Best parks and outdoor spaces in Geelong

Geelong's outdoor spaces benefit from the Bellarine Peninsula to the south, Corio Bay to the north, and the Great Ocean Road beginning at Torquay 20 minutes away, creating a city whose natural environment access is among the best of any Australian regional centre.

Eastern Beach Reserve and Botanical Gardens — the combination of the waterfront reserve and the Geelong Botanical Gardens provides the city's primary outdoor recreation corridor, with the gardens' 15-hectare heritage collection complementing the bay foreshore's social and recreational spaces.

You Yangs Regional Park — the granite ridge 35 kilometres west of Geelong provides Flinders Peak (352 metres), the koala habitat walks, and the technical rock climbing on the granite faces that make it one of Victoria's most versatile small regional parks within easy reach of the metropolitan area.

Point Lonsdale Lighthouse and the Heads — the Point Lonsdale headland at the entrance to Port Phillip Bay provides the lighthouse walk, the view of the Rip, and the observation of the container vessels navigating the channel that makes it one of the most compelling maritime viewing sites in Australia accessible by car.

Anglesea Heath — the heathland immediately south of Anglesea between the coast and the Surf Coast Highway is one of Victoria's most significant wildflower habitats, spectacular in September and October when the spider orchids, the guinea flowers, and the native daisies cover the heath in the explosion of colour that draws botanists from across the state.

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