Nelson Creek Recreation Reserve

If you’ve never taken the kids gold panning on the Nelson Creek river, you’re missing out on one of the West Coast’s best family afternoons. The reserve has a solid setup — swings, a water feature, shaded picnic tables, BBQ facilities, and clean restrooms, so you’re not roughing it too hard. There’s a big open grass field to run around on and walking paths that lead you straight into the kind of forest that reminds you why you live out here. The lake nearby is worth a look, and the river access is genuinely great for letting little ones splash about while you keep an easy eye on them from the benches. A proper family camping spot, not a sanitised one — this place has real character.