Try Ann Morrison Park for winter dog walk close to home

Room to Roam! Huck is a speck off the distance in the middle of Ann Morrison Park.

Huck goes after the ducks and geese

Hi all,

As Boise grows, it seems we've been losing access to some places where you could let your dog run free, off-leash, places where you could throw balls for your dog, or just let them run around and burn off some energy.

But the new Together Treasure Valley Dog Island Park, a 5.4-acre dog-friendly park inside the huge 153-acre Ann Morrison Park, create two excellent destinations for exercising your dog in the winter in Boise.

Ann Morrison Park (courtesy Boise Parks & Recreation) Dog Island Park is in the SW corner.

The ability to walk anywhere in the park with your dog roaming around along the tree rows and creeks in Ann Morrison is a real treat. It's a super-pleasant, quiet place to walk, while your pups get their exercise. On Thursday morning, we walked around the park in our snow boots, with a few inches of fresh snow on the ground.   

I've personally found that the Dog Island Park can get pretty packed with dogs and people at times, so having the option of roaming the whole expanse of Ann Morrison Park is a real value-added experience.  

Dog Island Park is fenced but still pretty spacious.

The larger park is open to dogs off-leash from Nov. 1 - Feb. 28 in hopes of scattering Canada geese, in particular, and cutting down on goose poop. Make sure your pooch has a current city dog license.

Dog Island Park has a off-leash areas, "shy dog" fenced-off areas, ponds and oodles of extra tennis balls that people have left behind on the lawns or in the ponds. I thought that was kind of funny to see so many tennis balls lying around.

See a Boise Parks and Recreation listing of other off-leash parks, where you can take your dog. Please remember to pick up after your pets!

BTW ... it's going to be a stellar powder weekend on the slopes wherever you might be heading. Big powder dump coming Friday/Saturday/Sunday! Yay!

- SS