Josephine Gardens Dog Park

I love the Park, the sand is easy to pick up poop and it’s big enough for everyone who is there at the time. A lot of people bring their unspayed/​neutered pets into the park, they hump everything that moves or get humped while their owners sit in their cars and relax. This is frustrating becuase i have to try to keep my pups from avoiding these animals. And there is usually one very time i go. Also those who sit in their cars do not acknowledge that their pet has pooped and therefore the park is threatened to be closed. It’s a nice park, but please go only if you are a responsible pet owner and will spay/​neuter your pet or pick up your pets poop.

Had business on the North side of Denver, but of course I can’t go anywhere without my little buddy. Located at the cross rads of City Park and Capital Hill, Josephine Gardens dog park is a little urban getaway for our furry friends.
As far as dog parks go, dogs need very little to keep them busy or to burn off their energy. This dog park has enough space and a decent amount of parking, but not a lot of seating or shade.
Most importantly, dogs parks are about the dogs and the people. So since I was just visiting, I wasn’t able to get a vibe of the community that makes this dog park what it is. But location wise, its a good spot for those who live on this part of town.

Woody Allen had an old joke:
«There are these two women sitting down to dinner in a Catskill mountain resort.
One says, ‘gosh, the food here is terrible.‘
The other replies, ‘yeah, and such small portions!’»
And like Annie Hall, that’s how I feel about this dog park.
It’s just a big lot covered in sand – not even a tree or running water – and the urine content of said sand is a tad disconcerting.
At the same time, I’m terribly sad it’s going to be removed. My dog loves it despite its stark scenery and bacterial density. There isn’t another dog park within a couple neighborhoods and it will be a perplexing loss for dog-​packed Denver.

This is an awesome DOG park… this is NOT a park for your CHILDREN!
With that said, my dog loves to come to this park. It’s the largest and most popular in Denver so of course sometimes things don’t go well… little doggie scuffles or sometimes pretty big fights, but MOST owners handle the situation quickly and respectfully. Sometimes dogs just don’t get along and that’s that. There’s poo all over the perimeter but some really nice people come out on the weekends and pick it all up! Incredibly nice! Water is a’ plenty on the weekends, but be sure to bring some too. It is exactly what does need — space and friends!

my dog liked the park but i stepped in poo.

While some people find this place to be «nothing special», I for one, appreciated the complimentary Starbucks and valet parking.
In other words, it’s a dog park… not the Ritz Carlton. Get it?

Its in a great location! Walking distance from my apartment and I wish I could come here with my dog every day. BUT some of the owners (in particular one that I encountered) are absolutely ridiculous. He kicked at my dog. He has a pretty aggressive dog but mine can keep up and play no problem. He didn’t like that mine was running around with his and kicked at her.
He definitely seemed well versed in this park and probably goes all the time so I am definitely not interested in going back to a park with a few really aggressive dogs and one extremely rude and aggressive owner.
Just a sand pit but dogs don’t need anything fancy. My dog, however does need a safe place to play without being kicked.

It’s nice there are myriads of tennis balls to throw around and water bowls. The sand lot is nothing special. What is concerning is the utter lack of interest from the owners of all the aggressive ‘dogs. Huge difference between playful mouthing and snarling and snapping with the intent to hurt. I made a comment to one owner that his dog was actually biting aggressively. His response,” they’re dogs. Yours will toughen up.”
This place could be decent for a local dog park, but be mindful of the nasty dogs with equally nasty owners.

Never had a bad experience. Positives: 1. It’s free 2. There tend to be a lot of dogs to play with there. 3. People have always been friendly. 4. Walking distance from Congress Park.
Negatives: 1. Small parking lot. 2. Can get muddy. 3. Trash cans aren’t always emptied before they are rank. 4. Little shade.

Ever since I’ve adopted my dog last November, this has always been her favorite dog park to visit. I love the big parking lot which makes it easy to get in and get out safely with your dog (s). The only thing that I don’t like about the parking lot is sometimes people who aren’t even at the dog park with a dog park there. It makes it difficult on some days to find parking for people who actually want to visit the dog park.
The dogs here are usually pretty friendly and playful for the most part, but there are some dogs that shouldn’t be allowed to come here. I’m not going to say its because they’re «aggressive» because my dog tends to make «aggressive» noises when she plays but doesn’t mean anything by it. It’s mainly because their owners are oblivious to the dog as well as their lack of training and social skills. I believe that you shouldn’t bring your dog here if it isn’t going to listen to you or if you aren’t going to pay attention to it at all times. I saw this one guy who brought his huge German Shepherd to the park sit on his phone the WHOLE time. His dog was going around and playing rough with the same dog and wouldn’t give the little guy a break when he clearly wasn’t having it. Then, the dog jumped the fence and was in the school parking lot. When people mentioned this to the owner, he simply said «Oh, don’t worry, he’ll come back» and went back to his phone. Then when the dog DID try jumping the fence to get back into the park, he got his hind leg caught on the fence and was hanging there crying. Then and only then did the owner decide to put his phone down and come to the poor dogs rescue.
Other than the sometimes careless owners, Josephine Gardens Dog Park is a fabulous place to let your pooch or pooches roam free and make some new friends.

I have to echo what many other reviewers have said about this park.
Yes, this feels like a big sandlot. But I don’t mind that so much as the number of aggressive dogs here, made all the more scary by their passive owners.
My 90-​pound dog is pretty clueless when smaller dogs are being aggressive, but as soon as two of those smaller dogs started chasing him around the park and nipping at him to the point he Unilocaled, this momma bear decided it was time to leave.
What amazed me the most was the lack of intervention from the owners. I should not have to pull your aggressive, snapping and barking dog off of mine.

I was nearby, had my dogs with me, and expressed interest in visiting this dog park. Vicki P. had pretty much told me, «It is a nothing-​special sandlot». She was very accurate in her assessment. I may be a bit spoiled with regards to dog parks, as I have been to several different ones, and some of them have been quite good. Josephine Gardens is very basic. I appreciate that it has a parking lot, but despite there being only 6 people in the park, the 40 or so parking spaces were all full, which leads me to believe that the sign indicating who can actually park there is widely ignored.
The park also has quite a bit of wear and tear, no doubt because of its convenience for so many people. The first gate was secured with a piece of twine, and like so many other parks these days, the bag station was empty (but, at least the trash was not overflowing). The layer of icy slush on top of the sand was not the most pleasant surface, but at least it was better than mud. Probably the best thing about the park was the people who were there. They seemed very amiable. I am used to friendly dogs, but their owners can run the gamut of sociability. So, I would definitely not go out of my way to go to this dog park, but if you live in the area, you are probably very glad that it is there.

This is another dog park I find myself spending a lot of time in. It’s sandy, but mostly hard packed sand which is better as it doesn’t end up all in my shoes. It also has its own parking lot which is nice because the location is in the middle of some busy streets.
It’s an off-​leash dog park and there are usually a decent amount of dogs running around in there if you have a playful pooch like I do. The only downers are there is often a lot of left behind poop and sometimes you’ll find a dog there that is a little aggressive or trying to assert his/​her dominance. Nothing that’s overly concerning for me, but I have an 80 pound puppy who flops all over any dog that is around her because she thinks they are playing.

This might be the first time I’ve reviewed a large patch of empty dirt, or at least since I ate at Swing Thai. For a dog park, I contend that is has a great location which welcomes a large number of dogs of all sizes. It seems that weekends between 8 and 10 AM are the busiest, so if you have a scared little pooch, you may want to consider another time with less dogs.
Keep in mind that not everyone has a well behaved dog such as your furry little mutt, so you may have to deal with some unwelcome drama. Also keep in mind that people tend to think that their dogs are perfect. That may bring out the worst in your fellow dog owners.
This is suppose to be Denver’s new rec center, so not sure how much longer it will last. But for now, bring your poop bags, your dog and your patience to this good little space.

I mean it is a dog park and pretty much just a big dirt patch. That said Monks loves it here, she can be a bit of a loner which is totally fine with me as some of the dogs are a little more wild than I would prefer. It is walking distance from home now so I am sure we will go here more often so she can run off some steam.

DO NOT BRING SMALL DOGS TO THIS PARK.
I just left the vet after my dog was brutally attacked here. The dog owners JUST WATCHED. I had to pull their dogs out, was completely scratched up by the time it was over.
There are MANY AGGRESSIVE DOGS here.
In fact — this is a WARNING. I am going to start writing down the license plate of every person who brings a dog to this park, that attacks another. Enough is enough. If you bring an aggressive dog here, hope I am not there watching. I will have your dog put down. And dude with the multi colored eyed dog who did nothing when your dog attacked mine, I am coming after you. I will work via mifi just waiting for you to arrive so I can turn you in.

So, it’s a dog park. There’s nothing overly exciting about this dog park, but I will attest to the expansive lot of land that your little four legged friend can run for yards and yards on without any limitations. Speaking of limitations — seriously there are none. No trees, shrubs, creeks. Just a wide open sandy space for the mutts to roam and mingle. Being located in the middle of the city on the corner of Colfax on Josephine makes for a nice urban escape in the heart of the Mile High, making it nice to not have to commute 20 minutes outside the city for a little exercise with your pup.

It is a official (read legal) off-​leash dog park. It is centrally located. It is sand, which is hella better than dirt. It isn’t scenic, but it gets the job done. The poochies seem to have a lovely time. We’ve only had a couple of instances with little scuffles, and our dogs are here 2 – 3 times a week.
It’s pretty busy, which makes sense as it’s the only dog park serving dense urban areas like Capitol Hill, Congress Park, City Park, Cherry Creek, etc. It’s darn disappointing that it is temporary, considering how many people and dogs it serves.
There is a medium sized parking lot, as well as street parking along 16^th.

I’ll echo the sentiment that it is what it is. While the park is okay in size (I’ve seen much smaller), it’s just a fenced-​in sand pit. There are no «amenities» other than a couple of benches covered in dog urine and plastic bags left by others. I go for the location — hard to beat for being only a few blocks from my home.
It’s usually pretty busy with a good variety of dogs. Of course you have the typical occasional dog/​owner that shouldn’t be in a dog park, but I have yet to see completely incompetent owners, extremely inappropriate aggression, sick dogs, etc. The general attitude of the people here is a bit disinterested, but that’s not a deal breaker for me.
In short, this is no neighborhood meeting place/​obedient dog oasis, but it gets the job done without having to drive anywhere!

I was able to stop by this new dog park on the way home today!
It’s pleasant, set far enough back from the corner of Colfax and Josephine that the traffic noises aren’t too bad at all. The dogs didn’t seem to enjoy the scenery too much, but I for one enjoyed the sight of East High School looming over the fence looking all tall and proud.
So The Dog Park at Josephine Gardens is one of Denver’s two new dog parks, the other being the Railyard Park. The one serious plus that Josephine has over Railyard is the ground. Whereas Railyard has that weird gravely surface, Josephine is covered with sand, allowing the dogs to run around in more comfort.
Good stuff, indeed. It’s temporary and will only be there until they begin working on the new recreation center that will eventually be built at the location. I’ll have to make a point of making good use of it while we have it!