One of my favourite parks to take my daughter to is Racecourse Reserve in Mentone.  It is set on part of the site of what was one of the great racecourses of Melbourne. It opened in 1888 and held meetings until 1948. It was used as a training track by many prominent race horses until 1972 when it was redeveloped as housing. The reserve has now kept the racecourse theme.

The reserve is located around a lake which houses plenty of ducks and other water birds.  My daughter loves coming to this park and feeding the ducks.  There are two different shelters both with BBQ’s and tables. They are both great areas to host a birthday party or catch up with friends and family.  We have been here a number of times and used both areas.

The main structure in the park has a long ramp with images of horses leading to the finish line.  It also has a climbing wall, twin wave slides, firemen’s pole, single wave slide, tunnel, rope ladder, noughts and crosses, high judges box complete with binoculars and three horse springers.  Adjacent to this structure is the large flying fox.

At the back of one of the shelters, there is a wooden maze and a sandpit.  On the other side of the maze is basketball half court.  There is also a large oval, with football goal posts at one end and soccer goal posts at the other end.  There is also a big brick wall to play tennis on.

This playground is suitable for kids of all ages and it has something for everyone.  The park is rarely busy and there’s great parking onsite.  The toilet facilities are reasonably clean compared to most parks we have been too.  They look pretty new, but I would always suggest bringing your own toilet paper and wipes.

Glenelg Drive, Mentone, Melbourne