I love taking my kids to this park. Locally situated in North Parramatta, it has undercover tables,…read morea park with swings/slides and lookouts, plenty of tree cover and open space and a bubbler for when you get thirsty. For the sports minded people, there is a half court basketball court and a half court netball court.

This small park is set in bushland. It offers playground equipment and swings for littlies, BBQ…read morefacilities and some tables & benches. There is a council owned tennis court in the precinct too. I must have driven past the end of the street a zillion times, but being on foot this morning I wandered across the road & enjoyed the shade & coolness that this tiny piece of bushland offered.

150 acres of bushland and a big lake within a few km's of Parramatta CBD - what else needs to be…read moresaid? Lake Parramatta is like a little piece of the Blue Mountains in suburbia. It's tucked away between James Ruse Drive, Pennant Hills Road and North Rocks Road and surprisingly there are even locals that don't realise its there or haven't been there. The lake has only just re opened for swimming this year (2015) and there is a smallish roped off swimming section with a few life guards watching. (Not sure if these are only there on the weekends though). Plenty of people were swimming elsewhere anyway and the area off the wharf at the Southern end seems popular for people to swim with their dogs and the rocks on the North Rocks Rd side popular with kids for jumping off the rocks into the water. If you drop in during the week, especially in the morning, its like a 'who's who' of govt departments and local tradies. They all seem to drive there and pull up for the morning coffee and newspaper overlooking the lake. Weekends in summer are extremely busy and parking within the reserve can be a struggle. A vacant picnic table is about as rare as a flying unicorn unless you get there early so bring a rug as there is plenty of grassed areas to lay about on. In terms of facilities there are BBQ's, kids play ground, toilets, and a cafe serving decent food, okay coffee, and gelato. There are also great marked bushwalking trails right around the perimeter of the lake. Great place to escape the hustle and bustle without needing to go too far!

Nice on lead dog walk with the opportunity for a good dog swim. Depending on our walking pace it…read moreshould take just over an hour.

There are plenty of soccer/football fields surrounded by bush. In July and August the bush is…read morefilled with wattle. There are tennis courts, cricket batting practice nets and a playground. Paths through the bush connect to the fields and other areas. The lower fields have a parking area but if you are on the top fields it is necessary to park in the street which must annoy the locals. On Saturday morning the local soccer club have the canteen going with the usual fare...$1 for a hash brown has been the special for the last few weeks