Oaks Estate walk directions

Summary

This short, easy walk is a little gem with oodles of safe, off leash walking along the Molonglo and Queanbeyan rivers. Enjoy rural river views, historic buildings and a wander through a remnant heritage wood. The route comprises a very safe off leash stretch (incorporating the Oaks Estate Heritage Walk) with several shallow spots for dogs to have a paddle. Sections of the walk are shaded by large, mature trees. The walk starts and ends at pretty Gillespie Park. A small café, One TwentyNine, is only one block away. This walk can easily be combined with the Queanbeyan-Oaks Estate walk: just replace directions 4 and 5 with the directions below. It can also be made even shorter by taking the shortcut back described in direction 5 below, or by starting the walk by following River Street downhill to the river and picking up the walk from direction 5.
Start/Finish - Gillespie Park, Corner of River and Railway Streets
Time/Distance - Allow 60 minutes/approx 3.5 km
Off lead rating - ♥♥♥
Parking - Free on street parking
Dog friendly café - One TwentyNine at 2 Railway Street
Public toilets - Gillespie Park
Bins - Gillespie Park
Distractions - none
Children's playgrounds - Gillespie Park
Photo gallery - See photos taken on the Oaks Estate walk

Note - All our dog walks assume you are a responsible dog owner with an obedient and well-socialised dog. See our Important Stuff page before starting any of our walks.

Map

Use the navigation tools to zoom in or out for different views of the route or click on the 'view larger map' icon on the top right hand corner of the map to view in google maps.

Directions

Gillespie Park to Molonglo River (10 minutes)

1. Start on the corner of Gillespie Park at the intersection of River and Railway Streets, facing the railway station.
Gillespie Park is very inviting for a picnic lunch with shady seating under large trees and a gazebo, a children's playground, barbecue facilities, a toilet and several bins.
The Queanbeyan Station dates from the 1850s.
Oaks Estate, the suburb, takes its name from Oaks House, built by the Campbells on the edge of their Duntroon Estate in around 1850. Oaks Estate contains many old cottages as well as 'modern' blocks of flats. If you have time after the walk you could spend 20 minutes or so exploring the few streets making up the suburb. You can find out more about this interesting community here.
2. At the intersection of River and Railway Streets, turn right to follow the footpath along Railway Street, with Gillespie Park on your right. Continue ahead crossing over the street at the end of the park (Florence Street) and walk a short distance along the grass verge on Railway Street to another mainly unpaved street (Hill Street). Turn right here to walk behind the apartment development.
Shortly after turning into this gravel road, you can catch glimpses on the left through the trees of two-storey Oaks House mentioned above. Although heritage listed, we've never known the house to be open for public viewing.
3. After passing Oaks House, the road ends at a gate into a field. To the left of the gate, at the corner in the fence line, is a pedestrian walk-through. Enter the field here and follow a narrow dirt track as it crosses the field, enters an extremely pretty little wood of deciduous trees, then emerges at the bank of a river (the Molonglo River).
Off leash opportunity starts at the pedestrian walk-through and continues to the railway bridge approximately two km away.
This dirt track is generally well maintained and mown by the ACT Government. However watch your step through the little wood as the track drops down and across a little rivulet.
Depending on the time of year, you may notice huge yellow/orange fruit hanging from the branches of some trees and littering the ground. Just before entering the wood, a sign explains that these are 'osage oranges' which were used as hedging plants in the 19th century and are some of the remnant trees of the original homestead.

Molonglo River to Queanbeyan Riverside Cemetery (30 minutes)

4. Turn right at the river, taking care to follow the dirt track closest to the river, not the one that veers right close to the wood. Continue following this narrow dirt track parallel to the river.
The area on either side of this narrow track is generally too overgrown with spiky weeds to allow dogs to wander far off the path, either to the river or the other direction.
5. After around five minutes, the track emerges into a pretty mown clearing with a picnic table. You may wish to pause here for a break or to access a wonderful dog friendly paddling spot.
To access the river, turn left at the picnic table to find a little track leading down to the river. There is a large deposit of river sand providing easy and inviting access to a shallow section of the river. Note, however, that following high rain this area may not be accessible (in fact, the track to this swimming spot was underwater during the entire 2020-22 La Niña period).
If you'd like to cut your walk short at this point, turn right at the picnic table instead of continuing along the river. You'll reach the bottom end of River Street which will take you back to Gillespie Park in approximately five minutes.
6. When you're ready, continue following the wide dirt track along the river for approximately 20 minutes.
This 1.5 km track following the river bank is regularly mown and well maintained and includes several informative signs about the area's history. There are virtually no buildings in sight, so the rural views make it easy to imagine you're in a country setting. It's a very safe off leash area, bordered by the river on one side and good fencing or steep banks on the other.
There are several points where dogs can easily access the river for more swims, but note that after heavy rain, the river may be fast flowing.
The Molonglo and Queanbeyan Rivers junction is not far from the beginning of this section, after which the route then follows the Queanbeyan River.
7. Walk under the railway bridge, crossing from the ACT to NSW, following the dirt track uphill into another grassy clearing.
Off leash opportunity ends here.

Queanbeyan Riverside Cemetery to Gillespie Park (10 minutes)

8. Continue ahead uphill to reach a concrete footpath. Up ahead to your left, you'll see a cemetery (the Queanbeyan Riverside Cemetery).
The Queanbeyan Riverside Cemetery is Queanbeyan's original cemetery and well worth exploring if you have time. You can access the cemetery by walking across the concrete path to the fence line where there is a pedestrian step-through. There are signposted demarcated areas for Anglicans, Catholics, Presbyterians and Wesleyans. Notable people buried here include John Gale, the 'father of Canberra' (in the Church of England section).
9. At the concrete path, turn right and follow it as it gradually climbs uphill and, after a few minutes, reaches a road (McEwan Avenue). Turn right here to follow the footpath across the railway bridge, crossing back into the ACT.
10. On the other side of the railway bridge continue on McEwan Avenue a very short distance, then turn left to cross over the street into Railway Street at the little café (One TwentyNine). Follow the footpath past the café on the right hand side of Railway Street for one block to return your starting point at Gillespie Park.
This quirky little café allows you to take your dog inside to order, and has a few small tables outside. It's open early until 1 pm from Tuesday to Saturday.

If you'd prefer to join one of our regular guided group walks, find out more at our guided walks page.