Yarra Bend Park
Find Melbourne's largest bushland park, with a fly-out of flying foxes at dusk, and walking and bikinh trails aplenty.
Overview
Yarra Bend Park is Melbourne's largest stretch of natural bushland, running along a wild bend in the Yarra River where escarpments, river red gums and open woodland replace the manicured lawns found in most inner-city parks. Dights Falls — an artificial weir built in the 1840s to power the old Ceres Flour Mill — remains the park's most recognisable landmark, framed by river red gums at nearby Galatea Point.
Time a visit for sunset and you'll likely catch the resident colony of grey-headed flying foxes lifting off from their daytime roost, fanning out across the sky in a genuine spectacle. Beyond that, the park runs to walking and biking trails, kayaking and canoeing on the river, an 18-hole golf course, and plenty of picnic spots scattered along the water.
Greg Elms
Images: Supplied.
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