Best Montreal Dog Parks

Spring is on the way and both people and their pets are itching to get outside and enjoy the warmer weather. Like humans, dogs are social creatures and need to run and play with their own kind.  The streets can be dangerous for walking, and schoolyards and most parks are forbidden because of dogs' tendencies to tear up grass and leave their excrement behind.  They need their own space; therefore an important facility that every community should have readily available is a dog park.  The following is a selection of some of the best dog parks in the Montreal area.

Parc Saint-Benoit, 521 Sauvé Rd West, Cartierville

Hours: 6 AM to 11 PM daily.  Fee of $10 yearly.

Amenities: Parking, fenced, tables and benches, waste bag dispensers, water fountain.

This is a large enclosed grassy park that is maintained by both the city and park members, and is open to well-mannered dogs with any city dog license.  Dogs are allowed in for a trial visit before fee payment.

Parc de Rouen/Parc des Royaux, 2183 De Lorimier Ave, Montreal

Web site: http://aecroyaux.wordpress.com/

Hours: 7 AM to 11 PM daily.  No fees.

Amenities: Handicapped accessible, tables and benches.

This park was recently renamed because it's on the site of the former Delorimier Downs baseball stadium where Jackie Robinson and the Montreal Royals once played.  It's a neighborhood park lit by spotlights at each end, with a surface that's grassy in summer and packed snow in winter.  Access is through a double-gated entrance, and an adjacent playground and skate park makes it more family friendly. Photo courtesy AECroyaux.wordpress.com

Percy-Walters Park, Redpath Rd and Dr. Penfield Ave, Montreal

Web site: https://www.facebook.com/PercyWaltersPark

Hours: Dawn to dusk.  No fees.

Amenities: Fenced, tables, water fountain.

This location was once the property of Scots-Quebec politician Sir John Rose who built a large house on the land; in 1943 the house was demolished and the land converted into a park. It contains a grassed area as well as a treed hilly slope for exploring.  Residents have noted that the grassy area tends to get muddy in spring and after large amounts of rainfall.

Trenholme Park, 6800 Sherbrooke St West, Notre-Dame-de-Grace

Hours: 7 AM to 11 PM daily.  No fees.

Amenities: Handicapped accessible, fenced, tables, waste bag dispensers, water fountain.

Named for Thomas Trenholme, the town mayor of Notre-Dame-De-Grace who oversaw the town's incorporation into Montreal; it was once a section of his dairy farm.  The park is large and in addition to the fenced-in dog run it contains a soccer field, baseball diamond, and playground equipment for family fun.  Photo courtesy Panoramio.com 

Angrignon Park, 3400 Des Trinitaires Blvd, LaSalle

Hours: 24 hours but dawn to dusk preferred.  No fees.

Amenities: Parking, fenced, tables and benches, waste bag dispensers.

The city gradually acquired the land for 97-hectare park from 1926 to 1944 with the intention of turning it into a zoo, but the project failed and the land became a city park.  It's easily accessible from the Angrignon metro station and is divided into three sections, one of which contains the fenced dog run.  Locals recommend to keep dogs on-leash in the non-fenced section and to stay on the gravel trails because of wooded areas where poison ivy is known to grow.