Hazelmere Road Reserve

Harold my 8 month old puppy and I just love heading to this dog park! Generally friendly pooches with owners who don’t mind a chat.
Doggy poop bags are readily available from all entrances however that doesn’t mean that people always use them so keep an eye out as you walk around.
There is a café truck that usually rocks up in the late afternoon on Wednesday and Saturdays, a great way to warm the hands in the cold winter months.
The downside to this park is the lack of lighting at night. In winter it’s a struggle for the 9 – 5 workers to get home, pick up their pooches and then get to the park before darkness kicks in.
Overall a nice dog park with lots of space for your four legged friend!

This place has gotta be one of the happiest places on Earth. Unless, of course, you don’t like dogs. Then for you, maybe not so happy.
Swing by this park on a Saturday arvo and you’ll be met with approximately 1.2 smiling, tail wagging pooches having the time of their lives. Seriously, there’s nothing sweeter.
This dedicated dog park allows dogs off the lead at all times of the day so they’re free to frolic with their doggie companions. It’s clean, spacious and people are generally sensible enough to only bring the nice dogs to the park. Big ups to Marion council for this suburban gem!

Sitting on the site of the old Glengowrie High School is what’s now known as Hazelmere Reserve. Yes I’m a GHS old scholar and this was one of my old school’s ovals — I think back then they referred to it as the Southern Oval. The school was closed back in 1989 due to an aging demographic in the area and a lack of high school aged children and the City of Marion turned the park into a dog friendly area back in 2008 (after much consultation with the local residents)
Go there on any weekend and you’ll see people and their pups participating in dog obedience classes. Dogs are allowed off their leashes in this park but they must be kept under control by their owners. There’s a plentiful supply of pooch poo bags and owners are instructed to pick up after their dogs via a sign at the main entrance with a small logo of a stick man picking up his dog’s poo! Now this is a good thing because they say on some weekends the park can attract up to 50 dogs and their owners — and that’s a lot of dog poo. It does however sound like someone left something behind for poor Mario to find.
On the same sign is an instruction that golf is not welcome in this park but there are cricket nets, tennis courts and netball courts — these are all hangovers from the school as well. There’s also plenty of seating which is good given the fact that its right next door to a retirement village.
This is a well populated park and as well as families there are plenty of pooches hanging out.

When I visit a park for the first time, I like to defy convention by testing out the playground to see if it’s fit for men of my age. Now, I’ve played on better playgrounds, but this one’s certainly a great deal of fun.
Moreso than the playground, however, I enjoyed the ‘green’ness of this park. The grass is only greener on the other side if you don’t have very green grass, which isn’t something you need to worry about for Hazelmere Reserve.
You’ll treat the toilets with the same novelty you treat all high-​tech toilets the first time you come across them. I haven’t frequented them often enough for that novelty to yet wear thin, and maintain some fond memories of my time spent inside them.
And, on that subject, let me say, with a little remembered annoyance, that I managed to unwittingly step in some dog… excrement as I wandered through the park. I only discovered it a good time later, so I don’t know WHERE in the park it happened (which makes it hard to warn the cautious reader away from it), but I can advise you to remain wary, and ever vigilant!

Bring the four legged members of your family here. The more the merrier, I say! On the corner of Hazelmere Rd and Oaklands Rd there’s a fantastic oval which turns into a dog park when sport isn’t being played. It was so lovely to watch all the four-​footed family members running around, enjoying the sun. One mother (of children and dogs) was walking the dog around the while the children played on the playground. The two areas are fenced off from each other but there’s easy access from one to the other via child-​proof gates.
The playground obviously is a hit as you can tell from the photos. While it looks like the playground is more suited for younger children, there is a large climbing frame and a rubber hammock that proves to be a nice place to ‘hang out’ with your friends and chat… as older children do ;-)
There are sheltered table/​chair areas, a BBQ, and a drinking fountain but these are a little distance from the playground area. I was quite baffled by this. I would have thought there would be some shaded seating closer to the playground. Electronic toilets are closer to the playground than seating! hehehe
The playground itself doesn’t get a lot of shade so make sure you Slip, Slop, Slap.
*Dogs allowed in dog park*
*Working drinking fountains in both the oval and playground areas*
*Sheltered table/​chair areas*
*BBQ*
*Electronic toilets*