It’s a gorgeous park with much to do for the whole family in Wilmington, North Carolina’s Empie Park. Empie Park is conveniently located along Independence Boulevard between Park Avenue and Wrightsville Avenue. Recent enhancements and improvements to the park make it more accessible to more people (and their dogs!) through the Wilmington Cross City Trail and provide additional activities for more people (and their dogs!

It is located in Empie Park, which is also the site of the Althea Gibson Tennis Complex. These 18 lighted tennis courts are housed in a 1500 square foot clubhouse that also serves as a lounge, conference area, and snack bar for the locals. A large portion of the tennis population in Wilmington is quite active and takes advantage of the fact that they can play tennis outside all year.

The Althea Gibson Tennis Complex is free to use and available to the public, though reservations for courts are required due to the fact that they are frequently overcrowded. The city provides affordable lessons and clinics for people of all ages, as well as hosting tournaments. The Empie Park Tennis Center is your one-stop shop if you’re looking to get involved in the tennis community in Wilmington, NC area.

Because the Wilmington Cross City Track passes through Empie Park, a paved walk/run/bike trail has been constructed around the perimeter of the park to accommodate visitors. People can easily ride their bicycles to the park or bring their bicycles along with them to ride on the trail as well. This is especially beneficial for families with children because it provides an additional play option in addition to the playground.

With a rock climbing wall, slides, swings, swinging bridges, and firepoles in addition to ziplines and toddler/baby swings, Empie Park is a modern and enjoyable playground destination. I enjoy bringing my children here to play, watch tennis, and ride their bikes around the park with me.

Despite the fact that the tennis complex development lost two of the softball fields at Empie Park, there is still one, possibly two, softball fields available on the premises. While we’ve seen a senior softball league play there early in the morning on a few occasions, most of the league play has since been moved to a new five-field complex on Murrayville Road.

In Empie Park, you’ll find a popular dog park where a large number of regulars come to play on a daily basis. In addition to being totally walled in, the facility includes separate play spaces for smaller and larger dogs. There are water and pet waste stations, as well as enough of cover, and it is open from dawn to night and completely free.

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