Orleigh Park

This is one of my favourite parks in Brisbane.
I often come here after work, grabbing something takeaway in West End and chilling out by the water.
Stretching along the river in West End, it’s a nice, quiet place to come and chill out. Plenty of grass under big, shady trees, picnic tables, bbqs, all the facilities you could need.
Don’t have a car? No worries! Plenty of buses down one end, not to mention a ferry terminal, and on a weekend you can follow the park right along and find yourself in the West End markets.

Well done Brisbane City Council — this park has lush green grass, huge spreading trees, shade and wide open spaces for frisbee/​cricket, toilets, BBQs, shelter, a well maintained path, plenty of parking, plenty of public transport access and happy people.
The park celebrates the river and the good people celebrate it.
I love how multicultural the visitors are here.
Orleigh is one big beautiful melting pot of West End leisure.
Oh and I forgot the Free WiFi!

Step 1: Arrive at Orleigh Park and select your spot to perch for a while.
Step 2: Unroll /​wrap your picnic blanket
Step 3: Reach for fresh eats (perhaps from the West End Markets) from your bag. Enjoy. Solo or with friends.
Step 4: Lie back. Watch the clouds roll by, read a book, make use of the free Brisbane City Council Park Wi-​Fi. Relax. Take it all in.
And this is the simplicity of Orleigh Park. Overlooking the Brisbane River this is the perfect (and not yet «popularised») park in Brisbane to switch off, wind down and take in the beautifully sunny, but not unbearably hot, Spring days.

FINE, ORLEIGH PARK. YOU FORCED ME TO DO THIS. The ample lighting along the riverside pathway along the Hill End Terrace stretch of the park was finally lit during the week I wrote my review… and has been off again since then. I’ve written my first ever Sternly Worded Letter about this because darn it, it is DARK by 6pm and that stretch of pathway in particular is a fair distance from the road.
EDIT: not bad, BCC, you got back to me within the week and blamed the flood on the lights shorting out regularly. Water in the lines. You know the flood was 18mths ago now, right? FIX IT, BROS.

Orleigh Park is one of Brisbane’s most popular parks. It has the seductive combination of being in funky West End, and also being on the river. I first went to Orleigh Park as a thirteen year old for a fire-​twirling workshop (oh to be thirteen again!). Since my fire-​twirling days I’ve spent many an idle afternoon lazy in the shady grass by the river drinking goon and eating chips with friends. It’s a popular park for birthday BBQs or casual soccer games. It even has a sweet playground with a big serpent thing to slide along.
There are a few picnic tables and BBQs, but they can be hard to nab on weekends so make sure you get there a bit early if you’re hoping to set up for the day. The long grass, shady trees, and riverside location are what makes Orleigh Park so beautiful. These features do, however, mean that mozzies can abound here on summer evenings so don’t forget the insect repellant if you’re heading down on a hot night.

Orleigh Park is really really beautiful and one of my favourite parks in Brisbane. It has lots of trees and shade, as well as some great under-​cover shelters which is perfect for a party or BBQ with a large group of friends.
It pays to get there early to secure these spots though!
There is a great little playground for kids, as well as public toilets and other facilities.
The last time we were there for a friend’s 30^th, on a Saturday, the park was full of families and children. It’s definitely a family friendly park.

I used to live in a share house on Hill End Tce, which along with the titular Orleigh St fronts onto this long and languid riverside recreational area. It was probably the best part of living there, being able to cross the road into a lush shaded hill right on the water. And the renters and homeowners aren’t the only ones who can enjoy this feature of their respective abodes, with the area being a favourite hitching spot for scores of backpackers and other wanderers who took advantage on the apparent police amnesty on squatting here in their vans and station wagons.
The park is also home to a few friendly (and vehicle-​less) local itinerants, like old John, who can be seen wandering shirtless through the suburb with his long Jesus-​like locks flapping in the breeze.
Apart from the usual barbecue goers, picnicers, parents and children playing, dog walkers, joggers and the like, Orleigh Park also attracts keen anglers, with catches including Rainbow Perch, Catfish and the infamous Brisbane River Bull SHARKS (another reason not to go swimming in the brown water). Last time I visited the park for a friend’s birthday picnic, we saw a couple of guys pull in an 80 cm baby shark, which they released back into the river. Some of the less discerning fishermen will even eat their catches.

Making full use of river frontage, this would have to be one of the most beautiful parks in Brisbane. With not too much traffic going by (except for down the City Cat end where the City Glider and 199 buses depart) it’s a peaceful and relaxing place to spend a moment at any time of day.
The huge Moreton Bay Figs provide plenty of shade, there are benches facing the river, picnic tables and barbecue facilities. Sunset is particularly pretty as you can sit on the concrete wall of the river and watch the sun go down behind Toowong.
If looking for a place to chill out and read a book or meet up friends, Orleigh Park is a great open-​air option.

Orleigh Park, in my view, is defined by lines. It’s a narrow strip of land that runs along the water’s edge as the river runs east to the city. The park wears a long and unruly trim of mangroves. Studded at regular intervals along the park are figs that stand like sentinels, watching over calm water. Their long tendril branches run along the park like train tracks.
From the businessmen and uni students who catch the city cat from the stop there, to the mothers with strollers power walking along the paths, to the cyclists who love nothing more than to zip along the edge of the river, to the dog owners who throw their dogs sticks along the length of the park (and hope to Christ they don’t jump in the river sludge), to the community theatre group practicing scenes under a fig tree, to the 1^st birthday party parade dropping cake crumbs all over the grass, to the trumpet player serenading the water with some solemn piece, to the kids playing cricket where people are having picnics, to the dudes having a kegger on the grass, to the artist drawing the buildings across the river, to the girl reading poetry in the branches of a fig tree– Orleigh Park is loved by everyone.
Do what everyone else does on a Sunday (and any other chance they get). Come down, bring some snacks, a six pack and wile away the afternoon with your neighbours and some strangers. The twilight hours are the best time to go there.