Callan Park

Sydney has a lot of beautiful parks, but the expansive Callan Park has to be one of my favourites.
Home to and starting point of Sydney’s Bay Run (
), Callan Park is the perfect setting for exercise, dog walking and water-​side strolls. Plus, as it was once the grounds of Callan Park Hospital for the Insane, it has bucket loads of eerie history.
Heaps of off-​leash dog areas means that any trip to Callan Park will often involve puppy encounters. The bays here are great for taking your pup for a swim as well (although locals say not to let them venture out too far due to lurking giant dog eating fish i.e. sharks) and double as a nice place to pop your own feet in the water. There’s one inlet in particular that is my favourite spot to clear my head, a rock jutting out over the glittery water with five or six old wooden boats propped up on the shore.
The bay run is a beautiful exercise backdrop, but if 7kms is a little daunting then the Callan Park Oval is an equally nice spot and committed crowds come here to prove it. If you prefer to escape the heat of middle-​of-​the-​day exercise, the sports field lights are switched on at night, meaning you can get your night-​time run in without tripping on an exposed root cloaked by the night.
Callan Park Hospital for the Insane is now home to Sydney’s School of Contemporary Arts (SCA). Many of the original wards remain, and a trip to the grounds at night time make for a particularly creepy experience (especially if you have a great story-​teller in your midst). The history is worth checking out, but if it’s not your kind of thing then the buildings are quite beautiful none the less.
In summary, Callan Park is
a) Beautiful
b) Water-​side
c) Picnic friendly
d) Exercise friendly
e) Dog friendly
f) Historical
g) Interesting/​Eerie
h) Beautiful

Another one of Sydney’s fantastic parks is Callan Park, located South-​East of Rozelle and North of Lilyfield. It’s a very large park situated on the former location of the Callan Park Hospital for the Insane. It was part of the Rozelle Hospital complex with lines Iron Cove. I’m not sure if there may be some institution buildings still being used, but you can definitely see them scattered across the land.
Now, it’s filled mostly with empty ovals where people run laps, play with their dogs, or picnic. There are also lovely paths to jog or bike along (including the Bay Run, which passes right by), kids’ playgrounds, and a playground designated for «cardio,» with chin-​up bars, benches, and poles. According to the Sydney City Farm website, the park was actually designed using 19^th century landscaping meant to be therapeutic. For me, a run along the cove was definitely therapeutic.