Callan Point Beach

Callan Point Beach sits at the harbour edge of Callan Park, the 61-hectare heritage parkland that runs along Iron Cove in Lilyfield. The site is the traditional land of the Wangal people. The buildings on the rise behind the beach belong to one of Sydney's first purpose-built mental health facilities — Kirkbride and the surrounding sandstones, dating to reforms of the 1870s. Greater Sydney Parklands manages 38 of the 61 hectares; NSW Health holds the remainder. The beach itself is a small sandy foreshore on the Parramatta River, sheltered, calm, and quiet enough that you'll usually hear the water before another walker.

The beach at Callan Point is officially listed as an off-leash zone, with the broader off-leash areas operating from 5am to 10pm daily — the whole park returns to on-leash overnight to protect wildlife. Twenty-plus hectares of Callan Park are off-leash all up, which makes Lilyfield one of the most dog-friendly stretches of inner Sydney.