Great Parks Opens Boathouses, Wet Play Areas for the Season

Great Parks will open a new temporary boathouse at Sharon Woods on Thursday, May 28, so guests can rent kayaks and canoes to enjoy Sharon Lake while Sharon Woods Harbor remains closed for renovation. The temporary boathouse at Sharon Woods joins the permanent boathouses at Lake Isabella, Miami Whitewater Forest and Winton Woods, plus wet playgrounds at Winton Woods and Woodland Mound, that are all now open for the season.

Sharon Woods Harbor is currently closed while Great Parks is underway on a major revitalization that will include a new boathouse, amphitheater, play areas, expanded parking and other features at the harbor. To accommodate guests and promote recreation on the water, Great Parks added the new temporary boathouse at Lakeside Lodge on the east side of Sharon Lake. The temporary boathouse will remain open during the next two summers until the rebuilt harbor opens in 2028.

Paved parking is available at Lakeside Lodge. Motor vehicles can enter from East Kemper Road. At the temporary boathouse, guests can rent canoes, kayaks and pedalboats and purchase food and drinks.

Park guests who have their own kayak can enter the lake at the new floating kayak launch on the south shore of Sharon Lake near Kreis Dam.

Great Parks’ permanent boathouses at Lake Isabella, Miami Whitewater Forest and Winton Woods are already open for the season, and people can rent watercraft and purchase snacks at each location.

Great Parks’ wet play areas at Winton Woods and Woodland Mound will remain open through Labor Day. Children must be supervised when visiting wet playgrounds. 

More information about Great Parks boathouses and wet play areas is available at GreatParks.org.

(Note: Valid Motor Vehicle Permits are required for every vehicle entering Lake Isabella, Miami Whitewater Forest, Sharon Woods, Winton Woods and Woodland Mound. Information about purchasing MVPs, and accessing free or discounted MVPs, is available at greatparks.org.)