Listing Single Template

The expanded and relocated Dog Park at Southeast Clarke Park is divided into three zones allowing temporary closure of any one zone for maintenance and landscape rehabilitation without affecting usability for our patrons.

The Dog Park can be accessed from the Whit Davis Parking Area at Southeast Clarke Park or from the sidewalk adjacent to Whit Davis Road along the park perimeter.

On first look, dog park patrons and passers-by might think the new Dog Park at Southeast Clarke Park is completely wild and unkempt. That look is not a lack of maintenance but rather an effort by Leisure Services Department staff to provide a different, more engaging, and more sustainable environment for dog park patrons and their companions. Patrons entering the dog park will find three levels of landscape maintenance.

The outer perimeter of each zone is maintained as a meadow and only mowed once a year. This "Tall Grass Meadow" discourages digging along the fence line, provides erosion control, and increases biodiversity. This in-turn stimulates the dogs’ natural hunting instinct. Providing an approximate 10 foot buffer on all of our fence lines, this meadow area is what most passers-by will notice and can make it seem as though the dog park is never maintained.

Patrons entering the dog park will note that long rambling "Pathways" in each of the two larger areas and the entire "Small Dog Lawn" are maintained weekly. These pathways provide convenient circulation paths for dog owners while the small dog lawn allows our tinier canine friends a more height appropriate environment.

The third landscape area covers the majority of the grass in the large dog areas. This "Large Dog Lawn" is mowed once every eight weeks providing opportunity for dogs to engage in the meadow environment and use these areas for sensory play. The Dog Park is open daily.