Warrien Reserve Walk (Croydon North)

Warrien Reserve has excellent facilities for people of all ages, including ample off street parking, a well equipped children's playground, a large undercover barbeque facility, numerous outdoor picnic tables and seats, a large open grassed area and toilet facilities.

People with mobility challenges or a disability are encouraged to visit the reserve, which offers a wheel chair accessible toilet, picnic tables, a sealed car park, and all-weather paths.

The reserve also features a well signed 1km nature trail which is easily accessible and has a gentle gradient.

Warrien Reserve occupies 5.3 ha (13 acres) and has biological significance at municipal level, with eleven regionally significant plants and 142 indigenous plants - many of which are not found elsewhere in the municipality. Warrien Reserve is also recognised as a "Land for Wildlife" area.

Gang Gang Cockatoos frequent the area, and Sugar Gliders are present as well as the only occurrence in the municipality of the Victorian Smooth Froglet.

Warrien Reserve Walk

A 1km walk in Warrien Reserve through nature based frog habitats and bushland. The start of the walk is at the car park on Zealandia Road West. The walk is along a well-defined track.

Warrien Reserve Walk

A description of the route (marker poles with these numbers are located on the route) is:

1. Start at the large light grey Sugar Gums. As you walk, look out for birds, butterflies and caterpillars, listen for frogs and please keep on the marked paths.

2. After passing the Totem Poles, you enter a heavily vegetated section with many locally indigenous plants which vary from one side of the path to the other.

3. The Everard Wildflower Sanctuary is helping preserve unique plants such as Red Stringybarks, Bundy and Red Anther Wallaby Grass.

4. This large frog habitat aims to preserve frogs within the reserve. Frogs that you may hear include Southern Brown Tree Frog, Eastern Common Froglet and Eastern Banjo Frog (or Pobblebonk).

5. Residential development adjacent to bushland generates various potential issues to be considered - roaming pets, spread of garden plants, run-off from properties, increased risk of fire etc.

6. This frog habitat won a City Pride Award from the Keep Australia Beautiful Council in 2002 and was nominated for a Federal Banksia Award. The small pond only holds water at certain times of the year, which suits some species of frogs.

7. Housing borders the reserve along this section and the area has been densely planted with trees and shrubs between here and the frog habitat to re-establish the bushland.

Review:

The parking area is next to a nice playground with huge shelter with two tables and two BBQs, unshaded and shaded tables and seats and toilets. The walk through the reserve is only about one kilometre. The walk is nice and peaceful even though there are houses on the perimeter. There are typically plenty of birds to see. There is a big line of sugar gums growing at all angles and some are leaning so far over towards the ground that it makes you a little fearful when you walk under them that they'll just topple over you. When you start the walk there are some ponds which have water in them at various times of the year and you pass a shelter with a table and nearby are two wooden totem poles with carvings of Australian animals and birds. This area is off-leash for dogs and you will often see dogs here. The hard gravel, slightly stony path leads past points of interest which have a numbered board (to correspond with locations on a map on an Information board at the start of the walk). The walk passes the Everard Memorial Wildlife Sanctuary which was established in 1948. There is no access to this area but you can see wildflowers over the fence in season.

Access for Dogs:

There is a small dog off-leash area in the reserve but almost all of the walk is on-leash. There is a water tap with bowl near the playground.