Gladstone Park sits atop an old reservoir. Once upon a time developers wanted to turn the reservoir into an underground parking lot, which might have made this park less enjoyable ... but so this has not happened.
This is a good flat park, with a nice mix of big trees for shade. There are the obligatory palm trees too, now getting very old and rather tall. There's an old basketball court, some rudimentary looking play equipment, and a few old brick relics.
Gladstone Park is adjacent to Balmain Primary. The Park also has its very own bowling club (Gladstone Park Bowling Club) right in the middle of it. That effectively means you can be inside Gladstone Park, drinking a cold schooner, watching the old folks in their whites. Not bad.
These days Gladstone Park is looking a tad dry and brown (but then again, so is everywhere). They have recently added an accessible ramp on the Darling Street side (for a long time this park was inaccessible from most sides, so this was long overdue). Gladstone Park gives you a feeling of being up high, elevated off the main drag of Darling Street. It's not super lush, but it has a great community vibe.
One drawback, as Rachel said - it's on-leash only, which sucks, if you're a dog. (So - not a great dog park.) read more