Sydney Olympic Park to Paramatta Park | Lachlan Soper | Family Biking

If doing the roughly 40km loop which includes Parramatta Park, perhaps ride this anti-clockwise, so as the back end (when little legs could be more tired) is loaded with more frequent playground stops.

Halvorsen Park is a good stop after about 8–9km of riding. The playground is good and there is a café if you want an early coffee stop.

The bike path into Parramatta is lovely and has cute little bridges along the way, and is a relaxing ride along the river. Although there are fewer playgrounds and cafés along this part of the ride, the view is pretty and it’s a good opportunity to chat as a family while you ride.

When nearly at Parramatta Park , our route takes us near apparently one of the best gelato shops in Sydney, according to Concrete Playground, Rivareno Gelato Parramatta . So although we haven’t stopped here for a gelato yet, we may take the small detour, pick up a take-home pack and spoons, and enjoy it as a family in Paramatta Park. 😊

Parramatta Park has two good playgrounds. One is on the Western side (towards Westmead Hospital — Domain Creek Playground) and the other on the Southeast side (Paperbark Playground). Both are quality playgrounds and offer a good opportunity to have a more substantial bite to eat.

Our favourite park is Blaxland Riverside Park , which is large and has plenty of equipment to climb and swing on and also water play. When we do this ride I bring swimmers to change into, because the kids inevitably get saturated with the spurting water. There are toilets to change in. The only drawback I could note about this large and comprehensive playground is that it is really hot on a hot Summer’s day. It’s covered in soft fall and artificial grass which soak up the heat, with very few trees for shade.

Just next to Blaxland Riverside Park is which has a lovely position next to the river and good food.

From there we like to take the shady bike paths, through Millennium Parklands and Newington and then up past Sydney Olympic Stadium. It may not seem like much, but when we get to Sydney Olympic Stadium the kids love weaving around the planted gum trees, the pylons and all the little plaques with the names of the Olympic athletes. If you zoom in on the route, it gets wriggly around there.

We then like to go through Sydney Showground (which always brings back great memories of the Easter Show) and over to the . It’s really interesting and not many people venture out there, so peaceful too.

The 40km route misses Wentworth Common , but follow one of the other rides we’ve done to go to the playgrounds in Wentworth Common, use the toilets if you need, and spiral your way up to Bike Hill View.

Hornswaggle Observation Tower is a nice little climb and good spot for a last snack before getting back to the car.

Throughout Sydney Olympic Park there are many water refill stations. More than on most bike rides in Sydney.

Originally published at https://lachlansoperfamilybiking.com.au.