Life Unleashed: GGP Dog Park Reopens!
Entering the newly-refurbished Dog Training Area in Golden Gate Park. Photo by Steffen Franz
I grew up in New York City in the 1970s in an apartment complex in Manhattan’s Lower East Side called Stuyvesant Town. The place had thousands of units and dogs were not allowed. We had cats galore, but - as any dog lover can tell you - it wasn’t close to the same experience. So when I moved to California in 1993, one of the first things I looked for was a dog-friendly apartment so I could finally have my first dog.
That chance came in 1995, when Shana entered my world. She was my first pooch, but she wouldn’t be my last. Over the past 27 years, I’ve shared my life with Shana, then Luna, and now Aroux - all rescued German Shepherd mixes.
Back in mid-1990s San Francisco, Shana had nowhere to run and play off-leash, other than the Golden Gate Park Dog Training Area at 36th Avenue and Fulton Street. We lived South of Market in those days, and, while she often came with me to work at the Paradise Lounge, it wasn’t the same as having a green open play area where she could run to her heart’s content.
Fast forward to 2004 when I moved with Shana and my girlfriend Melissa (now wife of 16 years) to Sacramento Street between Gough and Octavia. The apartment was just okay, but 11-acre Lafayette Park across the street offered a great area for Shana to run and play.
Sadly, within just a few months, Shana grew sick and left us. It was the hardest time of my adult life, but eventually our hearts healed enough to find Luna, a wonderful Shepherd/Rottweiler mix. Luna experienced the Dog Play Area at Lafayette Park back when it was wild - no fences or artificial turf like today, just lots of grass that became a muddy, swampy mess in winter. But no matter the conditions, we loved Lafayette Park. Spending hours there with our friends and their dogs, it felt like home.
In 2010, I was appointed to the city’s Park, Recreation and Open Space Advisory Committee (PROSAC) on which I spent years advocating to renovate existing Dog Play Areas and create new ones. After Luna passed in 2014, we were blessed with our current dog, Aroux, a feisty Shepherd/Chihuahua mix, easily the most athletic and spirited of the three. Given her strong need for exercise, I definitely had a vested interest in pushing for more dog-friendly park areas. (Today, San Francisco has over 25 off-leash Dog Play Areas, thanks to the support of dog folks like you and constant pressure on the powers that be).
All of which is a long way of getting to the newly refurbished Golden Gate Park (GGP) Dog Play Area.
I first became involved in the GGP redo in 2018, back when the project was still in the planning stages of a whopping $2.4M facelift. With the support of Assemblyman Phil Ting and then Supervisor Sandra Fewer, this huge Doggy Disneyland finally opened last month. It’s been totally renovated, offering large and small dog play areas, plus so much more - and, may I just say, it’s fabulous.
The renovated Golden Gate Dog Training Area is so nice! Photo by Steffen Franz
My heart skipped a few beats when we turned left into Golden Gate Park at 36th Avenue on reopening day and saw the many terrific upgrades to this once dilapidated place. New fencing now surrounds the area, there’s abundant parking, and the park offers a range of enticing new amenities that our rambunctious Aroux couldn’t wait to try. A mix of different terrains (sand, concrete, and artificial turf) offer a variety of play surfaces, with areas to climb and explore. There’s a separate area for smaller dogs, something humans with petite pals will definitely appreciate, and the park is open seven days a week, rain or shine. In short, it’s a new crown jewel of the city’s park system, and I’m sure Aroux will demand that we make this place part of her regular schedule!
Of course, I’d be remiss not to mention some of the other great off-leash Dog Play Areas in San Francisco. Moscone, a half-acre, off-leash play area in the Marina, is fully fenced and has both artificial turf and grassy, sometimes swampy, areas. Diamond Heights offers amazing views from the artificial turf of the Walter Haas Dog Play Area. For a more natural experience, check out St. Mary’s Dog Play Area, just off the Alemany exit of the 280 freeway. Alamo Square is also great, but it requires good voice command as it is unfenced.
Even more new Dog Play Areas will be coming soon. Aroux has already pencilled in a visit to the renovated Francisco Park, opening later this spring or summer. Located at Mason and Bay, this 4.4-acre park will offer a new off-leash Dog Play Area and a park with amazing views - just one of many new Dog Play Areas SFRPD has planned.
As the pandemic winds on, every outing provides a much-needed breath of fresh air for both humans and dogs. It’s good to know we live in a city that understands the importance of green areas for our dogs to run and play off-leash, and where we can catch up with other dog-loving folks - from a safe distance of six feet, of course.
Until next time, see you at the park!