Covering 41 hectares (101 acres) of land, the park is divided by the South Eastern Freeway and features a large dam.

As with the rest of Adelaide the area has a Mediterranean climate, with cool wet winters and warm to hot and dry summers.

The fire was stopped by the dividing road and the two sections now show different growth patterns with mallee or coppiced regrowth in the south and mature woodland in the north.

Until 1944 water was piped around 2.4 km to the Mount Barker Railway Station, mainly for use on trains travelling to Victor Harbour.

[5][9] The southern section of the park was originally granted to John Dunne in 1853, a significant figure in Mt Barker's early history.

The bark of the golden wattle (Acacia pycnantha) was taken for use in the Mount Barker tannery and messmate stringybark (Eucalyptus obliqua) trees were cut for firewood.

When created, the park's north was dominated by gorse, dog rose and blackberry and the south was regrowing from timber cutting.

In the early 21st century two new weed species were found: pussy-tails (Pentaschistis thunbergia) and African orchids (Disa bracteata).

The large eucalypts in the north provide nestinge sites for Adelaide rosellas (Platycercus elegans) and kookaburras (Dacelo novaeguineae).

These include yellow-tailed black cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus funereus), scarlet robin (Petroica multicolor boodang) and Bassian thrush (Zoothera lunulata).

[5] Small numbers of western grey kangaroo (Macropus fuliginosus) shelter in the park during the day and feed in neighbouring pastures.

Common ringtail possums (Pseudocheirus peregrinus), short-beaked echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus) and various bat species are known to inhabit the park.

Introduced and feral animal species are commonly sighted including: European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus), brown hares (Lepus capensis), house mice (Mus musculus), black rats (Rattus rattus), red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) and deer (Dama dama).

As of 2006 rabbits are the most significant pest species in the park; destroying soil structure and impeding the regeneration of native plants.