Best Sports Parks in Inner West

Battersea Park is a 3.1-acre riverside park on Battersea St, Abbotsford, whose standout feature is an off-leash dog area at its western end. The park looks over the Parramatta River and also has a partially covered playground and barbecues with covered picnic tables.

Cohen Park is a community sports park in Annandale, part of the Whites Creek Valley Park area. Its most notable feature is its sports grounds: two junior soccer grounds, a junior cricket ground and two multi-purpose courts for tennis, netball and futsal, with an off-leash dog area outside organised sport.

Federal Park is a free public park on Chapman Road, Annandale, best known for its unfenced off-leash grass areas where dogs may run at all times. It also has a large adventure playground, a skate park, a floodlit sportsfield, and picnic areas with barbecues among shaded groves of native trees.

Ashfield Park is a 15.9-acre public park on Parramatta Road in Ashfield. Its sporting fields host cricket and soccer, and the park also has a children's playground, BBQ facilities, shaded picnic areas, the Ashfield Bowling Club and a Mary Poppins statue among its gardens.

Gough Reserve is a public park on Old Canterbury Road in Ashfield NSW 2131, sharing its site with Yeo Park. Its standout feature is a magnificent rotunda set among fragrant gardens, with a playground and cricket pitch also on site for families and sport.

Yeo Park is a park on Old Canterbury Road, Ashfield, whose most notable feature is an inclusive playground with a $2 million upgrade, a double flying fox and a water play area. The park also has a fragrant garden, a rotunda, a cricket pitch, BBQ and picnic facilities, and a toilet block.

Vanardi Green is the off-leash dog area in the lower section of Punch Park in Balmain, NSW 2041. Its gently sloping, unfenced lawn is open to dogs off-leash 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, while the upper park around the playground and tennis courts is on-leash only.

Illoura Reserve is a heritage-listed neighbourhood park on Weston Street, Balmain East NSW 2041, with views over Sydney Harbour. Its standout feature is an unfenced off-leash dog area open 24 hours a day, and the reserve also has a small playground, picnic tables, toilets and a half-court basketball facility.

Burwood Park is a public park in Burwood NSW 2134 whose standout feature is its off-leash dog area. Burwood Park also has a playground for young children, sporting fields and courts, BBQ facilities, and a walking track of 0.6 mile, all open daily from 8am to 8pm.

Cabarita Park is a waterfront park on the Parramatta River in Cabarita, best known for Cabarita Beach, a 200-metre swimming beach. The park also has a shaded playground, a toddler pool, barbecue spots, a kiosk, a large conservatory and the 4.7-mile Cabarita loop walking trail.

Cintra Park Tennis and Sports Centre is a tennis and multi-sport venue at 1B Gipps Street, Concord, with 12 synthetic grass courts and 2 synthetic clay courts. It also has beach courts for beach tennis and beach volleyball, courts for futsal and netball, and a clubhouse, pro shop and BBQ facilities.

Henley Park is a large open grass park on the corner of Flavelle and Pitt Streets in Concord NSW 2137. Its standout feature is its off-leash dog park status, which covers the whole park except the fenced playground, and it also has an upgraded inclusive playground, sports fields and BBQ facilities.

Majors Bay Reserve is a public park in Concord West with a free outdoor gym that needs no membership or booking. The reserve also has a playground with a sandbox, a soccer field, a junior baseball ground, bike and BMX jump tracks, and it marks the end of the Concord Foreshore Trail.

Yaralla Estate is a 37 hectare heritage-listed estate on The Drive in Concord West NSW 2138. Its most notable feature is Yaralla House, a Victorian Italianate home built between 1851 and 1864 and set in formal gardens beside the Sydney Harbour foreshore.

Blair Park is a public park in Croydon NSW 2132 with an off-leash dog area on Blair Avenue, plus a fenced children's playground, sporting fields, picnic facilities and public toilets. Its standout feature is the off-leash dog area, shaded by mature trees.

Centenary Park is a large park in Croydon NSW 2132. Its standout feature is its sporting ground, with two full-size soccer fields for winter and two artificial cricket wickets for summer, alongside a basketball court, a playground with three slides, a children's bike path and picnic areas.

Wangal Park is a 4.2 hectare park in Croydon whose standout feature is a large BBQ shelter that seats up to 70 people and can be hired for functions. The park also has several playgrounds, a skate park, a half basketball court, two large open fields and shared paths for walking and riding.

Russell Park is a small grassy park at Byrne Avenue, Drummoyne NSW 2047, with a walking path along Five Dock Bay. Its standout feature is a playground with a slide, swings and a carousel, plus a sheltered picnic area. Russell Park also has a small year-round synthetic cricket pitch.

Jack Shanahan Park, also known as Dulwich Hill Skate Park, is a reserve in Dulwich Hill NSW 2203 with a big and varied skate area and a separate learning area for beginner skaters. The reserve also has a picnic kiosk with a barbeque, picnic tables, a tennis court and public toilets.

Johnson Park is a large green reserve on Constitution Road, Dulwich Hill, with an off-leash dog area open only at set times to protect endangered long-nosed bandicoots. It also has an outdoor calisthenics area, undercover BBQ areas, picnic tables, sports fields and night lighting.