Hidden in the South Minneapolis area is one of my favorite places to go with my rescue dog, Scout.
This Minneapolis dog park stretchers across the Mississippi Riverfront, offering dogs a great venue to run and swim.
In our experience, it’s one of the best dog parks around the Twin Cities!
The Minnehaha Dog Park in Minneapolis is 6 acres of mostly-fenced-in “hiking trail” for dogs to be off-leash in Minneapolis.
The trails lead down to the beach along the Missippi River, where we always run into so many dogs getting their Zoomies out, enjoying the fresh air!
There is plenty of tree coverage to provide shade on a hot day, so it’s still a great spot no matter the heat — just make sure to bring some water for your pup. Scout prefers to opt for the river water, which usually stresses me out, but her zoomies are unstoppable once she’s in the river.
It’s a Minneapolis “hidden gem” — and after having lived in more than 8 cities (Santa Rosa, Boston, North Kohala, Honolulu, Yakima, Providence, New York City)… I’m not quite sure I’ve ever stumbled across such a massive outdoor place that allows dogs to roam unleashed in a fenced area as their humans get to enjoy a nice hike.
Make sure to wear clothes that can get dirty given all the wet dogs running around!
THE DETAILS:
‣ Dog Park located on the South side of Minnehaha Park
‣ Entrance located at East 54th Street and Hiawatha Avenue
‣ HOURS: 6 am-midnight
‣ You do pay for standard metered parking in the area, it was $1.25 an hour, which was plenty to tire out Scout.
You enter across the street from the (metered) parking lot to a wooded trail.
Follow the fence and signs and after about a 15-minute wall downhill, you’ll get to the edge of the Mississippi River with several sandy areas for dogs to play.
What I love about this trail, is we’ve seen all types of dogs and their owners — big and small.
Here’s one of Scout’s best friends, Tater-tot, enjoying his birthday at Minnehaha Dog Park.
The downside is, with so much foliage, it can be pretty muddy in the Fall, Winter, and Spring… so I always make sure to bring a towel for Scout and some doggie shampoo to wash and dry her off either on the way home or when we get home.
Making sure you’re equipped with your tick-prevention method of choice is also a must, with how wooded the area is. Some parts of it can be rough terrain… so sneakers, hiking boots are also useful.
Make sure to bring doggie bags, there are trash cans along the trail.
It is important to be able to recall your dog here, as the park is enormous and there is a mix of responsible and less responsible owners. A majority of the time, dogs are well-behaved, so we haven’t had issues bring Scout there. Once or twice, the dogs get a little too rough playing in the river, but the owners have been pretty quick to separate.
The park does offer several trails on higher and dryer ground, and there’s a walking path outside of the dog park where you can even visit Minnehaha Falls, which is located in the actual Minnehaha Park area next to the off-leash park.
Our park days are great because Scout always comes home extremely tired and ready to just cuddle and nap… she’s usually asleep in the car on the ride home after our Minnehaha adventures together!
