River Heart Parklands

**Ipswich City Council Notice: The concrete pathway connecting River Heart Parklands to Bob Gamble Park is open at all times from Tuesday 1 August 2023. The remainder of the parklands remains closed for now to ensure community safety. Works to permanently redesign and reconstruct the park will take some time. Engineering and design assessment works are currently underway and it is estimated that the remaining closed areas will re-open in mid-2024 (weather and site conditions permitting). Project information and updates are available on council’s interactive maps for all works under construction or planned within our Flood Recovery Program: https://maps.ipswich.qld.gov.au/floodrecovery**

The Bremer River is at the heart of Ipswich, so the fantastic River Heart Parklands on its banks are aptly named. Here you’ll find wheelchair and pram-friendly boardwalks of 1.2 kilometres which extend from the old rail bridge and Bradfield Pedestrian Bridge (which leads across the river to popular Riverlink shopping centre), through to the aquativity section known as Bob Gamble Park.

Enjoy the river breezes as you stroll through a mini rainforest, and past a cascading waterfall and sculpture pond. You can learn about the area’s fascinating history courtesy of the information plaques, for instance Ipswich was going to be the original state capital but because of the river not being deep or wide enough for large ships, the mantle was taken by nearby Brisbane. As a testament to this, old sandstone blocks in a retaining wall are thought to be associated with a wharf owned by the Australasian Steam Navigation Company.

There are viewing platforms and plenty of car parking onsite. River Heart Parklands is definitely a must-see if you’re in Ipswich.