Located just off Darby Street in The Hill, Nesca Park is a great place for a family picnic with lots of green space, palm trees, barbeques, covered picnic tables & water fountain.  

There is a modern playground with a variety of play equipment for all ages from swings to spinners & a wooden fort featuring a climbing area & rope bridge.

There are accessible toilets at Nesca Park, Centennial Park, King Edward Park & Bar Beach.  Free parking can be found on Cliff Street & lead-up pathways for easy rolling around the park.

Nesca Park Playground

Bar Beach is a suburb located in southwest Newcastle & takes its name from a rock pool formation named The Bar. The natural rock pool tucked into the Northern corner of the beach is a favourite spot for families.

Bar Beach offers a range of accessible facilities via Cooks Hill Surf Club including an internal lift from street level to beach with ramps & matting down to the waters edge.  Both an adult & childs manual beach friendly wheelchair are available along with a beach power chair. Hoist & slings to enable transfers of beach goer into beach equipped wheelchairs.  Bookings are essential, email memberservices@cookshillsurfclub.com.au or Local Mobility 4956 9993.

Bar Beach offers ample free parking & paths providing level access to picnic tables & viewing areas.  

<span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(0,0,0);">memberservices@cookshillsurfclub.com.au</span>

Bar Beach

The Station Newcastle (the old Newcastle Train Station) has a great accessible kids play area featuring a huge snake, a frog, balancing obstacles, vertical logs & sensory flowers.  

There is a  flat level track for scooters, bikes & easy rolling with plenty of space to cruise., misting jets to keep cool in summer & the Flyer train.  

If you get hungry, stop by Tabnabs Cafe. They serve coffee, bagels and snacks. You can also check out the retail shops at The Station including Make Space, Gallery Qube and Betty Loves Books.

Accessible toilets can be found at Newcastle Station along with Foreshore Park - Gardeners Shed.  Accessible parking can be found at Queens Wharf (East) & Foreshore Park.

The Station

Centennial Park is located in the middle of Cooks Hill with a large grassy area & modern playground.  There’s lots of climbing equipment, a fort with slides, see saw, swings (including a toddler swing, regular swing and a group swing), spinner & balancing equipment.  

There is a paved pathway around the park along with a Rotunda,  plenty of picnic tables & benches, BBQ, water fountain & a coffee stop next to the park.  The park is full of Norfolk pines & fig trees providing plenty of shade.

Accessible parking can be found 7 Council Street & the multi-storey at Marketown Newcastle.  Accessible toilets are located within the park & No 1 Sportsground Netball Courts on Union St.

Centennial Park Playground

Canoe Pool is a lovely spot located next to Newcastle Ocean Baths. The pool is also know as Map Pool & Young Mariners' Pool because of the urban myth rumour that in the sand is a concrete map of the world. 

Its a shallow non patrolled wading pool with a concrete ramp down to the pool for beach wheelchairs.   The water levels in the pool depend on the amount of sand that's been washed in or washed away from the pool. 

Accessible toilets can be found at Foreshore Park - Gardeners Shed & Nobbys Beach Pavillion.  Accessible parking can be found at Fort Scratchley & Forshore Park.

The Paymasters Kiosk can be found at Newcastle Ocean Baths along with desginated parking spaces.  

Newcastle Canoe Pool

Accessible parking, ramps into baths, and water access wheelchairs available from lifeguards on duty. 

Closed for renovations from March 2022 and expected to be completed mid 2023.

Newcastle Ocean Baths

Foreshore Park is a great family day out with picnic areas, playground, plenty of space for kids & wide, level easy roll pathways.

With great views of Newcastle Harbour, Foreshore Park Playground features a large climbing structure, rocker, play train, swing set including a liberty swing!   Shade comes from sail cloths & tress, plenty of benches dotted around, water fountain, softfall flooring & covered picnic table.

There is also the Frog Pond in Pacific Park, which is the former frog pond, drained of water is now a popular place for little ones to ride bikes, scooter and skate. The nearby historical railway Carriage Sheds provide plenty of shelter on rainy or very sunny days with plenty of room for kids to ride scooters or bikes or draw pictures with chalk.  Barbeques are also available at Carriage Sheds along with additional seating

Accessible parking can be found at Foreshore Park along with accessible toilets  at the park, Gardeners Shed & Newcastle Station.

Foreshore Park Playground

Honeysuckle Park, the former industrial maritime land, is now a harbourfront park with a maritime-themed play area.  

There is a ship play structure with shade cloth, slide, climbing nets, rope bridge & softfall flooring.  

Next to this park is a shaded barbecue area with plenty of picnic seating & water refill stations.  Further west is another BBQ area separated by grassy area.

Near the park is the Honeysuckle Waterfront Promenade where you can bike, scooter, roll all the way to Wickham Marina or continue along Newcastle Foreshore to Nobbys Beach.

There is a regular public toilet block next to the playground, closest accessible toilets can be found at McDonalds King Street,  Newcastle Museum & Marketown Shopping Centre.  

There are plenty of cafes & restaurants nearby including The Kingfish Newcastle & Honeysuckle Hotel both doing great kids meals.  

Honeysuckle Park

Empire Park in Bar Beach is a little park suitable for under 5s surrounded by grassed area with plenty of shade .

There is a small slide a few wobblies including a cute sailboat themed wobbly on which little ones can hang on to the sail and bounce.  For older kids, there’s a climbing net and telescope. There’s also two swings (regular and baby) as well as a track around the playground perfect for bikes and scooters.  The oval is next to the park along with tennis courts & a tennis wall.

Accessible toilets can be found in the park, Bar Beach & Dixon Park Beach.  Accessible parking can be found at Bar Beach.  

Nearby cafes can be found at Swell Kiosk at Bar Beach, Bar Beach Bowlo and many others in Darby Street or at The Junction.

Empire Park

South Stockton Active Hub, is located in Griffiths Park in Stockton next to the ferry terminal.   With great play equipment and skate facilities plus fantastic harbour views of Newcastle, it’s a favourite for both kids and adults.

The Active Hub consists of two separate sections. The playground featuring softfall flooring is on one side and the concrete skate plaza is on the other.

Dividing the playground and skate park are two large shelters and barbecue facilities with lead up pathways & two water fountains. 

A public toilet block can be found within the hub but accessible toilets are at Marketown Shopping Centre & Newcastle interchange .

Parking can be found at Griffith Park. free on Hunter Street or in the parking lot near Ferry Terminal.  

Whispers on the Wharf is a cafe operating out of a shipping container located next to Stockton Active Hub. General Washington Hotel is nearby on Hunter Street if you want lunch. There are additional coffee spots on Mitchell Street.

South Stockton Active Hub 

Nobbys Beach caters for mobility-impaired beach goers with a ramp to the lower promenade of the beach. Nobbys is a wide beach and popular swimming spot with a rock pool at the southern end of the beach. 

 Nobbys offers an amenities block with a dual-purpose room containing an accessible toilet and baby change facility. A second room provides an assisted change room with accessible toilet, shower, basin, bench and hoist. 

Nobbys Surf Lifesaving Club has the Waterwheels beach wheelchair available for hire 9am to 4pm, Saturdays and Sundays, September to May. Contact: email office@nobbysbeachslsc.com or phone 07 5526 1117. Nobbys Surf Club also has a beachfront restaurant with great beach views.

With the beach on one side and a public recreational area including barbecue facilities on the other, it's the perfect spot to spend the day.  A bonus is the kiosk selling coffee, cakes—fish, chips and burgers.

There is free carparking besides the beach, shaded undercover tables & Foreshore Park 500 metres away from the beach with lead-up pathways.  Nobbys Headland is also open to the public on weekends with a walk up to the lighthouse with  views of Newcastle, Nobbys Beach, Stockton Bridge and Newcastle Harbour

Nobbys Beach

King Edward Park has a lovely big lawn & spectacular ocean views.   It also is a historical site having been dedicated as a recreation reserve in 1863.

There is a Victorian rotunda which is a great place for a covered picnic.  Alternatively take shade under the large majestic Norfolk Pines.  There are plenty of picnic tables dotted around along with electric barbeques & water fountain. 

There is a playground suitable for children of all ages, with new play equipment, swings,  climbing structures & swing bridge

The park has plenty of free parking & accessible public toilets next to the playground. 

Accessible Park & Garden In King Edward ParkKing Edward Park