Waimakariri River Regional Park is a riverside park on Christchurch's northern edge at Belfast, handy to Ravenswood, with a 5.0 Google rating. Parks on a braided river are a different proposition from a suburban reserve: expect wide gravel flats, thin shade and a nor'wester that can build through the afternoon. The water looks inviting but runs cold and fast, and the channels shift after every fresh, so swimmers stick to known spots and anglers read the river anew each visit. The best of these parks do one thing well — safe, open access to the water, whether by boat ramp, swimming hole or flat tracks for bikes and dogs. Come spring, give nesting birds on the gravel bars a wide berth, and expect whitebaiters along the edge once the season opens. Sitting where the plains meet the river beyond the city's last suburbs, this park gives Belfast and Ravenswood an easy run into open country.