Sir Joseph Banks Park
Victor Cusick’s statue of Joseph Banks for whom the park is named
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A relaxed bushland and garden loop in Botany, with birdlife, playgrounds and an optional sidetrack for a bit of plane-spotting
Distance: 6.5 km. Time: 1-2 hours
Steps: 9,000
Level of Difficulty: Easy, flat paths -
Lakes, ponds and waterbird habitats
Remnants of the old Pleasure Gardens - animal sculptures & topiary elephants
Two large playgrounds
Plane-spotting and Port Botany outlook
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Car parks accessed from Tupia or Fremlin Streets, or park in nearby streets
Bus 309 from Green Square stops nearby
Shared path in parts - watch out for cyclists
Aircraft noise is noticeable but soon fades into background
Bubblers, toilets, BBQs and picnic areas throughout
Dogs allowed on leash (off-leash area via Hayden Place)
Playgrounds unfenced near water
There’s no getting away from the fact that Sir Joseph Banks Park sits directly across from Sydney Airport, with busy Botany Road nearby. But noise aside - and this soon fades into the background - this is a pretty, mostly peaceful urban walk and watching planes take off across the water can actually be part of the appeal.
The park itself is varied and attractive, with lakes, lawns, bushland and gardens threaded together by easy walking paths. It’s especially family-friendly, with picnic areas, bubblers, toilets and two excellent playgrounds, and there’s plenty of wildlife to spot along the way.
WALKING THE TRAIL
Around the lakes and gardens
Sir Joseph Banks Park is part bushland reserve and part urban parkland, and the landscape shifts noticeably as you move through it. The path loops around a large central lake and several smaller ponds, passing paperbarks and flowering native shrubs, including plantings of critically endangered Eastern Suburbs Banksia Scrub, as well as rose arbours, palms and other exotics.
There are some areas of dense bushland and one end of the park and large swathes of lawn and open space on the edge of a golf course at the other. When I last visited, green algae covered much of the lake surface, but it didn’t seem to trouble the waterbirds, turtles and lizards that live here.
The walking path is shared with bicycles in part but outside of peak exercise times it’s not too busy.
Optional detour: Botany foreshore
Near the playgrounds on the Foreshore Road side of the park, a side path loops to an overpass leading down to Botany Bay. It’s an optional side trail, but an interesting one if you have the time.e trail.
There’s a small beach and boat ramp down by the water with views across to the runways of Sydney Airport and the container terminals of Port Botany. It’s a natural gathering place for plane-spotters and birdwatchers might also see a variety of shore and waterbirds along the edge of the bay.
Port Botany and Sydney Airport runway
A little history: Joseph Banks & The Pleasure Gardens
The park is of course named for Sir Joseph Banks, botanist on James Cook’s 1770 voyage to Botany Bay. Along with Daniel Solander, Banks made the first major scientific collection of Australian flora here, and many plants — including several species in this park — now bear his name. A statue dedicated to Banks can be found near the formal entrance to the park and the Sir Joseph Banks Hotel (c1840) is nearby.
In the last half of the nineteenth century, the Sir Joseph Banks Hotel played host to the ‘Pleasure Gardens’ which featured a sports oval, themed gardens, pergolas and a private zoo. It became a go-to attraction for tourists and Sydneysiders. The zoo is long gone but echoes of its past are captured in the animal sculptures - gorillas, bears and topiary elephants among them - added during the Bicentenary.
Wildlife
According to eBird around 100 species of bird have been seen in the park. They include natives - Kookaburras, Magpies, Wattlebirds and Rainbow Lorikeets among them, as well as vulnerable migratory species like the Curlew Sandpiper and Bar-Tailed Godwits. All good reasons all to keep the dogs on their leads
A recent introduction to the park are predator-safe pontoons. These ‘islands’, made of plastic tubing, feature aquatic plants, hollow logs and branches. They are anchored in the middle of the ponds, away from dogs and other predators.
Around the water you may also see turtles, water dragons, lizards and frogs.
Playgrounds
Kids will love this park. There are two fabulous playgrounds for them to explore but keep in mind that both are largely unfenced and the lake is nearby.
The original playground has the usual swings sets, climbing frame and slides and a small bike track which loops around it. The original playground has swings, climbing frames and slides, with a small bike track looping nearby. BBQs and picnic tables sit beside it, and ducks on the water are always an attraction. This playground is still well used, especially on the weekend but the new playground is something else altogether.
The newer playground, completed in 2023, is a major bespoke adventure space designed with input from children. It includes climbing nets and walls, trampolines, slides of varying heights, a flying fox, sensory and musical play areas and landscaped nature play zones. Its centrepiece is a tall conical tower inspired by a marine snail shellrising from the slope to create multiple slide levels.
The new playground was deigned with input from its users
In the Area
This is a great park but you’ll have to bring your own food and drink supplies. The nearest coffee and food is only a short walk away though, on Botany Rd.
Another great park just south of the city, also with walking paths, waterways and play areas for kids and dogs, is Sydney Park in Alexandria, about fifteen minutes drive away.
If you’re after other walks nearby, try the Malabar Headland Walk or the Maroubra to Coogee Walk. Both are very beautiful coastal walks less than twenty minutes from this park.