Let's go off leash!
You’ve heard it before, when traveling great distances by car it’s a good idea to stop and stretch now and again. Let the kids run around, get some coffee, lay in the cool grass – it’s common sense and it is important. If you’re traveling with dogs you can go ahead and add a few exclamation points to that last part: it is important!!
Rest stops often have some sort of dog area, and that’s a nice touch. However, if you really want to get Rover some exercise you may want to jump on your iPhone or the like (not while driving) and find an official dog park along your route. Dog parks are popping up all over the place and like that perfect mix-tape they soothe the savage beasts – and the dogs.
The grandest of the dog parks may very well be Marymoor, which is located just off the 520 in Redmond, WA – only a few minutes from downtown Seattle. The 640 acre park has soccer, baseball and cricket fields, rock climbing, a velodrome and an area for flying radio-controlled aircraft. There is also a summer concert series which has featured such artists as Norah Jones and local boys done good Death Cab for Cutie, and a family-friendly movie series (The Muppet Movie and The Goonies were among the offerings last summer).
But we’re talking dogs.
40 acres of the park is an off leash dog area and it is, for lack of a better word, amazing. The former farm turned “Doggy Disneyland” is filled with open areas, fields of tall grass and beautiful trails and streams. The Sammamish Slough is the natural border along one side of the park and dogs are free to swim, fetch and bark at ducks as long as they like. The slough runs right out of Lake Sammamish, which is only short walk away (accessible by trail, pets must be leashed), and is partially closed during the spawning of salmon.
The quiet before the dog storm.
It's gone to the dogs.
There are lots of little trails...
Release the hounds.
A winter day in the park.
One of many water spots...
See? Awesome, right?
Marymoor Park is located at 6046 W Lake Sammamish Parkway NE. Parking is $1.00 (individual events may charge admission) and cleaning up after your pet is required.
If you’re in the area you owe it to your dog to stop by. They would do it for you.
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4 Responses
We here outside of Rochester, NY are battling with our local parks department to address the issue of creating a dog park. The park that is the UNOFFICIAL dog park has gotten complaints from non-dog-folks (By that very delineation….They are WEIRD!!
since some irresponsible dog parents don’t keep their dogs from jumping on other park visitors, etc. Any insights you might have to boost our stance to allow dogs off-leash here would be greatly appreciated!
Jeanne,
I really don’t have any advice regarding the politics of it – this park was long established before I found it. However, it seems like a win-win for park departments – it confines most dog activity to one area and it increases park usage. Every off-leash park I’ve been to has put the responsibility on the dog owners and it seems to work the majority of the time.
Best of luck!
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[...] … Eagles fly into state semifinals. Issaquah Sports News. Eagles fly into state semifinals …Best Dog ParkMarymoor Park may have the best off leash dog area in America. … Marymoor Park is located at 6046 [...]