Wellington Point Reserve

Wellington Point Reserve is the foreshore park at the end of Main Road, where the bayside suburb runs out of land and hands over to Moreton Bay. It is the kind of place locals plan a morning around: picnic shelters, a playground, boat ramps, calm water on the landward side and a famous low-tide sandbar that stretches out toward King Island. Dogs are part of the picture, but the rules here are specific, so it pays to know them before you clip the lead on.

The dog setup

Redland City Council rules allow dogs throughout the foreshore reserve on leash at all times, and that includes the low-tide walk along the King Island sandbar. What dogs cannot do is set paw on King Island itself: the island is off limits to protect wildlife, so the sandbar walk stays a dog-and-owner stroll that turns back at the island's edge. Dogs also need to stay at least 10 metres clear of playground equipment, which is easy to honour given how much open grass there is elsewhere in the reserve.

The sandbar walk

The King Island walk is the reason many people come. At low tide a sand causeway surfaces and you can walk a fair way out into the bay with the water flat on either side. Check a tide chart before you go, time your visit for the outgoing tide, and remember your dog stays leashed for the whole walk. At high tide the causeway disappears completely, so do not leave the crossing to the last minute.

Getting there and parking

The reserve sits at the end of Main Road in Wellington Point, roughly half an hour from central Brisbane via the freeway. Parking runs along the foreshore and fills early on weekends and holidays, so arriving before 9am on a Saturday is the difference between an easy park and a lap of the block. Toilets, water and picnic facilities sit near the main car park.

Worth knowing

This is an on-leash reserve rather than an off-leash one, so a retractable lead left at home is the right call. The waterfront strip does get busy with families on weekends, and the playground zone deserves a wide berth. If you want a sit-down afterwards, Cedar and Stone Wood-Fired Pizza Bar and Oxley's On The Bay are both nearby, and the Queensland dog park list has more greenspace options across the bayside.

Plan around the tide, keep the lead on, and the reserve delivers one of the more scenic leashed walks in the Redlands. For the suburb's other dog-friendly stops, the Wellington Point guide pulls the shortlist together.