Located in the Minnippi Parklands in Brisbane’s south, Preston Road Park is a large open area that accommodates hours of entertainment. However, the fun doesn’t end here. Families can follow Bulimba Creek towards Carindale Shopping Centre, passing a frisbee golf course, wide open parklands, more playgrounds and finally the Shopping Centre for some well-earned lunch. This is a perfect bicycle ride or, as we did it, a walk that will take you through a good half-day adventure.
Preston Road Park
Preston Road Park is a great place to spend a few hours with the family, as it’s got pretty much everything. Firstly, there’s a playground with a slippery dip and climbing equipment. However, alongside this, there’s more play equipment, drums and a metal xylophone, both of which I had fun playing. Just a bit further past this there’s a skate bowl, which I saw a few kids riding their scooters on.
There’s also a coffee cart and seating for the parents, as well as a modern outdoor gym, a basketball court and an enormous dog park. Additionally, there’s plenty of grassland around all this, as Preston Road Park sits within the enormous Minnippi Parklands. The only bummer I can think of is there’s not a great deal of shade at Preston Road Park, as you can see in the pics. However, there are shade sails over the play equipment and outdoor gym.
If you’re up for a bit of an adventure walk or ride, head to the bike track and continue under the bridge towards Cadogan Street Park Disc Golf Course. Stop at Bullimba Creek and the parklands along the way as you do, admiring the nature and wide open spaces this pretty little part of Brisbane offers.
Cadogan Street Park Disc Golf Course
A few minutes around the corner from Preston Road Park, you’ll come to Cadogan Street Park Disc Golf Course. I stumbled upon this quite by accident and it was a pleasant surprise. I was exploring the park with my dog Cookie, family in tow, when I saw what I thought was a succession of elaborate bins in Cadogan Street Park. Upon closer investigation, however, I saw a guy throwing frisbees at these bins and then I saw the ‘tee offs’.
There were slabs of concrete on the ground with par 3, par 2, etc., and I realised this was a frisbee course and these ‘bins’ were holes that caught the frisbee in its basket. I soon came across a few people walking across the park, carrying bags full of frisbees. This is great, I thought. I stood and watched people playing for a while before we continued on to Carindale Recreation Reserve. I’ll definitely have to return to play some ‘disc golf’!
Carindale Recreation Reserve
When you’re ready, continue past the disc golf course, round a corner and past another small playground. Then turn left and head through Carindale Recreation Reserve. The path meanders through forest, which opens up into expansive parklands on either side. This definitely looks like a good place to have a picnic, walk the dog, play sport or really do anything your imagination allows in such an expansive tract of grassland.
John Millman Rebound Wall
Winding back up to the main bike path, which is Millennium Boulevard, you’ll soon come to a brick wall called John Millman Rebound Wall. I only mention this as it’s a bit of history from the area, as well as a potential play area. The wall is named after local, John Millman, who made the top 40 in men’s tennis and even beat Rodger Federer in 2018. Apparently, he overcame great injury to reach his goals, thus being an inspiration for young Australians, particularly the people of Carindale.
Carindale Reserve Playground
Just around the corner from the John Millman Rebound Wall is Carindale Reserve Playground. There’s some great little play equipment here, such as the sponge-like bubbles that children can hop across, slides, a large climbing frame and plenty of space. There’s also a lot more shade here than Preston Road Park, although some of the play equipment is in dire need of repair, and the shade sails have large patches of mould on them. It’s still a good playground, but hopefully it’s soon to be upgraded.
From here, continue back towards Bulimba Creek and you’ll cross a bridge, then enter more expansive parklands. This is also where I ran into Baby Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy!
Carindale Shopping Centre
About 3 kilometres from Preston Road Park you’ll reach Carindale Shopping Centre. We did this route on the Ekka holiday just gone and it was nice to arrive and get some respite from the sun and sate our appetites. As I was walking our dog Cookie, I had to go somewhere dog-friendly and Carindale Hotel was it. Here I had mushroom risotto and a glass of pinot noir, both of which were quite nice actually! It was a little on the pricier side, but part of this was the public holiday surcharge.
The ladies here were really nice and accommodating, I suspect because they were in love with Cookie. Cookie got pats, water and the waitress even asked if he liked chicken! Unfortunately, I had to decline as Cookie has a sensitive stomach. What was also unfortunate, was that I forgot to take a photo of this part of the experience.
My Return
As my son was now tired, I decided to return with Cookie, grab the car from Preston Road Park and pick my family up from the shopping centre. On the way back I caught the most beautiful part of the day as the sun was low over Carindale Recreation Reserve. I returned the 3 kilometres to Preston Road Park fairly quickly, as it’s a flat walk.
In all, a full and fun day!
A Few Fast Facts
- The walk from Preston Road Park to Carindale Shopping Centre is about 3 kilometres and would take about 45 minutes if you just went straight there. However, as there are numerous things to do along the way, you could easily make a day or half-day of it (as we did).
- Bring a hat, as there are sections along this route that are pretty exposed.
- This route is essentially a bike path, so bring your bikes for some family fun!
- The Cadogan Street Park Disc Golf Course has a warning that snakes are sometime in the park, so take care when collecting your frisbee on the course, particularly in longer grass.
- Apparently there are some really nice trails/things to see if you head in the other direction from Preston Road Park. Something we’ll have to do next time!
