Walk status: Off-lead
Barry Curtis is the real life version of a pick a path story. The total park is 94 hectares, and is under continual development for the foreseeable future. The park is split in two, divided by Ormiston Road. One side is dedicated to sports grounds, and the other to recreation.
To access the park for walking your dog, use the Chapel Road entrance, located next to the church is a large parking area. This puts you at the opposite end to the kids playground which is located on Stancombe Road.
Not knowing where we were really heading, George and I took the opportunity to just wander and explore the different paths. We started heading down a hill, assuming there was possibly a link from one side of the park to the other across Ormiston. It's possible there was, but unfortunately upon reaching that end, we encountered a very large puddle of water blocking us from going any further. Drainage here is pretty poor in some places. Although I was walking the path, I had to step off it a few times as there were puddles of water, and muddy areas. Stepping onto the grass wasn't much better, so in Winter or after heavy rain, be prepared to get a little wet and dirty here.
After reaching the point where we couldn't go any further we headed back up the way we came and started exploring another area of the park. There is no set way to walk this park, although you can try and follow the running markers. I found it easier to just pick a path and see where it lead us. George was having a great time as not only could he explore the pathways, but there are large open spaces here that he could hoon around in the grass.
Some pathways lead nowhere, and come to a sudden stop. There seems to be no reason for this, and it either forces you to turnaround, or walk on the grass. We were already wet and muddy so we walked the grass areas to rejoin another path.
The park is multi-use, there were a few people here and kids playing on the playground. The size of this place does allow you to keep to yourself if you want to.
You can make this walk as long or as short as you like depending on how much of the park you choose to explore. We spent about 45mins here but easily could have stayed longer.
After leaving the Chapel Street entrance, I drove over to the other side of the park which is the sports fields. I could see on the map there looked to be a pathway that ran the edge of the park which I thought might be the path that joined up the Chapel Road side. We went for a walk down there, but reached the end and discovered it was another path that stopped abruptly and at this point we turned back. Its possible it did join the other park, but only through more muddy wet grass so one to explore for another time.
Location: Access via Chapel Road (approx 153 Chapel Road), Flat Bush.
Things to know:
There are toilets here (located near the kids playground)
There is a kids playground located on the Stancombe entrance
Plenty of parking