Kananook Creek runs for 7.5 km, parallel to the coastline, linking the Seaford Wetlands to the Frankston Foreshore. The creek reserve is home to many Indigenous plants and animals and is one of Frankston's most beautiful natural environments, providing a unique and picturesque place for people to commune with nature in the midst of our urban landscape.

The History of Kananook Creek

Kananook Creek was an important source of fish and eels for the Bunurong people. There is still evidence of their activities along the banks of Kananook Creek. A plaque, located near the mouth of the creek, commemorates a meeting in 1803 between a party of 14 Aborigines and the first white visitor, Charles Grimes.

Kananook Creek was a natural outlet of the Carrum Carrum Swamp, which lay behind the coastal dunes from Mordialloc to Frankston. To reclaim the land for agriculture in the 1870s, Patterson River was cut to drain the swamp. As a consequence, water supply into Kananook Creek was reduced and the water quality was negatively impacted.

Today the water quality is maintained by pumping saltwater into the creek from Patterson Lakes. From early settlement, Kananook Creek was the centre of the fishing and boat building industries upon which Frankston was founded.

In the early 1900s most of the reserve north of Mile Bridge and on the eastern side of the creek was subject to sand mining. Some of the dunes were mined out and indigenous plant communities destroyed.

Recent Conservation Work

The Kananook Creek Association (KCA) was formed in 1970 by a group of local residents who have worked tirelessly in collaboration with Frankston City Council and Melbourne Water on a systematic restoration program for the reserve.

In November 1988 a major wildfire destroyed a large section of the northern part of the reserve. After the fire, the KCA began work on initiating and restoring the walking tracks throughout the reserve with extraordinary contributions from Allan and Yvonne Sisson, who developed a sustainable system to restore the reserve.

Volunteers have spent countless hours over the years working to restore the bushland and creek environment in the reserve. As a result of their efforts, the reserve is once again becoming a beautiful natural area that provides habitat for local flora and fauna, and a place of peace and relaxation for the local community. In 1996, the reserve received Land for Wildlife Status.