Parramatta Park environment
Parramatta Park is a place for the community to connect with and enjoy the natural environment.
Parramatta Park environment
Parramatta Park is a place for the community to connect with and enjoy the natural environment. We maintain the park as a haven for native plants and animals.
For more about the park’s plants and animals, history and future preservation, read the Parramatta Park Biodiversity Strategy (PDF 7.09 MB).
Waterways
Water is a critical feature of Parramatta Park. The main waterways are the Parramatta River, Domain Creek and Murray Garden Creek.
Parramatta River flows through the park. It was vital to the survival of the Dharug Nation’s Burramattagal tribe, who used the river for fresh water and to fish for food. The river was the original water supply for colonial Parramatta, and a weir built at Marsden Street dammed the river during Macquarie’s governorship. A second weir further upstream created a controlled river height along the length of the park and a third acts as a causeway for vehicle crossing.
Fishways installed on the Marsden Street weir and the causeway, allow Australian native species to migrate into the park stretch of Parramatta River.
Wildlife
Parramatta Park is home to some 140 species of wildlife. The waterways are dominated by exotic common carp and mosquito fish. There are also native longfinned eel, Australian bass, Cox's gudgeon and firetail gudgeon.
You’ll often see reptiles typical of suburban waterways in the quieter habitats in the park. Visitors have seen eastern long‐necked turtles, red‐bellied black snakes, bluetongue lizards and eastern water dragons.
Grey-headed flying-fox
The grey-headed flying fox is one of the world’s largest bats. There is a breeding camp on the banks of Parramatta River in the northern section of Parramatta Park. It is the only threatened animal species recorded within the park, having been first noted by early colonists along Parramatta River in 1798.
Other bat species recorded close to the park and likely to use habitats within and adjoining the park include the southern myotis and eastern bent‐wing bat.
Native plants
The park has a mixture of local indigenous and broader Australian native species.
The waterways and the ridgeline above The Crescent contain remnant and reconstructed bushland of Cumberland Plain shale woodland and river flat eucalypt forest. Both vegetation communities are endangered under NSW legislation, and Cumberland Plain woodland is also recognised as endangered under federal legislation.
Plant surveys done in 2014 found generally low to moderate amounts of exotic weed species, which reflects a history of ongoing bush regeneration.
The major tree species in the park is forest red gum, which dominates the slopes and ridges. There is the occasional broad‐leaved ironbark and grey box. Rough‐barked apple, broad‐leaved apple and river oak dominate the riparian zone. They are interspersed with narrow‐leaved paperbark on swampy ground, and white feather honeymyrtle and prickly‐leaved paperbark in groups on the slightly more well-drained terrain next to the creek lines.
Lemon-scented gums, endemic to more northern climates, have been planted throughout the park landscape to provide shade and structure in the more open recreational areas.
Gardens
Pine, English oaks, rainforest trees and jacarandas in the park reference both the vice-regal domain period and the 19th-century park period, where connections to the European world influenced the park's setting. In particular, the oaks lining the avenue of roads and walkways are typical of the European influence.
Nature lovers should take in Parramatta Park’s beautiful Rumsey Rose Garden, which boasts one of the largest collections of heritage roses in Australia, and Murray Gardens, a beautiful landscaped area near the George Street Gatehouse.
