🐾 Kids at the Dog Park: Real Stories, Safety Risks & Smarter Solutions
If you’ve spent time at an off-leash park, you’ve probably seen it:A parent strolls in with a stroller 🚼 or […]
Big Dry Creek Park-Dog PARK is a convenient option for dog owners looking for a pet-friendly spot in Westminster, Colorado. The park features an off-leash dog area, making it a popular place for regulars to let their dogs run and socialize. Amenities include picnic tables, a pavilion providing shaded seating, and wheelchair-accessible parking and entrance. While the park has gravel footing, benches, and some agility equipment, reports mention that upkeep and maintenance could be improved, with some equipment partially removed and fewer trash cans and poop bag stations than ideal.
One unique aspect is the frequent community involvement—many owners help maintain the park, creating a friendly atmosphere for both dogs and their humans. The surrounding area also connects to hiking trails perfect for dog-friendly adventures. However, be mindful that the fence is on the shorter side (about 3ft), so it may not be secure for larger or high-jumping dogs. Water fountains have been noted as non-functional recently, so bring water for your pup. The park also has a nearby port-a-potty for visitors.
Fence is too short for larger or athletic dogs that could easily jump out (maybe 3′), otherwise the park looks decent. Gravel footing. 1 pavilion, with seating, for shade. Port a potty close to the entrance for a bathroom.
I take my girl Sasha here every single afternoon, it’s a necessity for her to have some time each day to run around freely and socialize with other dogs. There are several other regulars who visit regularly as well, so it’s great for both the dogs and the people to be able to socialize with familiar faces, and meet new ones regularly as well.
The park is fairly well maintained, but I believe this is mostly due to pet owners helping out, not so much due to any groundskeeper (i could be wrong, it does seem as though the park has been “adopted” by a K9 training company, so perhaps they help keep up the maintenance and I just haven’t come across them during the hours when we frequent the park).
The water fountain hasn’t been working for nearly 6 months, so this leaves the onus on the owners to bring their own water.
Most pet owners are attentive and responsible for their dogs, but on occasion there are sometimes aggressive dogs with careless owners who allow their pets to go around humping and causing general chaos amongst the other dogs (but this isn’t unique to this park, it happens at all dog parks)
All in all, this is a great park for both dogs and people, but If you’re looking for a more expansive off-leash open space with nice mountain views, where you can take a long walk/hike with your pup(s), then you might enjoy Westminster Hills Open Space, which is around 20 mins away.
It’s really gone downhill. We used to be regular visitors but not anymore. 1, too many insular people that cannot be bothered to pick up their dog’s poop and 2, too many people bringing untrained dogs that are aggressive to others. My dog (not a small dog either) was attacked by a pit bull here and I’ve seen other dogs attacked too.
This was a great park years ago but the upkeep and maintenance has really been ignored and it shows. There are not enough shade structures, trash cans, or poop bag stations, resulting in dog piles everywhere throughout this park. Plenty of benches for people, but the agility equipment is partially removed and what remains is just kind of sad. Not sure what the huge patches of white crust are but it can’t be good.
While this park is convenient it lacks features other parks have that knock for me it’s rating down. If you need to let loose and don’t have time to go to Arvada or Erie or Cherry Creek then this park is “ok”.