The Discovery Center is a children's museum and nature centre built around the Murfree Spring wetlands, one of the few natural spring complexes remaining in Middle Tennessee. The museum has interactive science and history exhibits aimed at younger visitors, but the boardwalk through the wetlands is interesting for adults too — it passes through a small but genuine wetland ecosystem in the middle of the city, with herons, turtles, and seasonal wildflowers.
The spring itself is significant: Murfree Spring was the water source that drew the town's founders to this location in the early 19th century. The area was set aside as a park rather than developed, which is why this strip of wetland survived. The nature centre explains the ecology of the spring and the history of the settlement that grew up around it.