Melbourne - favorite parks and playgrounds

[Chickadee]

Being new to Melbourne I'm still on the lookout for the best parks and playgrounds, both in my area (north Melbourne) and in other parts of the city if we decide to go further afield. Anybody have some favorite places they'd like to brag about and share? I've used a short list format below, but feel free to write however you like:

Today I found Heidelberg Park
Location: Warringal Parklands, off Beverley Rd, Heidelberg
Melways ref: (to be filled in when I go get the map book!)
Best feature: Shaded most of the morning by large trees
Suitable for: Plus 2s. Limited stuff for younger ones and climbing frame only has chain ladder access & no stairs, so toddlers will likely need help.
Playground: Large climbing frame with 2 slides and bridge. Swings with 1 baby seat. Rockers.
Cafe: No
Toilets: Yes
BBQ/seating: 2 BBQ, 2 picnic tables.
Parking: Adjacent parking lot, lots of spaces
Extras: Oval for ball games
Hazards: Within 100 m of moderately busy road.

[MilkOnTap]

I used to live in Essendon - right next to Heidelberg. I used to love going to Queens Park at Moonee Ponds

Location: Mt Alexander Road, Moonee Ponds
Best feature: LARGE park, pond, yummy coffee cafe, ice-creams over the road
Suitable for: All ages. There are 2 playgrounds set on opposite sides of the lake - one for older kids and the other for under 4's
Playground: Rockers mostly in the under 4's and the big kids play ground has the lot!
Cafe: Yes
Toilets: Yes
BBQ/seating: Plenty of tables, no bbq's. Would recommend a picnic rug though cause the grass is always green and soft
Parking: Easily accessible by tram, or find a residential street nearby for your car
Extras: Lots of big trees for shade; Plenty of walking tracks; Animal friendly so take the family dog; ducks in the pond so take some bread (often have ducklings); in Autumn when the leaves turn and fall there are always big piles to play around in
Hazards: Right on a busy road, but that can be avoided by going to the other side of the park. The pond isn't fenced either.

[Chickadee]

Yay, sounds excellent Ally. Might be one for a weekend picnic with DH. Will leave the dogs at home though, they don't play well with ducks :rolleyes:

[mylittletwins]

There is also Maribynong River thats nice as well, it has a 3.8km walking track as well as BBq fac and playground. There is plenty of parking and very popular.

[MilkOnTap]

Oh yeah - Maribyrnong River is fantastic... I once went down there on a date.. **those were the days...** :rolleyes: ...

There is another small park at North Essendon. It is just off Bulla Road, where the intersecting roundabout for Bulla Rd/Keilor Rd/Mt Alexander Rd is - in front of 7/11 and Bi-Lo. There is a simple park behind Bi-Lo - it has a lot of room for running around, cricket, etc. A smaller pond than Queens Park, but no ducks. And its very shallow. There is a very small playground here, but still a playground.

Brimbank Park is nice too - its at East Keilor. Kind of hard to explain where it is... but here is a link to Brimbank Park (http://www.parkweb.vic.gov.au/1park_display.cfm?park=72). Its a lot bushier than the other parks, but has a yummy cafe and walking trails.

An awesome day trip is out to Hanging Rock (http://www.parkweb.vic.gov.au/1park_display.cfm?park=137). There is a little playground for the tots, and beautiful views! Fantastic for a breath of fresh air!

Its only been a year since living there and I cant remember where else there is to go! I used to go every weekend to a park with DH!

[MummyCharmzy]

theres a park in Narre Waree on Narre Warren-Cranbourne Rd... not sure what its called though but its brilliant!!

Its got LOADS of space for the kids to run around, BBQ's, giant playground with a rocket that the boys love because you press a button and it has lights and counts down til take off. Its got a baby swing with a type of 5 point harness so its a 'real' baby swing not one of the ones that just have a chain across it!! MUCH SAFER

its also got a wheelchair swing and has a few other facilities for children with disabilities.

theres a skate park on the same 'block' as it, plenty of shaded area... etc

Toilets: yes

parking: plenty

public transport: theres a bus that stops in front of it I think its the narre-cranbourne bus, not sure ive never actually caught it.

by far mine and my families favourite park :D

[MustangMumma]

Maribyrnong River is great we go there quite often love the walking track.

[Mamaduke]

Great idea!!!
I'm not sure of the name of this park...we just call it 'the train park'...it's fantastic.
Location: cnr. Mountain Highway and King Street. Bayswater
Melways ref: 64/G3
Best feature: Big old steam train with mock station and ticket office and lots of playground equipment
Suitable for: 2 plus
Playground: Climbing structures, swings, huge sandpit with equipment, slides, forts
Cafe: No but main set of shops with cafes within walking distance
Toilets: Yes
BBQ/seating: BBQs and picnic seating
Parking: Adjacent parking lot, lots of spaces
Extras: Oval for ball games
Hazards: Very close to Mountain Highway...although there is fencing.

[EskimoMumma]

:thumbsup: Name: Skinners Park
Location: Dorcas Street, South Melbourne
Best feature: Large play area for kids, different cubby houses and swings and sandpits and a trampoline
Suitable for: All ages. There are 2 playgrounds set on opposite sides of the lake - one for older kids and the other for under 4's
Playground: So much to play with, must see!
Cafe: Yes
Toilets: Yes
BBQ/seating: No bbqs but there is seating
Parking: Easily accessible by tram number 112, SOME parking around the area
Extras: Lots of big trees for shade; there is also staff there to keep an extra eye on the kiddies for you to relax!
Hazards: no lock on main gate (but staff office right next to it)

[Funkychicken]

theres a park in Narre Waree on Narre Warren-Cranbourne Rd... not sure what its called though but its brilliant!!

Its got LOADS of space for the kids to run around, BBQ's, giant playground with a rocket that the boys love because you press a button and it has lights and counts down til take off. Its got a baby swing with a type of 5 point harness so its a 'real' baby swing not one of the ones that just have a chain across it!! MUCH SAFER

its also got a wheelchair swing and has a few other facilities for children with disabilities.

theres a skate park on the same 'block' as it, plenty of shaded area... etc

Toilets: yes

parking: plenty

public transport: theres a bus that stops in front of it I think its the narre-cranbourne bus, not sure ive never actually caught it.

by far mine and my families favourite park :D
Hi there,
We love this park too! it's called the Ray Bastin Reserve but we call it the rocket park. it's great for smaller ones and the bigger ones can ride bikes around etc...
We also used to love, when they were small, the Old Cheese Factory park on Homestead rd, Berwick.

Another great one for those looking to head for the hills for a day is Cardinia Reservoir-Crystal Brook park on Wellington Rd. Great playground, bike tracks, walking tracks, BBQ's, toilets and loads of Kangaroos roaming about. Our children call it the Kangaroo Park. Worth a drive out!:thumbsup:

[bubhub]

a viewer sent me a list of fav parks in melbourne that's posted here:

http://www.bubhub.com.au/activitiesparksvic.shtml

Hope that's some help too - and we should update it with the info in these posts too (when I get a chance)

[MummyCharmzy]

Hi there,
We love this park too! it's called the Ray Bastin Reserve but we call it the rocket park. it's great for smaller ones and the bigger ones can ride bikes around etc...
We also used to love, when they were small, the Old Cheese Factory park on Homestead rd, Berwick.

Another great one for those looking to head for the hills for a day is Cardinia Reservoir-Crystal Brook park on Wellington Rd. Great playground, bike tracks, walking tracks, BBQ's, toilets and loads of Kangaroos roaming about. Our children call it the Kangaroo Park. Worth a drive out!:thumbsup:

Ahhh thats it... thanks for clarifying that :D We call it the rocket park too lmao the boys absolutely love it!! :)

[Chickadee]

In the last week we've been to both Banksia Park and Birramung Park. They are about 1km apart, both are on Templestowe Road (in Templestowe) and each has a playground with adjacent covered picnic/bbq area. Both are adjacent to the Yarra River with both paved and unpaved walking trails. Of the two, I thought Birramung Park had the better playground, with an extensive climbing structure, clean sand pit and a maze to run through. Birramung may also suit physically disabled kids. That playground was also in part shade from mid afternoon onwards so would be good for summer.

Details below cover both parks.

Location: Banksia Park and Birramung Park, Templestowe Road, Templestowe
Best feature: Birramung playground is part shaded (late afternoon) and DD loved the maze.
Suitable for: All ages. Sandpit at Birramung for very young ones. Birramung may suit physically disabled - climbing structure is partly accessible by ramps and/or low steps and maze is fully wheelchair accessible.
Playground: Both have climbing frame and swings, slides and rockers/see-saws. Birramung playground is larger and has more swings, additional sandpit and maze.
Cafe: No
Toilets: Yes
BBQ/seating: Yes, shaded.
Parking: Yes.
Extras: Walking trails through forest and along river. Lots of open areas for games. Heide Art Museum is nearby for older kids/adults.
Hazards: Ponds and rivers, though these aren't too close to the playground areas.

[gidgeroo]

My favourite park is Hay's Paddock, East Kew. This info is from www.greatplaygrounds.org (http://www.greatplaygrounds.org) if you want to look up a playground.

Location: Leason St, Kew East
Best feature: Extensive shadecloth, enormous sandpit and heaps of levels and ramps to climb. Lots of lookouts and a great spongey surface.
Suitable for: All ages and abilities.
Playground:
Slides, Swings, SandPit, Musical, Rocker, SpiderNets
Other - The playground's theme is the Billabong and the equipment reflects this, such as the Giant Bug Slide. Other equipment follows the aim of providing for children of all abilities such as: Wooden Bunyip with foot prints to follow, Rainbow Serpent Path
Sound Ramp, Hammock, Huge Frog Drinking Fountain, Bird Hide in Billabong

Various communication tools such as Braille, compics and bells Rubberised soft-fall material used for less co-ordinated children. Ramp access for wheelchairs.
Cafe: No
Toilets: Yes
BBQ/seating: Yes, shaded.
Parking: Yes.
Extras: The playground is located in Hay's Paddock which contains a billabong, sports fields, walking tracks, dog off leash areas and parkland. It also has a carpark with disabled parking bays. The playground is open from Dawn to Dusk.
Hazards: Duck pond/billabong but access to this is from outside the fenced playground.

cheers
georgia

[kangwnl]

Hi

Our family has been visiting a lot of playgrounds over the last six months and I have created a free web site which has a review of these playgrounds. There are more than 700 playgrounds on the site and we are adding playgrounds all the time. The web site just went "live" this week and we are planning to develop it to include all types of activities for kids in the Melbourne area.

The site is http://www.MelbournePlaygrounds.com.au

Feel free to offer any suggestions on how we can improve the site.
:smiliedance:
Kanga

[kirstenriley]

http://www.parkweb.vic.gov.au/1park_display.cfm?park=55

Horseshoe bend farm is a favorite of ours, its small but free!! (gold coin donation is appreciated) its open every day and every 3rd sunday (i think). Also has some great activities on during school holidays.

ETA- its in Keilor.