There is a variety of trails in the garden with views of the surrounding mountains and of Lake Wakatipu and the Frankton Arm as well as Queenstown itself.

The first two trees planted at the garden were English oaks in 1866 by the first Mayor of Queenstown, James W. Robertson, and Mr McConnochie, the nurseryman at the time,[2] to commemorate the incorporation of the borough, but it was not until 1867 that the gardens were officially opened and the major planting began.

The band rotunda near the Park Street entrance was originally established in 1891 but rebuilt in 1999 by the Queenstown Lions Club.

Native species include New Zealand scaup, paradise shelducks, bellbirds, tūī, Australasian crested grebe, black-billed gulls and fantails.

[citation needed] Introduced birds species that can be found include sparrows, chaffinches, mallards and blackbirds.