Thirty-three foot slide and tree house coming to new Buffalo Bayou nature park A new dog park also will call the park home

A children's nature park that will include a 33-foot slide down the banks of the bayou and a tri-level tree house and boat deck is in the works as private investors work to transform Houston's main waterway.

The Buffalo Bayou Partnership has released a rendering of the newest development in their multi-million-dollar revamp that shows wooden platforms elevated among the trees, potentially providing one of the best views in the city.

"We're just really excited about that," said Anne Olson, president of the Buffalo Bayou Partnership. "It will allow a great view of the bayou. I don't know of anything like it for children in Houston." The top level of the treehouse will be approximately 16 feet up according to officials.

Sitting in a 28,000-square-foot area, the nature park will be at the very eastern end of the bayou developments nearer to Sabine.

"Designing on a sloping bayou bank was an interesting challenge but the result is an incredible space ... a great 'starting' point for young kids getting their first bayou experience," said Scott McCready, a landscape architect at SWA group, which designed the park along with North Carolina State University's Natural Learning Initiative.

Officials say there will be none of the regular play facilities like swings at the park. Instead, boulder rock scrambles, climbing logs and sand and water play areas are being put in to give kids a more natural experience.

The new nature park will feature a unique tri-level tree house which will allow visitors a view across the Bayou. The new nature park will feature a unique tri-level tree house which will allow visitors a view across the Bayou. Photo: Buffalo Bayou Partnership Photo: Buffalo Bayou Partnership Image 1 of / 23 Caption Close Thirty-three foot slide and tree house coming to new Buffalo Bayou nature park 1 / 23 Back to Gallery

The park was funded by a $1 million gift from the Ray C. Fish Foundation and is one of several bayou projects due to be finished by next year.

A new dog park at Allen Parkway and Montrose featuring two large play pools for dogs and shaded pavillions for their owners is due for completion in time for a January 17 opening.

Donors voted to name the dog park after landscape designer Johnny Steele.

Two visitors centers also are under construction: the Waterworks, which will be behind the exisintg skate park; and the Lost Lake which will house canoe and kayak rentals, and is being built right at Dunlavy and Allen Parkway.

The nature park and the two visitor cetners are set to be open in time for summer 2015.