The Best Dog Parks from Sacramento to San Francisco

Dogs of all sizes have room to play at Lynn Robie Dog Park, which is within Sacramento’s sprawling Bill Conlin Youth Sports Complex. The fenced-in area, which opened in 2015, is separated into a 0.21-acre small dog park and a 1.34-acre park for larger breeds. Both sections feature turf, drinking fountains, and adorable bone-shaped benches for humans and their climbing-inclined four-legged friends. The park gets busiest in the evenings.

The three miles of trails that slice through the open-space Alston Park in northwest Napa are popular paths for horseback riding, hiking, mountain biking, and dog walking. At the top of one of the park’s many hills, an enclosed off-leash space known as Canine Commons welcomes dogs of all sizes in two different areas. There’s flowing water for thirsty pups, some agility equipment, and plenty of trash cans for cleaning up. Some visitors have noted there’s not a lot of shade, so owners should make sure their furry friends are hydrated and not overheated.

With panoramic views of the Bay and the city, and more than 11 acres of grassy hills, Lafayette Park in San Francisco’s Pacific Heights neighborhood is a favorite for people. But dogs are big fans of the relatively new off-leash play area, too. The section is carpeted in synthetic turf—meaning humans don’t have to worry about muddy paws on rainy days and it is circled with metal fencing and features an improved gate, added as part of a major upgrade project in 2016.

Bark magazine once called Point Isabel Regional Shoreline in Richmond, California “one of the nation’s biggest and best off-leash parks.” And they have a point: the multi-use 23-acre park offers dazzling views of the San Francisco skyline, the Golden Gate Bridge, Marin County, and Brooks Island. And (well-behaved) dogs can run throughout the whole thing. There’s even a dog washing station and pet supplies shop called Mudpuppy’s Tub & Scrub on site. According to the East Bay Regional Park District, the park welcomes more than a million visitors a year, “most of them with their dogs.”

Tucked into the southernmost point of Ocean Beach, the sandy dunes and network of trails that make up Fort Funston offer some of the best views in the city. Dogs are free to roam leash-free with their people here as they both take in the many horseback riders, hikers, native plants, and hang gliders that typically populate the area. In fact, the spot is one of the country’s most popular hang gliding destinations, so humans whose dogs may not be able to handle the site of bright-colored triangles sailing across the sky above them, beware.