Sweeney's Reserve is a heritage-listed park at Old Dayboro Road, Petrie, City of Moreton Bay, Queensland, Australia.

When travelling through the area in 1858, Tom Petrie encountered John Griffin, a local pastoralist, carting logs to the tidal reaches of the North Pine River from where they could be rafted out to sea.

[1] The location meets the essential criteria for a rafting ground: it is close to the "head of navigation", that is, logs could have clear passage to the sea from here; access to the water is easy because the banks are low; there is a wide expanse of relatively flat ground adjacent to the river where logs could be handled and temporarily stored; and the river can be forded here so that both banks could be used.

After Tom Petrie, the district's first settler, established his nearby Murrumba homestead in 1859, he marked a route to Bald Hills which probably crossed the river at the present Sweeney's Reserve.

At the onset of closer settlement in 1862, the ford was surveyed as a road reserve suggesting that the route was well established by this time.

This route had been first established in the 1840s to provide access to the Archer Brothers' Durundur Station and it later extended to Maryborough via the Mary River.

[1] The importance of the ford in the current Sweeney's Reserve grew after the discovery of gold at Gympie Creek in 1867.

In 1872, the opening of a post office in the hostelry marked the beginning of the small settlement of North Pine (now the suburb of Petrie) near the ford.

It was largely undistinguishable from other similar scale bridges of the era except for the innovative design of the piles which are still visible at low tide.

[1] The reserve's popularity as a picnic spot may date from the arrival of the North Coast railway line in March 1888.

The railway greatly improved accessibility to places outside of Brisbane and it soon became the preferred means of land travel for medium-to-long distances.

Access to the rail network remained crucial to the development of tourist locales until late in the interwar period.

Given its close proximity to Brisbane, it is likely that pleasure trippers began to visit North Pine soon after the railway opened.

In 1928, when a flood washed away the bathing sheds and lavatories, Sweeney erected temporary structures clad in calico.

Pine Shire Council had relinquished control in 1931 to avoid the ongoing cost of replacing and repairing amenities washed away by the annual flooding of the river.

Under the terms of the 21-year lease, Sweeney had to allow free public access, erect suitable amenities and act as caretaker of the reserve.

During much of his long tenure, the reserve remained a very popular picnic and swimming spot and he continued to operate his kiosk.

It was a favoured location for families from Brisbane and the local area, for companies' annual picnics and school break-ups.

Swimming in the river was the main attraction: races were held, rope swings were tied to overhanging trees for the benefit of swimmers, and locals swam there on hot summer nights.

[1] Pine Rivers Shire Council regained control of the reserve in 1961 but Sweeney, his wife and a daughter were allowed to continue living there.

Sweeney's Reserve is now maintained by the council as a popular picnic spot for families in the Petrie area.

Access is possible by foot along a concrete path that runs through the reserve from adjacent green areas or by vehicle via a bitumen roadway.

[1] The eastern end of the reserve comprises a peninsular of land formed by the curve of the river and a wide inlet.

The greater part of this section of the reserve is shaded by large trees which blend with the camphor laurels growing on the embankment.

A combined concrete canoe launching area and fishing spot is located on the bank towards the eastern end of the reserve.

Sweeney's Reserve is important as a former river crossing of Gympie Road, an early rafting ground, and a picnic and swimming spot dating to the interwar period.

The reserve is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of rafting grounds where logs were assembled and floated to the ocean.