KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — City leaders announced that a new playground will open at Lakeshore Park on May 8 at 3 p.m.
"The Huie Woodland Playground is a unique, nature-themed playground nestled in the woods at the northeast portion of Lakeshore Park," the park said. "This discovery-oriented playground is meant to immerse children in nature while providing a host of features that promote unprescribed and imaginative play."
The playground is set within an existing woodland and ravine meant to draw in visitors to an underutilized portion of the park.
"Within the ravine, woodland trails and a number of features such as a 12-foot embankment slide, boulder scramble, log ladder and log stair provide fun and unique opportunities for children to navigate the slopes," the park said.
The woodland playground is one of four playgrounds offered at the park.
"Further removed from the other play spaces to the north, the Huie Woodland Playground offers a completely different type of play experience immersed in a natural setting," the Park said.
This nature-inspired woodland playground will officially open on Wednesday afternoon.
Lakeshore Park is undergoing renovation and construction as part of a multi-million dollar update to the master plan. The entrance at Northshore Drive for the park is still closed and has been since 2022.
In the center of the park is a 35-foot tall hill that is known as a "structural mound." This mound, left over from the new baseball fields in the park, will have grass covering the mound as well as a paved pathway surrounding it when the renovations are finished.
"With approximately 1 million annual visitors, Lakeshore Park is the most visited public park in Knoxville," the park said on its website.
Editor's Note: The story originally included a photo of a different playground under construction at Lakeshore Park. The story has been corrected with a new photo of the Woodland Playground.
