With Victoria long known as Australia's 'Garden State', Ballarat plays a big role in this claim to fame thanks to our exquisite collection of parks and gardens.
Here's our top picks for the city's most beautiful green spaces:
Ballarat Botanical Gardens
Wendouree Pde, Lake Wendouree
Why we love it:
- One of Australia's most significant cool climate gardens.
- Covers 40 hectares and is divided into four distinct zones.
- Features a remarkable collection of mature trees and marble statues set amongst colourful bedding displays.
- Home of March's annual Ballarat Begonia Festival, the Robert Clark Conservatory and the Prime Ministers Avenue of bronze busts.
North Gardens
Wendouree Pde, Lake Wendouree
Why we love it:
- The North Gardens Indigenous Sculpture Park feature works by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists, celebrating the richness and diversity of culture and telling important cultural stories.
Murrup Laarr – ‘Ancestral Stones’ in Wadawurrung – was the first artwork installed in the park in early 2019. Created by Deanne Gilson, the contemporary artwork consists of a traditionally-built stone hut in the middle of a circle of basalt standing stones, marked with ceramic plates. It reflects the stories and symbols of dreaming, memory, ceremony. - North Gardens is also home of the Ballarat Farmers Market (second and fourth Saturday of each month), plus festivals and special events.
- A zoo was located in North Gardens between 1917 and 1959, with remnants of the animal enclosures still visible at the north end of Nursery Drive and Zoo Drive.
Sturt Street Gardens
Sturt St, Ballarat
Why we love it:
- Cared for by the City of Ballarat's parks and gardens team, these formal gardens stretch for 13 blocks up the middle of Sturt Street, from Grenville Street to Pleasant Street.
- Heritage features include significant statues, bandstands, memorials and trees.
- It boasts a shared bicycle and pedestrian path.
- Sturt Street Gardens is also home to the unique Titanic Memorial Bandstand (near Camp Street). This Edwardian structure was built by Victorian musicians in 1915 in honour of Titanic bandleader Wallace Hartley and his band, who continued to play on as the ship sank on 15 April 1912.
Victoria Park
Newington
Why we love it:
- Once extensively mined for gold, Victoria Park is one of Ballarat's most significant parks.
- On 23 May 1890, local residents helped plant more than 3000 trees at the site to celebrate Victoria's first Arbor Day. This provided the foundation for one of Australia's best examples of a large European-style parkland.
- Today, 130 hectares of parklands are separated by gently curving tree-lined avenues.
- Victoria Park is also home to the Inclusive Play Space, which features multiple play zones and accessible equipment designed for people with all abilities.
Eureka Stockade Memorial Park
Stawell St Sth, Ballarat
Why we love it:
- Named on the National Heritage List as it's considered to be the site of the Eureka Stockade rebellion on 3 December 1854.
- Many layers of Eureka commemoration are reflected throughout the park in its significant trees, interpretive plaques and monuments that honour those involved in the Eureka Stockade.
- The park is also home to the Eureka Centre, which explores the social history and cultural impact of the Victorian gold rush, plus family-friendly cafe Lilly's.
- Kids love the park's rebellion-inspired playground.
Black Hill Reserve
Chisholm St, Black Hill
Why we love it:
- After gold was discovered at Black Hill Reserve in 1851, the Black Hill Quartz Crushing Company began shallow alluvial and open cut mining at the site. Mining continued at the site until the 1920s.
- Black Hill lookout boasts sweeping views of Ballarat and the surrounding district to the south.
- The reserve has become a focal point for downhill mountain bike riding in Ballarat, with six cross country trails, four downhill trails, two pump tracks, a skills area and advanced jump park.
Woowookarung Regional Park
York St, Ballarat East/Recreation Road, Mount Clear
Why we love it:
- A 641-hectare park, Woowookarung Regional Park – ‘place of plenty’ – is part of the traditional lands of the Wadawurrung people.
- Established in 2016, the park is perfect for bushwalking, trail running and cycling among the messmate stringybark, grass trees and native heath.
- Keep an eye out for kangaroos, echidnas, birds and native wildflowers.
- Home of Australia’s first Dementia Friendly Forest and Sensory Trail.
Buninyong Botanic Gardens
Corner of Scott and Inglis streets, Buninyong
Why we love it:
- Established in the 1860s, Buninyong Botanic Gardens was designed by Melbourne’s Royal Botanic Gardens director Baron Ferdinand von Mueller.
- The heritage-listed gardens are among the oldest in Victoria.
- Its upper garden area is home to The Gong reservoir, along with many fish and waterbirds.
- Facilities include playground equipment, electric barbecues and toilets.
Gong Gong Reservoir/Kirks Reservoir
Daylesford Road, Gong Gong
Why we love it:
- Kirks Reservoir is a European-style manicured park with BBQs, picnic facilities and toilets.
- In 1862, the government acquired Kirks Reservoir for 4000 pounds and it became the home of Ballarat's first water supply scheme.
- Gong Gong's Catchment Habitat and Water Trail is a valuable collection of native plants and geological along the Yarrowee River.
- The reservoirs are located opposite each other on Daylesford Road and are just a 10-minute drive from the Ballarat CBD.
