Balmoral Reserve Playground | Dernancourt | Review

Balmoral Reserve Playground in Dernancourt features a huge playground tower with toddler-friendly equipment, plenty to climb on, and all the facilities you need.

Review by Claire Davill

Balmoral Reserve is a large park tucked away in Dernancourt with off-street parking, picnic facilities, a large toilet block, and a big playground. The recent (2026) addition of a tower with a huge twisty slide means there’s play equipment suitable for kids of all ages. There’s a dedicated toddler play section, and lots of climbing frames and activity boards.

The playground tower includes a large twisty slide, smaller regular slide, and lots of climbing walls and climbing nets. The platforms inside the tower include plenty of easy climbing to get to the top, and there’s bubble windows to look out at the view.

The older play equipment includes a large, obstacle course-like climbing structure, with climbing ropes, monkey bars and climbing walls. There’s also a couple of hammock seats suitable for both small and big kids.

A central rope climbing structure with a crows nest sits in the middle of the playground.

There’s also multiple swings and a spinning pole in this area, hopscotch on the concrete path, and a basketball hoop with a cage to catch escaping basketballs.

Toddler Play Area

The dedicated toddler play area includes multiple activity boards, and a large collection of equipment under a shade sail. This includes a springy seesaw, multiple small slides, a climbing tunnel and “water” wheels and funnels (which are often used for bark chip play).

There are also some jungle drums near the toddler equipment, as well as a little free library and a drinking fountain.

There are plenty of picnic shelters and barbeques in the park, and lots of large, shady gum trees. The nearby tennis courts are available for use when not used for organised sport, and the nearby toilet block includes an accessible toilet with baby change facilities.

What we like about it:

• There’s something here for everyone – from toddlers to bigger kids.
• The toddler area is fully shaded and more accessible with rubber soft fall.
• Two of the swings are also more accessible with rubber soft fall, while the other swings sit over bark chips.
• This is a fantastic playground for kids who like to climb, with numerous climbing nets and climbing walls.

Things to consider:

• The playground is not fenced, although it is set in the middle of a large reserve, away from any roads.
• Only the toddler playground is shaded. The nearby trees provide some shade over the swings and central climbing net, but the twisty tube tower and obstacle course are in full sunlight. Bring hats and sunscreen.

Coffee and food options nearby:

• The Dernancourt Shopping Centre is located nearby on Lower North East Road and has a supermarket, cafes, and a bakery.   

Location:

17-19 Balmoral Road, Dernancourt

There’s lots of off-street parking next to the tennis courts, and also up the hill off of Vingara Drive.

For more information and all enquiries please visit the City of Tea Tree Gully website.

At Play & Go Adelaide we make every effort to provide accurate information to the best of our knowledge at the time of publication. We recommend confirming times, dates and details directly before making any plans as details may be subject to change.

As per all our Play & Go reviews, this is not a sponsored post and our review is done completely independently. All photos are by Play & Go (2026).

SUBSCRIBE

Follow Play & Go Adelaide on Facebook and Instagram

Want to get all the latest events and activities straight to your inbox?

Subscribe to our weekly email newsletter below to keep up to date with our latest posts and find out all the best events & activities for Adelaide families. Newsletters are only sent once a week, and you may sometimes get a special offer exclusively for our subscribers only!