Begging for more off-leash love in the Twin Cities? After years of eager anticipation, the Lyndale Farmstead Off-Leash Recreation Area (formerly known as the Sixth District Dog Park) is opening and hoping your pooch will come play starting next week.
Left: Pooches and peeps meetin’ and greetin’. (Photos: Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Board)
“This desire to create an off-leash dog park in the Sixth District dates back to the early 2000s. After almost two years of work, the effort failed. Ten years later, an area resident was ticketed for playing with his dog off-leash in a neighborhood park. This sparked a plucky band of Kingfield residents to resurrect the idea of an off-leash park in our district,” says Brook Lemm-Tabor, a member of the Community Activity Committee for the Sixth District Dog Park.
Huge high paw to the go-getters who helped made this happen! So what can dog lovers expect? A concrete entrance just off Dupont Avenue connects to a concrete walk leading over to the primary seating area (think benches and shade). Landscape plantings line the park perimeter to provide a soft edge and buffer. And of course there’ll be oodles of off-leash fun for Fido!
Pooches and their humans are invited to join in the grand opening celebration next Wednesday, July 17, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Festivities will include comments from elected officials, a ribbon-cutting ceremony, refreshments, activities for kids (of the human and non-human variety), games, and “doggie bags” for the pups.
Before you join in the fun, make sure your pup’s license is current, a Minneapolis requirement. (Buy it through yours truly and get added goodies like gratis daycare from Metro Dogs Daycare & Boarding and free healthy pet food from Solid Gold Northland.) You and the pooch’ll also need an off-leash permit, which you can get online (the Park Board also will be on-site selling permits during the grand opening).
Right: Off-leash and fancy-free.
The Lyndale Farmstead Off-Leash Recreation Area is nestled on the west side of Lyndale Farmstead Park on Dupont Avenue South (King’s Highway) in Minneapolis. On-street parking is available on West 38th and West 40th streets or Bryant Avenue. (Insider tip: There’s no parking on King’s Highway between 38th and 40th streets or in the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board operations center parking lot.)
And don’t forget to check out our dog park directory to find other off-leash opps in your area. Now how’s that for the Twin Cities unleashed?