Yerrabi Pond Loop

Yerrabi Pond Loop is a 4 km paved circuit around the water at Gungahlin, flat the whole way and easy enough for almost any dog. Most walkers are round in under an hour. The thing worth knowing before you go: the loop path is on-lead, but the north-eastern shore has a designated off-leash area, and that is where the swimming happens. It is one of the better Canberra walks for a dog with sore hips or a person pushing a pram, because the sealed path never changes level.

Leash status

Transport Canberra and City Services manages the park, and the ACT rules are explicit: dogs stay on a short lead under effective control on the loop path and all shared paths, and fines apply under the Domestic Animals Act 2000 even when other walkers are bending the rule. The exception is the mapped off-leash zone on the north-eastern shore near Benaroon Circuit, where dogs can go off-lead to reach the water and shoreline. Check the ACTmapi dog exercise area map for the exact boundary, because the zone does not extend around the rest of the pond. Everywhere else, keep the dog at least ten metres clear of playgrounds, barbecues and picnic tables when they are in use, and carry bags; bins sit at the main entrances.

The walk

Water views run most of the way and birdlife on the pond is constant, from pelicans to the resident swans. The path is fully accessible for wheelchairs and prams, and taps at the main car parks off Wunderlich Street handle drinking water. Toilets, barbecues and picnic tables are spread along the loop, so it is an easy walk to make a morning of. The one wildlife note: magpies swoop along the path in spring and the route is open enough that there is nowhere much to duck.

Pepsi: The swim is on the north-eastern shore and nowhere else on the loop. Walk the lap first, swim at the end, go home wet and happy.

Getting there and parking

Parking sits off Wunderlich Street and at Sylvan Ridge, and several bus routes serve the surrounding streets, with Gungahlin Town Centre a short walk from the western side. Three playgrounds and two skate parks sit beside the path, which adds up to sudden noise for a nervous dog on busy days.

Pair it with

Caffe al Lago sits on the eastern shore of the pond itself, the obvious coffee stop, with EQ Cafe and Restaurant in the town centre. For a fenced run afterwards, Forde Dog Park and Franklin Dog Park are both a few minutes away, and Abode Gungahlin takes dogs if you are staying over. More in our guide to dog friendly trails in ACT and around Gungahlin.

When to go

Weekday mornings and late afternoons are quietest; sunny weekends from mid-morning bring the families, the scooters and the skate parks all at once. The pond basin holds heat and shade is thin in stretches, so on a hot summer day go early or wait for the evening. Flat ground makes this a seniors' walk as much as a dog's.