There is a large expanse of park land on the west side of the Estate, alongside the Sturt River. It is divided into 3 components: along Oaklands Road is the Recreation Plaza, adjacent to the Oaklands Wetlands and to the south is the Oaklands Estate Reserve.
The area has walking paths both sealed and gravel.
Oaklands Recreation Plaza
The Plaza was completed some time ago and now is a major drawcard for people who wish to play basketball, use skateboards, scooters or roller skates or to just ride a bike around the track. There is a single Exceloo right next to the park.
A car park is available for direct access to this area. Entry is off Oaklands Road just adjacent to the Sturt River bridge.
Oaklands Wetlands
The wetlands has been completed and is now fully available for community use except in areas that are closed for building works.
The area has been developed as an urban park with a water injection wetland component. This means that during winter, water is filtered in the ponds and then injected into an aquifer for storage. From here the water can be pumped out and used for community watering programmes during summer. This programme has been so successful that an extra injection point is to be drilled with extra water being stored.
Trees and shrubs are growing and efforts to develop the grass spaces are continuing. The group Friends of The Sturt River Landcare has taken responsibility for planting a strip of natural vegetation along the western edge and into the reserve at the south. These plants are growing with excellent results with a fast growing wildlife corridor. See the group’s facebook page. For further information on this programme contact Samantha Kerr at: friendsofsturtriver@gmail.com
The space is now a well used parkland with shelters, electric barbecues and a water drinking fountain.
For more information about how the wetlands work, see the Marion Council website
Oaklands Estate Reserve
The Oaklands Estate Reserve is in the south west corner of the district and offers a large picnic area with barbecues available. It is well treed with large eucalypts and exotics. The park is accessed via a sealed road with entry at the traffic lights near the Oaklands Road / Hendrie Street intersection. It is the site of the original Oaklands homestead which is now buried below the car park. The area near the car park still retains remnant trees from the original gardens.
There are numerous walking trails which are used by many people to walk their dogs. City of Marion has installed bag dispensers to remove all dog droppings.
The area is serviced by a twin Exeloo immediately adjacent to the car park.
Redevelopment of the reserve was completed in 2018 and this includes a new playground.
At the southern end of the reserve an original bend of the Sturt River has been converted into a dry-land soak.
Orienteering
The Orienteering Association of SA has installed an interlocking series of courses across the whole Reserve and Wetland. Maps can be downloaded via their website or loaded via your smart phone.
The start of the course is located 30 metres north of the western edge of the main Reserve car park.
Patritti Vineyard
There is also a vineyard which has undergone revitalisation by Patritti Wines. The grapes are old style red and white varieties which were originally planted in 1923. Patritti has produced a muscat spirit named Spirit of Oaklands from some of these grapes; this forms part of their Urban Collection all of which is made from grapes in their old small suburban vineyards, including the Marion vineyard on Oaklands Road and the Warriparinga vineyard.
Many of the vines are old and the management programme undertaken by Patritti has had a positive effect.
The grapes are not available to the public.