Creswick - Park Lake Circuit Walk
Explore the decorative Park Lake with its island features and fountain. Take a 1km walk along the hillside and lakeside pathways lined with rhododendrons, where you'll also see indigenous plantings along the lake's edge. Explore the old rockery, once enclosed by a massive fernery, running from the jetty up to the top of the hill. Or head up to the north east of the park to take a stroll through the extensive Indigenous Arboretum.
Take some time to read the interpretive signage by the lake along the Midland Highway.
Playgrounds & barbeques
Enjoy the playground in the Lions Park at the western tip of Park Lake, with picnic, barbeque and toilet facilities. You'll also find a playground with barbeque facilities on the southern side of the tennis courts. Or you can picnic by the Old Rotunda on the western side of the tennis courts. Toilets are nearby.
Feed the ducks & coots
Stop to feed the ducks and coots at the lake's jetty. You can buy sachets of Duck Food at the Creswick Information Centre. Please do not feed the ducks bread and only feed them from the jetty. Enjoy the adjacent picnic tables overlooking the lake.
Tennis
There are free public hard courts at the north eastern end of the tennis complex. Tennis rackets and balls are available for loan from the Creswick Information Centre. Please make sure you wear appropriate tennis shoes on the courts.
Location
Car entry is on Bridge Street, but you can enter by foot at any number of places. A nice place to start a lake walk is on Castlemaine Road at either end of the lake. You can park along Castlemaine Road.
Creswick Park Lake Botanical Reserve
The area, the site of the Government Camp and Police Paddock of gold rush days, was gazetted as a botanical reserve in 1861.
Through the next 30 years walks were laid out, trees and shrubs were planted and some structures were built. From 1888 development was guided by a planting plan prepared by George Perrin, Victoria's Conservator of Forests.
The reserve reached its peak between 1910 and 1922, when it had a permanent caretaker. When the caretaker position was abolished neglect and vandalism took their toll and the gardens deteriorated.
Park Lake Botanical Reserve Replanting
The replanting of the northern end of Park Lake Botanical Reserve is part of an ongoing restoration plan inspired by a dedicated group of volunteers, the 'Friends of Park Lake'. The Reserve dates back to 1869 when a Crown Grant was made to the Borough of Creswick for the land to be used as a 'Botanical Reserve'. In 1889 'Park Lake' was born and became a place of great beauty until 1922 when the Reserve fell into a state of disrepair. In 2012 the 'Friends of Park Lake' approached Dr. Kevin Tolhurst to prepare a planting plan for this undeveloped area with the park being divided into four planting stages, each one bearing their own indigenous plantings and sponsored by various community groups.
Government Camp and Police Paddock
This is the most historic site in Creswick, and was first known as Commissioner's Hill. The first Commissioner, Lieutenant Walter Charles Brackenbury, was appointed in December 1852. His office was a large tent at the top of the rise. From there he could keep watch on the gold escorts as they crossed Creswicks' Creek and headed for Ballarat. Sub Inspector Lydiard, after whom Lydiard Street in Ballarat is named, was stationed here in charge of mounted troopers.
The Lake
The lake area was originally called Commissioner's Flat and later became a cricket ground. In 1888, W. G. Spence, a Creswick Borough Councillor who later was a founding leader of trade unionism in Australia, suggested a fish pond would enhance the reserve. The suggestion was adopted and in May 1889 the completed pond, now named "Park Lake", stocked with fish and with a rockery and fountain in its centre and a boat house on its shore, was officially opened. With its lake and gardens Park Lake Reserve developed into a place of great beauty and the social hub of the town.
Review:
This is a lovely walk around the lake with some picnic facilities and a playground on the south side of the tennis courts. Overall it's a pleasant area to explore with plenty of water birds.
Next to the playground there is a shelter with two tables and BBQ and at the western end of the tennis courts are three tables, water tap, toilet plus a big heritage shelter (which was fenced off when we visited).
On the south side of the lake (next to the highway) is a shelter with table and some unshaded seats and there are also tables on the north side of the lake.
There are pine trees on the northern side with tracks running along the shoreline and also halfway up across the hill.
There are also some information panels from the Creswick of The Lindsays Art Trail on the southern side of the lake.
Photos:
Location
Park Lake Drive, Creswick 3363 Map
