Overview
These days, Los Angeles has a good number of dog parks in which your beloved pooch can romp and play, and the list is growing—you can even find areas for the big bow-wows like German Shepherds and Mastiffs. For the little guys, like the feisty Yorkies or the ever-snorting pugs, there’s the small dog park. If you and your canine buddy are making your way out to a fenced grassy area for a play date, consider a few rules to make everyone’s life easier:
1. Make sure your four-legged child plays nice with the other kids.
2. If your dog drops the poop, you get to scoop. (Heck, most dog parks provide you with a poop bag and trashcan to make it even easier on you.)
3. If your dog is in heat, keep her at home.
4. If your dog generally snarls, snaps, and likes to sink his teeth into live meat, that means he shouldn’t be socializing at a dog park.
5. If the sign says “for dogs up to 30 pounds” don’t bring your Great Dane in—even if you swear she’s well trained.
6. If your dog isn’t spayed, neutered, or current with his vaccinations, it’s best not to bring him.
7. If you can’t get laid here, you may as well give up.
We’ve compiled our own list of dog parks for you to scour. Each park has its own set of specific rules, so remember to read the signs when you enter.
For more information online, a great website to check is www.dogfriendly.com. It provides loads of information on dog-friendly parks, accommodations, attractions, restaurants, and retail stores. If you’re into inflicting tutus upon your dog and parading her around on Halloween, they have information on that, too. Two other helpful websites can be found at www.laparks.org and www.dogpark.com.
The Boneyard, Culver City Dog Park
End of Duquesne in Culver City Park (South of Jefferson Blvd), Culver City
This place has been in the works since 2001, and as of April 2006, it has officially opened for public use. Just over an acre in size, this dog park has space designated for both big and little dogs. It’s open every day of the week with no official hours except dawn to dusk. Bring your tennis balls and doggy bags, but leave the cigarettes at home. Water is provided at the doggie drinking fountains.
El Segundo Dog Park
600 E Imperial Ave, El Segundo
Located near LAX, you and Buster can fling Frisbees while watching the planes go by. Just be careful where you’re walking while you’re looking up. There are two areas: one for the little guys, 30 pounds and under, and one for the big boys, 31 pounds and up. Parking is a sure bet on the street adjacent to the park. Poop bags are provided for your convenience, along with trash receptacles. And don’t worry all the bonding and frolicking will give you cotton mouth: they provide public drinking fountains for us two-legged folks and a lower model for the four-legged ones.
Long Beach Recreation Dog Park
5201 E 7th St (Cross Street is Park Ave), Long Beach
Ah, Long Beach: your dog finally has nearly two acres of fenced-in area in which to play. With separate areas for big dogs and little dogs, there’s room for everyone’s ego. The park is open from 6 am until 10 pm, and you and your canine can make a drink pit stop at the watering stations. Everyone’s jonesing to get into this park, so if you’re hard-up for play buddies for your dog (or, hey, for yourself) and you’re in the area, do yourself a favor and stop here. Want to strike up a convo with the hottie toting the Italian Greyhound? You can mention that this park was a set location for the 2005 Diane Lane and John Cusack film, Must Love Dogs.
Laurel Canyon Park
8260 Mulholland Dr (near Laurel Canyon Blvd), Studio City, 818-769-4415
Laurel Canyon Park boasts three acres of off-leash space in a fenced-in area. Dogs must be leashed between 10 am and 3 pm, but it’s doggie anarchy between 6 am and 10 am and again from 3 pm until dusk. Other amenities include free parking, a small fenced-in children’s play area, and a hot dog stand!
This is a spacious dog park, but it has drainage problems, so keep the towels handy, because your dog’s going to come home fairly filthy; nonetheless, Laurel Canyon Park remains a popular place for dog lovers, and it attracts a healthy clot of celebrity pet owners. You’re more likely to have a star sighting here than at the Chateau Marmont.
Silver Lake Recreation Center
1850 W Silver Lake Dr, Los Angeles, 323-644-3946
Open from 6 am until 10 pm, the Rec Center features 1.25 acres of off-leash running room. The only parking available is on the street. Silver Lake Recreation Center is a well-known meeting place for pooch owners, so if you’re new to town and looking to make new friends with excellent fashion and intimidating scenester associations, take your dog down for a run. Just be mindful—the fastidious regulars here will be quick to bark at you if you don’t securely shut the gates. Traffic tends to pick up around the curves, and it’d take only seconds for someone’s beloved to leap from sanctuary to tragedy. No grass, just dirt, which makes for some muddy K-9s on those ten days of rain.
Runyon Canyon Park
2000 N Fuller Ave (north of Franklin Ave), Hollywood,
323-666-5046
Located in Hollywood, Runyon Canyon Park is almost completely undeveloped. While it doesn’t have a fenced-in dog play area, dogs are permitted to roam the hiking trails unleashed, as long as they’re with their owners. Within the 160-acre park, there are several hiking trails of varying difficulty with amazing views. You and your pooch can break a sweat together and enjoy the scenery next to a host of celebrities and their own canine buddies.
Westminster Dog Park
1234 Pacific Ave, Venice, 310-396-1615
This park features a fenced-in area with off-leash space for both large dogs and small dogs (under 25 lbs). Open from 6 am until 10 pm, you can usually find a spot in the lot adjacent to the dog park.
Barrington Dog Park
333 S Barrington Ave, Los Angeles, 310-476-4866
This 1.5-acre dog park located in Brentwood is open daily from 5 am to 10:30 pm and closes for maintenance on Tuesday mornings from 6 am to 10 am. The park is off-leash, fenced-in, and features separate sections for dogs big and small. The Friends of Barrington Dog Park maintain a website at www.fobdp.org that lists doggie resources, park news and events, as well as a photo gallery of the furry friends who frequent the park.
Sepulveda Basin Off-Leash Dog Park
17550 Victory Blvd, Encino, 818-756-7667
Featuring a five-acre off-leash area with half an acre for small pooches, Sepulveda Basin Dog Park is open daily from sunrise to sunset, except Friday mornings when it opens at 11 am. On-site parking can accommodate up to 100 cars. Whatever you do, avoid parking on White Oak Avenue or Victory Boulevard at all times, as ticketing agents here are eagle-eyed and vigilant. (Getting a ticket is a matter of “when,” not “if.”)
Griffith Park Dog Park
North end of John Ferraro Soccer Field on North Zoo Dr,
Los Angeles, 323-913-4688
Griffith Park has its own dog park with compartmentalized areas for dogs big and little to roam off-leash. Open from 5 am to 10:30 pm every day of the week, the park has troughs to keep the dogs well-hydrated and a parking area for 40 cars. If you can’t get enough outdoor space for your dog, explore the rest of Griffith Park. The trails across from the observatory are pro-dog, and you can even take your dog to the roof of the observatory via the outside stairs (though the dog’s got to be on a leash). The one-mile train ride off Crystal Springs allows dogs onboard (accompanied by an adult, of course). We suggest that you pick up a map at the Ranger’s Station (Crystal Spring and Griffith Park Drive) to check which trails allow dogs.
Beaches
While dogs, leashed or not, are prohibited from places like Venice Beach and the Ocean Front Walk, there are still some dog-friendly beaches and a core group of volunteer vigilantes fighting to keep it that way. Huntington Dog Beach (PCH and Golden West Street, www.dogbeach.org) is a beautiful one-mile stretch of beach that allows dogs on leashes, providing their owners pick up after them. The only place dogs are allowed off-leash is in the water, under supervision. Leo Carrillo State Beach (PCH 28 miles north of Santa Monica) also allows leashed dogs, but there are restrictions about where dogs can play—check the signs carefully before embarking on a beach adventure with your dog. Redondo Beach Dog Park is located away from the foreshore next to Dominguez Park (200 Flagler Lane and 190th Street, www.rbdogpark.com). A fenced-in area, Redondo Beach Dog Park has play spaces for large and small dogs. Long Beach has almost three acres of leash-free beach fun for dogs, located in the revitalized Belmont Shore area. Look for the signs marking the designated areas between Roycroft and Argonne Avenues.