Blog: City Blog

Celebrating the First Season at the Upgraded Augusta Quarry

Did you know? In just a few months, almost 9,000 people swam, paddleboarded or floated at the reopened and improved Augusta Quarry. There were 1,000 swimmers over Labor Day weekend alone.

Here's a video from an Oct. 15 celebration of the first successful season with all the new Augusta Quarry amenities - great to gather with Aslan Foundation, outdoor recreation advocates, and the design and construction teams!

Haven’t been to Augusta Quarry yet? C’mon down! The weather still feels like summer!

Combined, more than $11 million in public and private funding has been invested to make Augusta Quarry more accessible and more family-friendly.

The upgrades came in succession.

For decades, Knoxvillians snuck into this privately-owned space to take advantage of this beautiful swimming hole. Then the City acquired the property, and the quarry was opened to swimming in 2013, but people still had to hike in - there was no road.

Then in 2017, the City put in an access road, parking and utilities.

But in the past year, the private-public partners really took it to another level.

When Augusta Quarry reopened mid-summer, it had these new amenities:

- Three bathrooms and a changing room

- An outdoor shower

- A vendor pavilion

- An expanded overlook

- A smooth, accessible path connecting a 38-vehicle parking lot with the overlook, trailheads, the new buildings and the water’s edge

- Maybe most dramatic - a floating beach platform and a circular floating swim platform

As stakeholders and nature lovers celebrate these latest improvements, let’s remember who helped get us here: Aslan Foundation, RiverSports Outfitters, JMT civil engineering, PORT landscape architecture, Sanders Pace architecture, Haines Structural Group, Facilities Systems Consultants, and Southern Constructors.

Here's a gallery from the Oct. 15 celebratory gathering!

Augusta Quarry looks especially pretty at the beginning of fall!

Augusta Quarry looks especially pretty at the beginning of fall!

Stakeholders and outdoor recreation enthusiasts celebrated the first season of the upgraded Augusta Quarry at an Oct. 15 gathering.

Mayor Indya Kincannon and Aslan Foundation Executive Director Katharine Killen

View from the new docks at Augusta Quarry

Thousands of people each month are discovering the natural beauty of Augusta Quarry - rental paddleboards, flotation devices and other equipment are available on site.

Scene from an Oct. 15 celebration at Augusta Quarry

Posted by evreeland On 16 October, 2025 at 5:56 PM