Umbagong District Park

Umbagong District Park is located at the lower end of the Ginninderra Creek and Lake Corridor, which is the foundation of Belconnen's open space system. The park has picnic areas with electric barbecues, adventure playground equipment, cycle and walking paths, and is very popular for its natural and cultural values.

Previously known as Latham District Park, the park was renamed in 1994 to Umbagong, which means ‘axe’ in the language of the Ngunnawal people. Aboriginal axe-grinding grooves in the park, discovered in the late 1970s and early 1980s, can be seen in the granite (of the Gingera Batholith) on both sides of Ginninderra Creek. The grooves demonstrate an aspect of Aboriginal stone tool technology and way of life no longer practised, and were placed on the Register of the National Estate in 1984 and are classified by the National Trust.  

Grinding grooves are small depressions in rock formed by the repeated movement of hard stone artefacts against a softer stone surface, to either sharpen stone hatchet heads, stone wedges, hand held ‘axes’ and wooden artefacts with fire hardened points, such as digging sticks, or to grind a secondary material such as grass seeds. There are numerous groove sites throughout the ACT, mostly located close to a source of water to assist with the grinding process. Please respect all Aboriginal sites of significance and note that it is an offence to damage, disturb or destroy Aboriginal heritage places and objects in the ACT.

In the rural settlement era from the 1820s up to the 1960s when urbanisation of Belconnen occurred, the park area was grazed and thus heavily modified. Exotic willows spread along the creek and the native vegetation, including the native grasses, was reduced or eliminated.

Suggested reading: Gray, J (1997) The Historical and Cultural Background of Selected Urban Parks in Canberra.