This is such a great place. With a playground, skate park AND beautiful bike/hiking tracks through…read morethe local bush land, this really is a pretty place. While it isn't the biggest playground, they certainly have designed it with a wide range of age groups in mind. There's a mix of rubber ground and bark chip ground with toilets right in the middle of the skating area and the playground area. I spoke to a local who said the skate park is great (I've been out of the skating scene for too long to know hehehe). There were a couple of broken street lights in the car park but he assured me that the park gets maintained and looked after well, and he was surprised to see the damage himself. Pack your family up, put the bikes in the car and head over here. It would be a lovely Sunday outing. This is definitely one to check out. It's such a pretty place and while there's more construction happening at the moment (looks like an extension to the playground) this really is a happy blend of playground and nature with plaques along the way with information about the wildlife in that area. *I didn't see a drink fountain or BBQ* *Dogs allowed...under effective control of course* *Stay tuned to this post, I want to check the tracks out more myself! :-) See you there!*

Minkarra Park is a great place to take the kids on school holidays when you just need to get out of…read morethe house. It has exercise equipment, large skate park, hiking trails, fenced dog park and playground with toilets. Whilst I mainly visited for the playground with friends, I was disappointed that it does not cater for crawlers or children under 2 very well. Some of the equipment was too high/difficult for them to climb and they spent the majority of the time on the rubber ground. There was also no toddler swing, so if your kids like swings as much as mine then it's not the place to go. That being said it s well kept and tidy, but probably suited more to 3/4yo and up.

Ideally, this would be a five star rating but I had to leave room for improvement. This little…read moreripper of a park is getting MORE equipment added to it so I had to leave an extra star for a review at a later stage. If your dog or your child needs room to run about, this is the place to come. There is SO much room! The playground is fairly new and the entire play equipment area has a rubber floor. There are electronic toilets, BBQ, sheltered table/chair area, and a drinking fountain that needs a little servicing. It's one of those wonderful drinking fountains that have a lower collection spot for the off-run of water so the four legged pooches can have a drink also. Attached is also a tap. To be honest, if it wasn't such a great set up, the play equipment wouldn't be all that great. This is definitely a toddler park with one piece of equipment that reminds me of swinging around on the old lop sided hill hoist (which isn't suited for toddlers at all). This is a lovely place to be. The BBQ looks like it's the oldest piece of equipment of the whole area but it still looks like it gets used (it was a rainy day, I didn't try myself). This has all the makings of a wonderful 'destination playground' so hopefully the new equipment can help it get that one last star. *Dogs allowed (bags available)* *Drinking fountain (needs servicing)* *Sheltered table/chair* *entire rubber flooring*

Let me say that in terms of a playground, this really isn't the best there is. In terms of a play…read more'area' it wouldn't be too bad in that there's a mighty huge lawn. Plenty of running around and kicking a ball space which is always nice (no golf however). That being said, here's the run down on the playground; There's some beautiful big gum trees dappled around the place so there would be times of shade. It's set RIGHT back from the road and isn't fenced. You'd have plenty of time to run down any little escape artists. I can imagine this would be a fairly good running space for dogs also. The play equipment itself is a bit ho-hum....nothing much more than a slide and some swings. The whole play area was bark chipped. There were a couple of bench seats in the open and an electric BBQ. It's a free BBQ but I didn't try it out for fear of one of the many gum leaves piled on top would catch fire (I'm not sure how often it gets used). Overall, not a great playground but if you wanted to kick the footy with some mates and you had children, I'm sure everyone would be quite entertained...at least for a while. I should also point out that this park backs onto the bike/walk track that runs along the Southern expressway.

Great memories of push-bike riding asa teenager, thru the Golf links and to try and see the model…read moretrains.

What a great little (big) place to take the family. This place has far more then your usual reserve…read morewill offer. Wait for it. It has a train (little train). Ok it is a miniature train, but you can ride on it. What else does this park have that you have given 5 stars to I hear you say? Well it has archery boards, and an awesome track for your remote control cars. I was a bit of a distance away and was on a school excursion so couldn't wander far but some big kids (adults) were testing out their skills on this day. It has a great viewing area raised high off the ground so if this is your thing then this is the place. Unsure of whether there was a BBQ but they do have a new toilet block and plenty of shade around the place.

Five stars for what it was, One star for what it has become…read more Sadly, this reserve has been over-modernised, it's once beautiful green open spaces have been replaced by grey cement and brown bark chips. Large areas of grassy areas have been rendered useless in the name of a "beautification" that suits no purpose other than to improve the view from a house on Heron Way. Heron Way reserve was once fit to cater for community events or family picnics, sadly the "improvements" now render it unsuitable for any sort of community event. The ANZAC memorial was a nice addition but the dawn service highlights the inability of the area, and the Marion council, to accommodate more than a dozen people at a time. Don't get your hopes up for a return of the soapbox derby, the reserve could handle neither the crowd or the Mr Whippy van. There used to be a large, safe playground that would accommodate a small army of kids, this has been replaced by a play space for two and an area guaranteed to result in injuries to children engaging in anything more boisterous than birdwatching. Now there is election motivated talk of a rock pool that some estimates have bringing an additional 100k visitors to the reserve. How on earth is that going to happen and why would we want it to? Let Hallett Cove be Hallett Cove, not everything has to be a tourist attraction or art installation.

I'm definitely a fan of this area. I know the playground isn't as elaborate as I would usually like…read morefor a four star review but gee this is such a great place to be. It doesn't matter if you've bought fish and chips, or using the BBQ's or grabbed some food from the Boatshed Cafe, the view over the water will make anything taste just that bit better. The playground itself really isn't too bad. It's lots of fun for the children and while it may not look too extensive, the older children like to use it as well as the younger children. If you have never been to Hallett Cove before, even if you don't have children, make sure it's on your 'Places to Go' list. If you feel like throwing your feet up and swinging on a swing, no one will look at you strangely. This is a place full of goodness and fun. If you have a dog, they must be under control and not near the play ground, other than that there's plenty of room for them to run about. They are also allowed on the beach. Bags are provided so PLEASE pick up after them so everyone can keep enjoying this area. More often than not the sheltered table/chair areas are taken from mid morning so if you want to have a birthday party or gathering, get in early! There aren't any drinking fountains but there are taps at each of the shelters. *Dogs allowed* *Sheltered table/chair*

There's a slight possibility that I'm being a little generous with four stars; it's probably worth…read moremore like three and a half stars but it was such a nice area with LOTS of space for the children to completely exhaust themselves. Look at all the room behind the playground. Can't you see your children riding up the gentle hill and then turning around and having fun flying back down? The playground itself is quite entertaining as it is, but to be in such a great spot with so much space added to my "I love a playground" spot in my heart ;-) There is a shaded area with seating but no table. I couldn't see a drinking fountain either, otherwise I wouldn't have hesitated to stamp a four star rating all over this baby (we all know how much I love a drinking fountain! It's strange the obsessions you conjure up after reviewing a million playgrounds) It's all bark chipped with paved pathways in between the play equipment and the seating area. *Dogs allowed* *No drinking fountain* *Sheltered seating area*

As you can see from the photo, there's a LOT of space here. There are paths that lead to and from…read moreneighbouring parks/reserves and if you're in the area, this would be a good place to let the children run amok for a while. The playground itself isn't THAT extensive but it sure isn't the worst there is. What I really like about this place is that it has a variety of parallel bars and 'chin up' bars at varying heights not too far from the playground. All the equipment is spread out a little....why wouldn't you when you've got all that space, but you may end up with different aged children all over place. Still, this is a nice place to stop (or start) while exploring the surrounding areas or just getting some exercise. *Dogs allowed* *Drinking fountain doesn't work :-(* *No shade on play equipment*

Quite a waddle from the rather busy Kenihans Road is a okay/slightly better than average…read moreplayground. In fact, if you have your car and have trouble walking downhill, you might want to enter from Buchanan Grove (head down Braeside Avenue and take your first left). It's a No Through Road so you may not get a park, but it's worth a try. Two things stand out at this playground, the pond/fountain and the massive green lawn, which doesn't say much for the playground......but it does have flying fox! This isn't a 'destination' playground (don't go out of your way to visit) but if you're in the area and want a nice place to eat lunch or feed the resident ducks, it's a nice place to be. The playground is quite a distance from the road (Kenihans Rd) and it's uphill so little ones are a bit more 'contained' than at other places. There's no fencing around the ponds and don't get excited when you see the drinking fountain, it doesn't work...or at least didn't when I wrote this. The ground cover is bark chip except for the swing area which is rubber. I have to say this......it's always greeeeeeeeeen! The massive lawn area always looks so inviting and most of the area gets some good shade in the afternoons. It's a good space to kick a footy, provided you don't mind playing on a bit of a hill or just letting the children run off all their excess energy. *Dogs allowed* *No toilets* *No BBQ*

If you've got a child who loves to climb, this could be a place to visit. This playground would…read morework for a few different age groups but if you have children quite substantially older (early teens), you may want to bring their bike while the younger ones play. There's no shortage of space here! The playground is spaced well away from any roads and while there may not be a lot of shade over the majority of the equipment, there is dappled shade from the trees dotted along the walking trails/footpaths. This is a playground and park that links in with a whole reserve of parks in the surrounding areas. If you're up for a bike ride, you could definitely get a good days exercise going from one park to the next. *Dogs allowed* *No drinking fountain* *No immediate toilets (although there would be some in the surrounding park areas if you're riding)* *Not a lot of shade*