from downtown Nashville along the Cumberland River. Counting Shelby Bottoms Natural Area it expands to over 1,200 acres (about 490 hectares). It has ball fields, two golf courses, Sevier Lake, a dog park and picnic shelters. Tell us which field or which shelter.
Radnor Lake, off Otter Creek Road
Radnor Lake State Park is 1,389 acres (about 560 hectares) of woods around an 85-acre (34 hectare) lake, walked on the Lake Trail with an observation deck over the water. Joggers and dog walkers keep to Otter Creek Road and the gravel road on the dam. Say which trail and where you stopped.
Center Hill Lake and Edgar Evins State Park
Center Hill Lake stretches 64 miles (about 103 km) up the Caney Fork River. Edgar Evins State Park, 6,338 acres (about 2,565 hectares) on its shore, has no designated swimming area and warns that rocks in the lake can be slippery and muddy. The park also rents out an open lakeside space for outdoor functions, weddings among them.
How an enquiry is handled, start to finish
From first text to last, one person replies
You write to us on WhatsApp and the same person answers until the search is over.
The detectorist sees the beach or the seating plan before the drive
The pin, the beach photos or the venue layout, and the time all reach the detectorist before they set off.
Where on the lake it happened changes the answer
A ring that went over the side of a pontoon somewhere out on Old Hickory, with no pin, is a long shot, and you would hear that from us first. The shallows of a swim beach, or a lawn you can point to, are a fairer prospect.
The cost question gets answered early
We explain the costs before any search is booked.
Dammed lakes, hot summers and very little snow
Three reservoirs and no tide
Percy Priest, Old Hickory and Center Hill are all reservoirs held back by dams, so there is no tide to wait for. A ring that comes off in the shallows may settle into the sand or silt near where it dropped, although boat wake and other swimmers' feet could shift it a little. That is why we ask how deep you were.
Ninety-degree summers and under five inches of snow
July in Nashville has a normal high of 90.9 F (32.7 C) in the National Weather Service figures, and 49 days a year reach 90 F (32 C). A normal year brings 4.7 inches (12 cm) of snow.
Grass, gravel and a dance floor at a wedding venue
A venue here might be a barn, a farm field, a garden or a lakeside lawn. We name none. For a search the ground matters most: mown grass, a gravel path, a boarded dance floor, the edge of a pond. A ring that felt secure all day might come off while hands are being dried or during photos in the evening cool.
What we would say back, lake by lake and lawn by lawn
My engagement ring came off while I was chest deep at the Anderson Road swim beach on Percy Priest, and feeling around with my feet got me nowhere. Who looks for a lost ring in lake water?
Someone who works in the water as well as on the sand. Some detectorists do, and that is who we look for in a case like yours. Chest deep on you is a useful measure, so tell us your height, where you walked in and what you were lined up with on shore.
My husband's band was gone by the end of our reception at a farm venue outside Nashville. What should we ask the owners for?
Two things: that the lawn is left unmown for now, and a contact who can let a detectorist in on a quiet day. Then go through the photographer's pictures. The last frame with the band on his hand shows which parts of the venue still count.
My phone slid out of my shirt pocket and off the fishing pier at Shutes Branch on Old Hickory Lake. It has not rung since. Is a phone in the lake a lost cause?
Not necessarily. Old Hickory Lake covers 22,500 acres (about 9,100 hectares), but a pier cuts that down to one small patch of water. Tell us which side of the pier you were on and how far along from the bank.
My key fob is somewhere between the playground and the sand at Laguardo. That was three days ago and we got home on the spare. Should I have written sooner?
Sooner is always easier, but three days is not long. Laguardo has a playground, picnic tables and a swimming area with a sandy beach. Draw the route you walked between them on a map screenshot and mark where you sat.
My Apple Watch came off when I jumped in from the rocks at Edgar Evins on Center Hill Lake. There is no beach there, just rock. Is that a harder search?
Harder than a sandy beach, yes. Edgar Evins has no designated swimming area, and the park describes the rocks in the lake as slippery and muddy. Tell us which boat ramp you were nearest and send a photo of the rocks you jumped from.
One of my grandmother's earrings came out during our ceremony on a barn venue lawn near Nashville. The chairs were still set out in rows when we left. Is that any use?
Yes, it is. Rows of chairs and an aisle give a detectorist straight lines to work along. Mark your seat and where you walked on a photo of the ceremony, and send a picture of the matching earring.
Our daughter's bracelet is somewhere on the lawn at Centennial Park after a picnic by the band shell. I have a search for metal detector rental near me open in another tab. Rent it, or write to you?
Either can be right. Renting a detector yourself can suit a fresh loss on a lawn or dry sand, if you know the spot to within a few steps. Centennial Park is 132 acres (about 53 hectares), so that matters. For wet sand, water, a large area or a small item such as an earring, a detectorist makes more sense.
Nashville and the Middle Tennessee lakes
A lake, a beach and a depth, or a venue and a lawn
A pin, two photos, the time and what you lost.
Anderson Road or Laguardo, the lawn by the Parthenon or the aisle at a farm venue: the name of the place and a photo taken there do most of the work. Send both on WhatsApp and we will tell you how we see the odds.