Tyson Park — Attraction in Knoxville

I used to play on the huge wooden playground here as a kid. I'm glad they've built a big playground here in the same tradition. I think this is one of the best playgrounds in town. I play actively with my kids, rather than sitting on a bench with my phone out, so I appreciate a playground with enough room for an adult to zoom around and interact with kids. We play a tag/hide and seek hybrid and there are great hiding spots all over the play structure and everyone can safely run all over without worrying about trips, falls, or hitting their head - except, as a grown up, a few spots where you want to keep your eyes up if you don't want to knock your head on a bar.

One caveat, it's close enough to downtown and Cumberland Ave that you get some maybe homeless folks hanging out. I always escort my kids into the...

This complex park right off the highway has walking & biking trails, a children's playscape, tennis courts, a skate park... just about a little everything for anyone who enjoys the outdoors.

You do need to know that events, most tennis courts and large parties need a reservation with the coordinators before you can do what you want. Schools and local Recreational Centers use the park on a daily basis for this reason.

This park gets one less star for the coordinators not being coordinated themselves: We reserved a tennis court for the Knoxville Everplayers dodgeball games a week ahead. We get here and waited until now to tell us we're not allowed to use a court for...

It's spacious, open, clean, and part of the Knoxville Greenway system. Though the creek is still showing as potentially contaminated with bacteria, it's still pretty. There are scattered, uncovered picnic tables for random lunches, as well as a covered set near the restrooms for parties. The childrens' play area is also near the restrooms, followed by tennis courts, if you're into that. This park is long and narrow. Late at night, parts may still have secretive meetings between men of a certain age... but that is well known to others, who may wish to intercede, so I advise looking elsewhere for late...