The best local dog parks
If you haven’t heard, dogs are the latest fashion accessory for the seasonally depressed Washingtonian. With their unconditional love and loyalty, endless supply of endorphins, they naturally make the best morning jog partners. Here are the best local spots to do just that.
- Chambers Creek Regional Park- If jogging is your thing, Chamber’s Creek Regional Park offers a 3-mile trek that starts off at the top of a hill, leads down through a shaded forest, cuts through a green golf course, and ends with your feet in the ocean. It’s located below a country club, where there is an additional circular track and a seemingly endless amount of green grass for activities. In the mornings, you can catch quaint old men with their flamboyant, brightly colored kites putting on a show. Past the grass, you will find a sky bridge that leads you to a beach where there is an obnoxiously insane amount of sticks to throw into the ocean for your dog. Just be cognizant of low tide where bastardly jellyfish like to creep-unless you are prepared to pee on your dog, subsequently which will probably create a rift between in your man’s-best-friendship forever. You will also find a rather dreary fenced in dog park, but this is only really for the purse dogs who don’t won’t act right off leash. Just snap Fido’s leash off and have at it. Once in a blue moon, you might find a rent-a-cop with a frightening penchant for 1st world justice, but fortunately, his justice is only as fast as a golf kart.
- Fort Steilacoom Dog Park- This mega-park is located across the street from Western State Hospital, and is probably the largest park of its type in Washington. The park is vast, offering nearly 22-acres of flat frolick space. There is a path that goes around the entire park if you don’t want your canine to mingle, but the park is really for interaction. The space is big enough for dogs to interact, socialize, and also because of its size, its it’s quite easy to find another group of playmates if your dog finds that it has an irrational hatred of Shih Tzus.
- 5 Mile Drive – Lastly, we have Point Defiance’s many trails located within 5-Mile Drive . The forest trails are quite secluded, and you will rarely come across anyone other than a fellow trail runner, so it’s ideal to have man’s best friend on this trek. The trails are quite varied, so you can find beginner level trails,as well as advanced uphill challenges. 5-mile drive itself is actually a pretty standard, well lit run if you are looking for a generic roadside jog. Don’t be surprised if your dog ends up leading you downhill, as most of the trails lead down to Owen’s beach
