Claughton Reserve in Bayswater has a new fairy trail and a new nature playground making this a delightful place to bring the kids. The fairy trail meanders through the reserve with lots of wonderful little discoveries to be made along the way.
The nature playground is small but has some interesting features including a basket swing with a wheelchair accessible soft fall rubber pathway, 2 other swings, a tightrope walk, climbing fort, horizontal spider net and turtle shaped steppers all located under natural shade.
Claughton Reserve has the most unique toilet block I have ever seen! The Nearest of the Faraway Places was once a humble toilet block until Duncan Moon transformed into a beautiful piece of art also known as the turtle toilet, as it's roof is based on a tortoise carapace.
Can you spot the egrets and kangaroo paws in the design?
There is no way you can mistake which is the ladies and which is the gents toilet!
Claughton Reserve has barbecues and picnic benches. It can be accessed from Katanning Road which leads to the Bayswater Boat Launching Ramp so parking is mostly for cars and boat trailers however there is room to park along the verge on the river side. There were several cars pulled up here and people were fishing from the small grassy areas along the river banks.
From the boat launching ramp there are views across the Derbal Yerrigan (Swan River) to the boardwalk at Ayres Bushland which we discovered on our Swan River Ramble walk between Garvey Park and Ascot.
This is a low lying area prone to flooding and the melaleuca wetland off the car park was underwater (June) as was a short section of the path. On the western side of the car park the path re-emerged passing a spooky melaleuca wetland forest surrounded by very still water covered in algae, providing a mirror image of the trees.
In April 2024 the Bayswater BMX and Mountain Bike Track opened making use of the dead space under Mooro-Beeloo (Redcliffe) Bridge. Access is from the Claughton Reserve carpark. This new space features a pump track, mountain bike skills area, seating, yarning circle and Aboriginal artwork as well as a river beach.
We were here to complete our Swan River Ramble by filling in the section from Sandy Beach Reserve, which is the end point of the Ramble, through to Riverside Gardens. The Ramble follows the streets west of Ashfield Flats to Claughton Reserve - a 20 minute walk. From there the trail takes you underneath Mooro-Beeloo Bridge before looping around via Morey Crescent to Riverside Gardens, 2 km away. You can also detour from the bridge to Gobba Lake - a small lake with a nature playground. It is a 15 minute walk to Gobba Lake and a 10 minute walk around the lake. If you are lucky you might spot some Forrest Red Tail Cockatoos or some Oblong Turtles.
The Swan River Ramble from Sandy Beach Reserve to Garvey Park covers both sides of the Swan River and features in the following blogs: (click on text for link)
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I love wandering along trails, both marked and unmarked, and sharing my discoveries with my Out and About FNC community. If you enjoy reading my blogs please consider a small donation which will be used towards the costs of keeping the website up to date and relevant.
In the spirit of reconciliation Out and About- Family Nature Connection acknowledges the traditional owners of the Wadjak boodjar (Perth land) and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and emerging and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.
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