The park is approximately 135 acres (55 hectares) in area, with 52 structures in varying stages of decay surviving from the gunpowder manufacturing process.

Most of the former gunpowder manufacturing was localized in the eastern part of the park, where ruins of the charcoal mill, saltpeter, and sulphur refineries can be seen.

The canals are fed from the River Lee at the western end of the site, and they were regraded and reformed in the late 1980 by the Cork City Council.

[2] In 1974, the derelict Ballincollig Royal Gunpowder Mills site was purchased by Cork City Council,[1] largely thanks to the efforts of historian George D. Kelleher to whom a plaque was dedicated in the park in 2008.

[8] An 80-plot allotment scheme was also identified within the development plan,[7] and was opened in November 2013 at the Innishmore entrance to the Regional Park.