San Francisco has over 32 public dog parks available to let your pups run wild and free. But there are even more walkable miles around SF they’d enjoy just as much.
For those of us lucky enough to call San Francisco home, we know it’s a very dog-friendly metro. (In fact, it was considered the most dog-friendly major city in the entire county last year.)
Hello from San Francisco the 3 pack @ Upper Douglas Dog Park. pic.twitter.com/54YDMMMgDm
— James T Wright Moderna Vaxed,Boosted x3, & Masked. (@t_jtwrighton) August 22, 2022
Our canine companions — the full balls that brighten our day, madden us with their fits of furniture destruction, invite immeasurable amounts of joy through their wagging tails and effusive lick — are extensions of ourselves. They assimilate into our families, chosen or otherwise, and, by proxy, require the same level of attentive care we’d give to our bipedal kin.
Luckily, San Francisco is brimming with dog-friendly walks through a variety of local greenspaces. With this all in mind, I turned to SF dog owners to ask them about their favorite places to take a stroll.
Should you need a change of pace or scenery to help inject some extra joy into your jaunts, heed the words of these San Francisco pet owners.
“I take my pup, Bruno, to Alta Park, Lafayette Park, Crissy Field… and that’s really about it! I love Alta because it feels more private, and Lafayette if I want Bruno to interact with other dogs that day, he can. I’ll take him to Crissy if he wants to splash around and be wild in the sand for a hot minute.”
— Lindsay Crawford
“We take our Jack Russell terrier, Uisce Beatha, to Ocean Beach and the Great Highway for long walks. Clearly, you can see he’s enjoying the nice weather.”
— Joanie Saelee
“Mazi, my one-and-a-half-year-old shepherd mix, loves our walks. We usually stroll over to Stern Grove at midday and in the late afternoon. She loves to meet up with the dogs and run on the grass and hills. While she plays with the other pups, I socialize with their owners.”
— Frank Tittiger
“I love to take my bulldog, Meatloaf, to the Mountain Lake Park dog park.”
— Connor O’Neill
“My fur baby Rocket and I love to go to Fort Funston and take a walk atop the bluffs and then work our way down to the beach for a little ball play in the water. Fort Funston is the best because it’s so big.”
— Nick Lawrence
“My dog Lucy and I walk about three miles in Golden Gate Park every morning. We usually stick around the trails surrounding the polo fields. During the week, we only see the ‘regulars’ walking their dogs. The polo field has a few more people. But on the weekends, especially when it’s sunny and nice outside, there are definitely more people around Golden Gate Park… so we walk through side trails, which usually means we don’t run into too many other people.”
— Susie J. Im
“We like to take our dogs to Ocean Beach. And because they have closed parts of the Great Highway now on the weekends, there’s lots of room on the road. The walkway, beach, and the street.”
— Eileen P. Goldenberg
“Walking and exercising my dogs has been a joy in my life. I have two dogs — a three-year-old terrier, Gentile, and a 12-year-old golden retriever, Josephine. I usually walk them at Stern Grove or Fort Funston, and sometimes at Mori Point.
— Margaret McNamara
“I’m a professional dog walker, and I continue to take out my dog plus one or two others daily. We love the Stern Grove dog park. We also love the beach near Crissy Field. To go to the Crissy Field beach, we park in the Presidio and walk about 10 minutes to the beach. My dog and I sometimes take walk up to Twin Peaks from our house, which is nice now because the road is gated off from cars near the bottom.”
— Erika T.
“My favorite route to walk my dog is to head out, sometime around dusk or dawn, and walk into Patrick’s Park, then loop around Fort Mason. There are always other furry friends around. My dog, too, is named Patrick — and the park was named after him!”
— Jaime Kornick
“Francisco Park has a fantastic dog park at the bottom of the hill. I let Summer out there all the time to burn some energy off. The view from the top is truly one of the best anywhere in San Francisco.”
— Joy K.
