The design, supervised by Charles Weston, Canberra's first Superintendent of Parks and Gardens, was to emphasise the vistas along the six avenues radiating from the hill and reinforce the focus that Griffin placed on the hill as forming part of the Parliamentary triangle.

Immediately surrounding the flagpole are double staggered rows of closely spaced Roman cypresses (Cupressus sempervirens Stricta).

The park is centrally located and well-known, but it is underutilised as it is away from shops and public areas and is difficult to access because it is surrounded by a major road.

The prominent flagpole at the centre of Vernon Circle is not actually at the highest point of City Hill.

The highest point of City Hill is to the south east, overlooking Lake Burley Griffin.