Roy Amer Reserve & Playground | Oakden | Review

Roy Amer Reserve & Playground in Oakden is a wetland oasis in the suburbs, with lakes, birdlife, and a small playground.

Review by Claire Davill

Tucked in suburban Oakden, there’s a huge park full of lakes and abundant birdlife. It feels like you’re miles away from the city. There’s several trails and bridges winding through the lakes here, but there’s also a small playground, toilets, picnic tables and barbeques, and even a cafe right on the edge of the reserve.

The small playground is partially fenced and accessible, with an accessible merry go round included. There’s also a large collection of climbing nets, a slide that’s only accessible via the climbing nets, and a smaller, more traditional slide.

There’s also an in-ground trampoline and two swings.

Nearby is a small soccer field with a soccer goal, as well as benches, picnic tables and stepping stones.

It’s a short walk from the playground to the lakes, see if you can spot “Bin Chicken Island”! You’re likely to see ibis, moorhens, coots, ducks, and lots and lots of pigeons.

Walking north from the playground, there’s a bridge crossing the lakes, winding pathways, a toilet block and barbeques and picnic tables. The ducks here are particularly friendly, and we spotted a white peking duck and a mallard with a glossy green head.

PLEASE REMEMBER NOT TO FEED THE DUCKS!

There are handy information signs dotted around the lakes, to help you identify the birdlife.

The Lakeside Cafe sits adjacent to the reserve, between Sir Ross Smith Boulevard and Hyde Street. It serves coffee, drinks, pizza, pasta, waffles and pancakes.

What we like about Roy Amer Reserve:

• It’s a beautiful, natural setting, with lots of birdlife.
• The playground is accessible and quiet
• There’s a cafe nearby and plenty of off street parking (Kew Drive is the closest to the playground)

Things to consider:

• The playground is partially, but not fully fenced. The roads near the playground are quiet, residential streets.
• Keep an eye on little ones around the lakes.
• The birdlife are very used to being fed by people. If you want to feed the birds, make sure to bring appropriate food such as green peas, seeds and grains, or lettuce and kale.

Coffee and food options nearby:

• The Lakeside Cafe is adjacent to the reserve.
• The Gilles Plains Shopping Centre is a 5 minute drive or 10 minute walk away.   

Location:

Sir Ross Smith Blvd, Oakden

For more information and all enquiries please visit the Port Adelaide Enfield 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 (July 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!