NATURAL PLAYGROUNDS

Natural Built Asheville Playgrounds.
Bring the forest to the kids with natural designs.

About Our Natural Playgrounds

Much has been written about the benefits for children of unstructured, freeform, outdoor play. A natural playground by Asheville Playgrounds uses real logs and branches as structural elements. Our natural playgrounds include embankment slides, tall lookout towers with roofs, and nets with climbers. We often collaborate with landscape architects to create unique and safe designs that combine elements of nature with more conventional playground play pieces. Is your site hilly? No problem. We can actually integrate that into your new playground and turn that difficult land into something fun!

Case Study: Rock Ridge Park

Locust and rhododendron natural playground at Rock Ridge Park in Pittsboro, NC - Asheville Playgrounds

In early 2011 we got a call to build a natural playground at Rock Ridge Park in Pittsboro, North Carolina. They wanted this playground to be as natural as possible, so we designed this beauty. We used as much locust as we could find and designed a magnificent natural 10 foot tall tower with a beautiful and rustic feel. This has become a popular style of playground and we have replicated it elsewhere.

The playground features the aforementioned tower, a rock climbing wall, chain climber, zipline, slides, teeter totters, and swing sets. In addition we built an amphitheater stage with an embedded boulder along with live edge locust slab benches to accompany it. They asked us to construct the entry sign and message kiosks out of natural logs. We also duplicated the benches the following year throughout the disc golf course. Check out the links and pictures below!

Stir Crazy Mom’s Guide to Rock Ridge Park

Types of Natural Materials We Use

At Asheville Playgrounds we look to work with nature, not against it. With that being said we often use naturally rot resistant locust logs for our posts, supports and handrails. With these locust logs we can create swing sets, monkey bar sets, balance beams, teeter totters, climbing gyms, log climbers and more! For our natural playgrounds we can also use rhododendron and mountain laurel to build beautiful and rustic picketing for handrails, as well as other elegant touches. Often we use western red cedar to create roofs and sidewalls for play forts. As you may know, cedar is also rot and mold resistant and makes an excellent building material.

Consider our gallery as a starting point. Something to get your mind going in new directions. Then contact us and let’s work together to make something new!

Natural Playgrounds Photo Gallery

Project Inquiries »

Contact

Address
515 Short McDowell Street
Building 5
Asheville, NC 28803

Phone
(828) 298-5868
(888) 298-5868 – toll-free