Augusta Quarry — Attraction in Knoxville

This public park's contract with River Sports Outfitters feels like a cash scam. Staff at the park did not allow visitors to bring in any kind of personal floatation devices. I saw staff forcing visitors to leave personal inner tubes, noodles, and boogie boards on the shore. The only thing offered for free was life jackets.

River Sports Outfitters will rent you a inner tube for $5 an hour. This is not very family friendly as if you were covering multiple rentals this could rack up to $10-25 an hour easily. Also their staff began packing everything up around 6:30pm and the park is open till 8pm. So in that hour, you are forced to swim with nothing but a free life jacket and staff will hound you to leave so they can close the gate by 8pm.

Small kayaks are no longer allowed here. Only paddle boards. You aren't encouraged to bring your own. You will be encouraged to rent one from River Sports Outfitters for $16 an hour.

The new facilities are beautiful but for public infrastructure that was paid for in large part by taxpayers, it's sad to see a company contracted in and dictating new rules saying it's "for safety" when really it's an attempt to milk money out of park visitors trying to enjoy a space that their tax dollars...

The renovations the city did to the quarry are really beautiful and the added rules were necessary however not being able to bring your own float really puts a damper on things because the floats that are available to rent are $5.00 an hour which for a family that could get pricey if they wanted to spend a few hours there. Also River sports has the option to close early or sell out of tubes which leaves people with no option to float. I do not have children but I do automatically think of those families. I understand that there are safety precautions but there are ways to allow folks to swim and float at their own risk.I’m super happy it’s re opened and again it really is beautiful inside. Also they do not accept cash so bring your cards if you want...

Beautiful water and beautiful scenery! So glad the City has made something sustainable and beautiful of this quarry. My daughters and I anticipated the opening all summer and visited shortly after opening. My girls loved it. It’s very deep with steep drop offs so I highly recommend life jackets for anyone swimming in it. River Sports does a great job partnering with the City to make it a safe swimming environment for families. Alcohol is not allowed so that’s another added bonus for families and kids. I think I counted 10-12 swimming docks so lots of room for everyone. Tubes, kayaks, and paddle boards available for rent. The only thing we didn’t really like is outside floats are not allowed, but we will comply for...