Walking trails wind along the edges of two lakes, past a man-made cascading waterfall and a fountain in Fountain Lake. The most photographed structure is Poet's Bridge, a picturesque wooden span opened on 11 March 1884 that has become an icon of the park. Row boats can be hired on the main lake, and the Tea House on the Lake has served visitors from its waterside perch since 1931. Four Heritage New Zealand historic places sit within the park boundaries: Poet's Bridge, the band rotunda, the kiosk, and the Queen Victoria Monument. The collection of native and exotic plants ranges from ferns under the canopy to specimen trees planted more than a century ago, earning the park its designation as a Garden of National Significance.

At the northwestern end of the park sits one of the most scenic cricket grounds in the world. Established in the 1880s, with the first match played in 1892, the ground offers batsmen a view of Taranaki Maunga rising behind the bowler's arm. First-class cricket has been played here since the 1950-51 season, when the Central Districts team began using it as a home venue. International cricket arrived in 1982 with three Women's One Day Internationals, and in February 1992 the ground hosted a men's One Day International during the Cricket World Cup. As of 2021, 55 men's first-class matches have been played on the ground. Central Districts continue to use it for List A and Twenty20 competitions, and the Taranaki cricket community has fought to maintain the ground's status in the domestic schedule.

Near the southern end of the park, the Bowl of Brooklands amphitheatre sits in a natural depression that provides remarkable acoustics for outdoor concerts. The annual WOMAD (World of Music, Arts and Dance) festival is held at Pukekura Park, drawing international artists and audiences to a setting framed by native bush. On the eastern side, the park shares borders with New Plymouth Raceway and the TSB Stadium, a 4,500-seat indoor arena that hosts basketball. In August 2021, domestic rugby returned to Pukekura Park for the first time in 79 years when Taranaki defeated Hawke's Bay 33-19 in a National Provincial Championship match, a one-off game that reminded the city what the park once meant to rugby.

Every year from mid-December to early February, the Festival of Lights transforms Pukekura Park after dark. The free event threads illuminated installations through the trees, along the lake edges, and across the bridges, turning the Victorian-era gardens into something that feels closer to a dream. Daytime and nighttime programmes run throughout, with events for all ages. The festival has become one of Taranaki's signature summer attractions, drawing visitors from across the country who arrive expecting a garden and discover an immersive light show set against the sounds of running water and birdsong. When the lights go off and the crowds leave, the park returns to its quieter self: a place where you can row a boat across a lake with a volcano in the background, or cross a bridge that poets walked across 140 years ago.