Blackbutt Nature Reserve

Good place to take the whole family with play ground, walking trails, electric barbecues, park benches and tables, paid under cover shelter and even a kiosk (closed when we visited on a Tuesday). Nicely maintained and kept clean. Entry is free but there are parking metres out in the parking lot with minum fee of $5. There's a duck pond located just after the well maintained lawn near the entrance with peacocks and wild turkeys roaming the grounds even out in the car park area. In the enclosed animal enclosures there are wallabies, kangaroos and emus.

What a great area, always drove past to/from work but never knew what it was. Great for kids parties, large grass area, playground and BBQ areas. Parking is $14 for the day but entry to see animals is free so well worth it. Also lots of bushwalks, get amongst it!

Came across this wonderful reserve today and so glad we did. It's beautifully maintained, with many walking tracks, sheltered seating areas, alongside BBQ areas, clean restrooms & various shelters that you can book in advance. The well constructed walkways take you amongst the trees, where you can see an amazing variety of animals. At the pond, we stopped and were thrilled to see many tortoises, trying to camouflage themselves amongst the underwater habitat. There is also a well constructed playground with lots of tactile activities for the kids.
A perfect spot for the whole family! 🙂🙂🙂

The last time I had been here was close to a decade ago. The amount of effort put in to upgrade the facilities and cleanup the water quality in the main pond is phenomenal. Highly recommend this place for eating a takeaway lunch or just quiet contemplation during the week. Not so quiet on weekends or holidays.

A wonderful place to visit. Beautiful scenery, wildlife and overall facilities. The only issue is paid parking which at $4 an hour is pretty pricey. As well as that the meters don't work. So unless you're prepared to put another app on your phone, it's a problem. Ok so I'm a Little bit tainted because when our kids were young it was always free to come here and I have many happy memories from those years. Difficult for people struggling with the current cost of living issues to now bring kids out for some fun and adventure in the bush when Newcastle Council is money grabbing with metered parking.

Great variety of native animals (koalas, emus, kangaroos, a wide variety of birds etc). Amazing that this is free entry - many other reserves would charge for such a collection of animals.

Awesome family outing. The wombats were out being fed at 11am. Free activity apart from parking charged per hour

A delightful place to emerse yourself in nature. Guided by the well maintained walk way you can see a good variety of indigenous Australian animals and fauna. There are plenty of sheltered picnic areas and fantastic playground facilities for the kids. 🙂🙂🎂

Visited on a weekday, so not busy at all and very easy to find a car park. Good amenity facilities and great playground and picnic area. Absolutely a great place to spend some quality time with your kids and family. Highly recommend, will come again!

Can’t believe this place is free. Our nearly 2-year-old loved it. Very well cared for animals and well manicured gardens and paths. The playground is fantastic. Understandably busier in school holidays. Will definitely bring the kids back. Wish the kiosk had been open for ice cream like when I was a kid!

Car park is $4 per hour or $13 per day. There is plenty of grass area and picnic shelters. The picnic shelters can be reserved for private functions. There is also a play area for kids. Loved seeing the peacocks roaming around. Entry to see wildlife is free. The path to see wildlife is pram friendly. The kids loved it!

It is a nice place to relax and see some of the wildlife exhibits. There are also nice walking trails, bbq facilities and picnic spots.

Amazed at how a space like this was free access. The walkways were well kept, there was plenty of information about all of the animals and the keepers were very friendly and clearly cared. Expect to see peacocks roaming free, koalas, kangaroos, lizards, plenty of birds and plenty plenty more. There seems to be space for shows and lots of kids activities.

Great natural reserve with playground and huge picninc area. The animal walkabout displays a lot of Australia’s native animals and it’s all for free.

No entry fee, car park $8 for 2 hours. Absolutely loved it, it wasn't too busy being a week day and we took our time in every single enclosure. Animals seem very well looked after. My favourite was the wombat with the bonus of seeing them first outside eating and then at the end of the tour in their "tunnels" sleeping! Great experience, would definitely recommend.

We were pleasantly surprised to find a free native wildlife display. The birds were amazing and were so close. The peacocks were particularly enjoyable. We've never seen such big ones! They were not afraid to come quite close to us and put on a lovely display of their feathers. We wished we could have gone on a longer walk as they looked good but my father was not feeling well. They have very good toilet facilities, the kiosk was open until 3pm and the lady who runs it I'd very friendly. Would love to go back

easily one of the nicest zoo/reserves i’ve been to and ITS FREE!!

pay for parking and tread softly as you walk through the park. many of the animals are nocturnal. donate to the reserve and appreciate some of Australia’s most spectacular and special beasts.

Wow had a great afternoon. 3 old chooks visiting wonderful to see the beautiful Australian wildlife.
Getting there 👍
Parking 👍
Walkways 👍
Info on the animals 👍
Enclosures 👍
Grounds 👍
Wildlife 👍

So peaceful, calm, natural place to go see animals, have picnic, let kids run around. Love it and highly recommend. Only need to pay for parking to support the park, dead cheap outing! Toilets, kids playground there too.

I took my two year old there, native animals, birds, lizards, snakes, in enclosures. Free roaming peacocks.
Playground is kid friendly rubber flooring. Great Gazebos and cooking facilities for picnics and birthday parties.