Thursday, August 13, 2009

Lilydale Lake Wetlands




Lilydale Lake Park is a large area in the outer suburb of Lilydale, 40 km east of Melbourne.

It serves both as a retarding basin on the Olinda Creek to protect Lilydale from flooding, and as an excellent recreational reserve.

Construction of the dam and lake commenced in May 1988 and was completed by June 1990. The lake and park were officially opened to the public on 7th July 1990.

The park now extends from Main Street to Hull Road Lilydale and covers an area of over 100 ha. It is visited by more than 700,000 people each year.

Proposals to build a water catchment on this site go back many years. Records show that in 1853 the site was considered by the land surveyor James Blackburn as a water supply for Melbourne. This proposal was abandoned and the Yan Yean scheme was chosen instead.

There are over 10 km of shared walking/cycling tracks in the Park, with sandy beaches, wetlands, boardwalks, barbecues, fishing, boating, views towards the mountains, playgrounds, extensive birdlife, viewing platforms, remains of the former Flour Mill, the Olinda Creek and aqueducts.

I visited the Park on August 12, 2009, exploring about 4 km of tracks, which included the Heritage, Olinda Creek and Nature Trails.

See the full set of Photos of my visit!

Details about the Park are at

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