The parklands are separated into six individual parks, roughly following the middle Dandenong Creek north-south for about 10 km (6.2 mi).

[5]: 1 The land of the Dandenong Valley Parklands was reserved by the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works in 1973 as part of a plan to create more public open spaces.

Plans for the Parklands were originally announced in 1975, and the first publicly accessible section, Jells Park, was opened in 1976.

[6] Two civic reports on the Dandenong Valley Parklands have been written, titled Future Directions Plans.

[5] In 1989, the Friends of Dandenong Valley Parklands was formed, and continues to contribute to maintenance of the parks, including revegetation, weeding, installing nest boxes, and habitat monitoring.