What a great park and it just keeps getting better. So much for the kids to do and great places for…read moreadults to relax or play as well. Apart from the old steam train that the kids love to climb on, there is a multitude of other equipment for them to enjoy and wear themselves out (do they ever wear out) on. Plenty of space, plenty of grass, plenty of trees, fairly well fenced off from the traffic as well. Has to be the best park in the local area and they are adding climbing walls and a bunch of other stuff to make it even better. Locally known as the train park, close to shops, Bayswater railway station and bike paths. There is just so much to like and it is free.

Recently transformed from its weary state to a grassy haven in the centre of The Basin, the Basin…read moreTriangle is the perfect place to spend a sunny afternoon. Opposite the small group of shops on Mountain Highway, this little park area is a favourite amongst locals and visitors wanting a place to take the kids or the dog for a good old run around. With the play equipment getting a recent overhaul, what was a pretty tired wooden structure is now a state of the art (and quite futuristic) play area surrounded by chairs and tables for parents to drink their coffee and chat whilst the kids let out their energy. With the Basin Fish & Chip shop located across the road, this often proves convenient on a nice afternoon, as the lush grass provides the perfect place to unwrap your order and eat your chips. If you're after something healthier, grab a wrap or pie from the bakery or one of the coffee shops and unwind under the trees. Also the location of the yearly Basin Music Festival, the triangle is as old the suburb itself and recent boom sin property prices in the area is sure to usher in a new age of style and demographic to The Basin.

Collier Reserve is on the corner of Burwood Highway and Stud Road in Wantirna South. It is the…read morestarting point for a few great bike tracks. One leads up to Belgrave and Ringwood, and the other to Dandenong Creek and Scoresby Road. I have been on both bike tracks and they are both fantastic. The reserve itself is pretty cool. There is a gravel carpark off Burwood Highway, or you could do what I do and park on Alderford Drive, which is behind it. The reserve has a little creek running through it and it looks really pretty, despite some rubbish, when you stand on the bridge and look at it. There is a big line of trees and bushes that curtains off a big grassy area from the main roads although it is pretty noisy there all the time because the roads are busy. The last time I was there, there were some boys playing footy in the grassy area. It is a decent size but not exactly up to a footy oval. My favourite part about the reserve would be the metal arches that go over the bike track. They are really artsy with bike parts welded into the arch. They're hard to explain, but look at the photos to see what I mean. If you're on one of the bike tracks for a long ride, this is a really neat place to stop for a rest - make sure you bring a light blanket though as there aren't any benches to sit on.

The Tim Neville Arboretum in Ferntree Gully is a perfect spot for an afternoon out with a young…read morefamily. There is a large playground that has been recently renovated and is brand new. It has a child safe gates and a fence around it to encourage supervision. It is a pretty popular playground and gets quite busy on sunny days. The park has two really pretty lakes complete with ducks. There are boardwalks and bridges to walk over and a nice track that meanders all around the park. To appreciate the peace and the beautiful scenery make sure to take a seat at one of the park benches scattered all around - they are perfectly placed for the best views. Although if you are coming for peace and quiet you'd be best off coming during a weekday as on weekends and school holidays there will be kids everywhere. The Knox Bicycle Track runs alongside the park making it a great picnic lunch spot if you're going on a big ride. Kids often ride their bikes around the tracks in the park and there are plenty of grass areas big enough to kick a ball around and be more active. Supervision of kids is essential around the lake as there are no barriers or anything to prevent people from falling in. Dogs are common visitors to the park and must be kept on a leash at all times. The park is really unique in that it caters to every member of the family, young and old and it really is a beautiful spot. Very popular for wedding receptions and events there is a pergola at one end that often plays host to quite a crowd. There are adequate parking spaces available as well as side street parking.

With the outer east slowly building up and attracting more and more new residents to the area, one…read moredifference we have to the west is the amount of greenery we hold dear. At the foot of the Dandenongs, between Fern Tree Gully and Boronia, sits the Tim Neville Arbouretum, a huge expanse of lakes, fountains and open space that has been a favourite for picnics, weddings and lazy Sunday afternoons for as long as I can remember. As a kid we used to come here on our bikes and tear around the paved track that winds its way through, across the footbridge and past the amphitheatre, that is home to yearly Christmas Carols by Candlelight. Perfect on a warm day, there are also BBQ's to use, and plenty of rooms for a large group.

I love parks, and I definitely love going for a stroll through parks, especially when they are…read morelocated in the middle of a city. However, what really captures my attention is a park with a lake because, honestly parks with lakes are really, really cool. Okay, when I was younger I also liked parks with play equipment, as well as parks with lakes you could swim in (though you can't actually swim in most lakes these days because they happen to be pretty filthy). Sure, this park is probably not one of my favourites, namely because it happens to be one of those suburban parks that don't stand out as much as some of the parks closer to the city, but it still has a charm of its own.

I haven't been to this park for quite some time, and I was informed that the playground area and…read moretoilets have been revamped, so I decided to take my 3yo granddaughter to check it out, she had a great time playing on the play equipment and looking at all the ducks and other birds, it was a wonderful time for her and that made me very happy 10/10

Nice little suburban street park with landscaped paths and grassy areas with both sun and Shade…read morefrom some big trees. Has some large rocks to climb on as well. There are two 4 seater benches, a see saw, 2 swings, a covered climbing platform with slide and pole. There is also a thing with four seats on a spring. A nice peaceful spot to keep kids busy for an hour or so, take a picnic etc... Note: no toilet or bbq facilities. It's a big two thumbs up from me. Enjoy.

Lakewood Nature Reserve has only recently developed into its current fleshy state. It has dense…read morebushes and trees and lots of natural grasses. There are little tracks that wind there way through the dense growth and these are quite enjoyable to explore. They are only dirt tracks however so if you are going on a wet day it does get quite muddy. There are also concrete paths that are a lot wider, which connect the reserve with Lakewood Lake. A lot of magpies and native birds live in the reserve and you will definitely see a lot of activity amongst the treetops. There is also a drinking tap supplied. This is useful both for humans and for dogs because there is a smaller at dog height.

The Glenwood Grove Park is quite pitiful for a park. It has two benches and a path that runs right…read morethrough the middle. There are plenty of trees, which mean there are very few times of the day that you can sit on the bench and enjoy the sunshine. The ground is sloped so playing soccer is frustrating as the ball always tends to lope away to one side. When there has been poor weather or high winds the trees often drop branches or fall over and the council takes quite a long time - sometimes months- before coming to clear it up. Similarly the grass is not mowed particularly often so at times the grass can grow up to thirty centimetres long. I have definitely been to better parks and considering Lakewood Lake is so close by there really isn't any reason to come here other than to avoid the crowd.

The Birchfield Reserve is a great little hidden gem in Wantirna South. While only small, it has so…read moremany features that make it the perfect place for countless children's games. There is a little playground with two swings that is, as usual, surrounded by tanbark. The area around this is pretty flat and has a good spread of grass. There is a long line of pine trees along one side of the park and they are perfect for the game "What's the time Mr. Wolf" or even "Forty-Forty". Hide and Seek would also be good, but it'd be pretty obvious that you would be hiding behind a tree because there is really nowhere else to hide! The park doesn't seem to be very well attended to as there were three trees lying on the ground that had fallen over at some point. There are three paths that lead to the various exit points - two out of three are cement but one is loose stones and crunched up cement. The birds here were really noisy but there was no other sound so it was actually really peaceful. The streets that border the Reserve are all courts or dead end streets and there is barely any traffic at all. I really enjoyed spending time in this Reserve.