Hardy Gallagher Reserve@Princes Hill (my rating C)

Hardy Gallagher Rerserve is located near Princes Park and is on the Capital City Trail and within the Inner Circle Railway Linear Park.  It is an offleash park with a few unusual play equipments.

There's no toilet facilities on site, guess you may use the one in Neighbourhood Centre (next to the park).

This makes a nice rest spot if you ride a bike along Capital City Trail.

Conner Street Reserve@Kew East (my rating B)

Conner Street Reserve in Kew East, adjacent to Hyde Park,  is a leafy shady and grassy area shared among joggers, bikes and dogs.  The path joins the Outer Circle Trail.

Special Post: DogParks-VIC Australia

I've just published a free Android App on Google Play called "DogParks-VIC Australia".  Feel free to download it to your Android Mobile Device if you have one.

The whole idea is to locate dog offleash (mainly) parks near you (based on GPS location).  The app can also show the entire dog offleash network,  Hope that will help you plan your adventure with your loved ones.

I'm still building up the list, consolidating the different info from local councils, visitor centres and Victoria Park.

I'm focusing on Melbourne Inner Suburbs and Other Cities in Victoria at the moment.  I guess people in rural and remote victoria areas aren't strict as long as your dog behaves.  However, I was told off (not by a civil servant, but by a tearoom lady) when we were holidaying at Silverton NSW (near broken hill).  Jessica was offleash exploring around in her graceful manner.  :-(


Anyway, hope you find the app handy.

Bald Hill Park@Clarinda (my rating A)

Bald Hill Park is a big park in Clarinda (Clayton South), 40min away from Melbourne City (via M1).  The bike path is very nice.  The adventure playground is awesome!  It has on-leash and off-leash areas.  There're dog exercise equipments in the off-leash area!

The offleash area and the dog exercise equipments is near Eulinga Road (closer to Bunney Road End).

The playground (and the toilets) is near Inverness St (car park  is off Inverness St).

 

(dog exercise equipments)

 

(adventure playground)

 

(adventure playground)

 

(adventure playground)

 (overlooking from the hilltop)

(map downloaded from Kingston City Council website)

******* Extracted from Kingston City Council Website:
This 13 hectare park has walking paths, abundant natives and waterholes for birds. Included are picnic shelters, 4 BBQs, a playground and public toilets (with access for people with a disability). Dog off leash area
********************

Raffey Lake Park@Doncaster (my rating A)

Raffey Lake Park at Doncaster (or Doncaster East?) is definitely on my A list.  It's a huge park with on-leash and off-leash areas, 2 fantastic adventure playgrounds.  The path is suitable for bikes/scooters.  There are several entrances and car parks. 

I were amazed with this park / playground that I forgot to take any photos.

We'll visit this park again for sure!  And I'll take lots of photos......... :-)

 

(map from Manningham City Council website)

Hastings Foreshore Reserve@Mornington Peninsular (my rating A)

The Hastings Foreshore Reserve is in Hastings Mornington Peninsular, only 1hr drive from Melbourne via M3 freeway / Eastlink.  There're 2 carparks within offleash areas, 1 small 1 big, enter via Marine Parade.

The Hastings Foreshore Reserve is a gem!  It's huge and neat!  When we were there today (late morning Saturday), there were only 3 cars parked including Amy, our car, guess probably because it's in the popular tourist area.

There's a bike track (must be long, judging from the google map and other bike riding books) running through the reserve.

The reserve overlooks the bay.

I was totally relaxed on the picnic rug while the kids were riding bikes and my Jessica was sniffing and exploring, thus I didn't really take photos.  And the photos below can't describe the beauty of this park at all.

Point Gelibrand Coastal Heritage Park (my rating B)

Point Gelibrand is in Williamstown, 40 mins drive from Melbourne city.  The promenade is excellent for family bike riding.  A 20 mins leisure walk will take you to a playground.

 Along the beach, there're rockpools.  The sand isn't good for barefoot, because there're heaps of seaweed, smashed shells, and occasionally crushed glass bottles.

We started walking on the Promenade, but soon winded to the beach,  the kids loved stepping from a rock to another rock, but it didn't take long for them to start to walk and splash in the water with their shoes on, and with no surprise, they got their pants wet.

Fortunately, we had spare clothes in the car.  They got changed afterwards.

Golden Lesson: always bring towels and spare clothes, especially if your destination is BEACH.

Markham Park in Ashburton (my rating A)

My rating is A, especially in a sunny day.
Right beside Gardiner Creek Trail, a well paved bike track, it's an offleash park, with a large oval & a big & nice fenced 'adventurous' playground, toilet facilities.
Da & kee enjoyed the playground. Even though it was raining, they had fun. 
why not bring skates / skateboards there......

 

 

(Climbing Frame)

There is a small skate park next to the playground, and also a basketball hoop.

The skate park is very small and simple.  My kids only spent 3 mins there.

 (Skate Park and Basketball Hoop)

Hyde Park in Kew East (my rating A)

Hyde Park is an offleash park, right beside Boroondara Outer Circle Trail, with a larger than average playground which suits from toddlers to teenagers.  Water taps, tables & benches.
When you go there, bring bikes, skates, skateboards with you, you'll have fun.
Because we live nearby, we walked to the park, I was lying down on the bench studying the shape of clouds, colours of the sky, while the kids were playing.....
Jessica & her brother & sister had great fun.