Griggs Park

I really like this park. We used to come here fairly often when we lived in the State Thomas neighborhood, because it was such an easy walk from our home. We would come and throw a ball around on the beautiful expanses of grass. Sometimes we would bring a blanket and sit and read or have a picnic. There is a gorgeous view of the skyline from this park.
Now we live a little farther away and don’t come as often, but we were dog sitting for some friends this weekend and remembered that this is a great park for dogs! They have a big area where people let their dog off-​leash (although it is against the rules, and we didn’t do it, I swear!) and plenty of grassy areas where your dog can sniff. There are complimentary doggy waste bags and plenty of trash cans to dispose of those bags. It’s a really great city park.

This is a nice, quiet park with no kids. (Huge plus… no screaming all day) I can’t speak for parking… it isn’t an issue for me because I live in the neighborhood and walk here with my little dogs. However, so many of the dog owners are disgusting. All the dogs are off leash. Most are behaved but some are not. And NO ONE cleans up after their dogs despite plenty of bags and trash cans. Other than that, I love that it’s quiet and never too crowded.

My husband and I bring our puppy here often. I live closer to Cole park but I prefer this one because it’s cleaner and has a safer feel to it (see my review on Cole). I really like this park it’s well kept, spacious, lots of trees and a great view of the skyline.
There is a drainage issue but I think it might just be the out of control rain we’ve been having the past few months. Watch for puddles especially if you have a dog. There’s not that much parking either but we’ve never had too much of a problem finding parking.
Expect a lot of dogs off leash even though it’s against the rules. I’ve never seen an issues with that though.

Great place to walk your dog or just hang out and enjoy a view of downtown Dallas. Just be careful where you step. People don’t clean up after their dogs and it’s all over the place. It’s also not a good place to go after the rain. There are major drainage issues and certain areas of the park turn into a swamp. I really wish they would put a dog park here. Animal Control hangs out trying to catch people with their dogs off leash. $ 200 fine if they get you.

Great park for dog walkers.
If you’re looking for an outing with the kids then you’re at the wrong place. No swing sets or germ infested sand pits. Just substitute the kids for sparky and have a good time. All of the local dogs are well behaved so sparky will have friends and the space is big enough to launch tennis balls into the stratosphere and watch sparky run like a bullet train. It’s always clean, too. Nice, quiet park.

Uptown spent a lot of money renovating this park. Before it was renovated it wasn’t the prettiest park ever but it was always full of dog lovers and people exercising and playing sports. They closed it down for wayyy longer than planned and now it’s a lot less usable. Again, what did people use it for? Exercising their dogs and playing sports. Now there is no usable space for sports and they are fining people $ 200 for having their dogs off the leash.
Not to mention, the entire middle part of this park has major drainage issues. It was not designed well. It gets all fenced off every time it rains and is unusable.
One of my biggest issues with this park is that it has so much space! They created a mound so that you can either sit on it and see downtown or be shielded from downtown by it. However, there is all this space behind the mound that could VERY easily by fenced off as a dog park! Everyone would win! They would keep the unleashed dogs out of the way and give all of uptown’s dog lovers a big safe space to play!
PLEASE PUT IN A DOG PARK BEHIND THE MOUND!

Nice park since renovations finally complete. No play equipment for kids but there aren’t a lot of kids in the hood. No basketball court like the previous park. Nice pathway that goes throughout. Plenty of green space for your pup to run around. A few poo stations and several waste stations to dispose of that poo.
This park would be better with a fenced in dog area, a basketball court, and maybe a few swings. There may be additional plans to expand. For now, it’s a green space with paths which is fine for my (and my dog’s) needs.

Great park renovation! We stared longingly through the construction gates for 9 long months, but it’s all worth it now! Let me just say this up front — there are so many dogs in the area that need green space, and this park has quickly become the State Thomas neighborhood backyard. It is overrun by dogs by 5:30 PM on weekdays. It’s great if you have a dog. I’m not sure how others without dogs feel about it, but we love it! They’ve also added lots of seating area, which is really nice.
The sound/​sight barrier hill they added is a great addition! The view of Downtown and Uptown from the top is great! Definitely take some time one night once the sun goes down to enjoy the view. It’s pretty awesome!

Love this place since the renovation. There’s a path that wraps around the whole park and a lot of spots to sit. The middle area is nice for catch or a picnic. There are dog waste stations so there’s no excuse for not picking up after fido.

Waiting and waiting for the park to open. Would have been really nice to hang out n throw the ball on Thanksgiving.
Though I noticed that the small piece of grass available on State is sadly covered with dog excrement. Why is it that dog owners do not feel responsible for picking up after their dog? My dog actually stepped in another dogs excrement so he got a paw wash when we got home.
This a responsibility of the owner. Don’t get a dog if you cannot pick up after them.
We look forward to the opening, if it even happens this year.

How would you rate a park? On the number of trees, the quality of the recreational fields, or maybe the location? What about parking? I mean… there’s only so much you can say about a park.
If you were to consider the rating of Griggs Park on these qualities, I’d say it was up and down the scale. So therefore, it gets a four star.
Our kickball team is playing at Griggs for this season, and despite our poor losing streak, it’s my favorite park to play in so far.
First, the cons. Parking is no good. No good at all. Griggs is mushed up on the side corner of the State/​Allen district… and we all know how crowded that neighborhood is. With so many neighborhood homes, bars and restaurants, parking is impossible. There isn’t a designated lot anywhere, so you have to roll the dice and park on the street. I circled the block a few times before finding a spot, but once parked everything was a-​okay.
The recreational fields are in better shape than some of the other parks I’ve been to, and it’s much larger. While we were playing, two other games were going on and we had more then enough space to play. Because it’s more recreational than leisure, there are no trees that I saw, which is totally fine.
Word on the street is that they’re trying to get rid of the fields and make it an off-​leash dog park. While I love my dog and think more outdoor space would be cool, I also don’t want to see such a great rec park go to waste.
If you’re trying to plan an outdoor sports day or a softball/​kickball/​soccer tournament, Griggs should be on your list.