Haisley Lynch Park & Dog Park

A terrible dog park with too many homeless people and a weird set up.
I decided to check out this park when visiting Gainesville. It didn’t have a great rating, but there was only 1 good and 1 bad review, so I thought I’d give it a try since it wasn’t very far away from the campus. When I arrived, I found it almost impossible to find parking, so I parked behind some cars on a random side street. The park only seems to have one entrance, so I had to walk a good deal to finally get in.
I made it into the park and was immediately talked to by a homeless person. Not unusual for a park, so I politely declined and went on by. I saw some people on a blanket who I thought at first were students, but they also turned out to be homeless. The park seemed to be a hub for homeless people and not many dog walkers.
I went through into the park and didn’t find much. Just an average sized enclosed area with a couple benches and not much else. I then noticed a couple of people checking out cars near where I parked, so I stood up to look them off and promptly left.
Overall, this could have been an average park in a convenient location, but the extreme homeless and parking issues should strike this off your dog park list

This dog park looks like it could have been amazing… Or at least the people who built it wanted it to be.
But it’s safe to say that this park is lacking just about everything. For the most part a landscaper would be beneficial, maybe some new grass and to have a lawn mower run over it at least once a year… Contrary to the current NEVER.
Parking is weird, but this might be due to some construction near by.
But the major issue is the homeless people in and around it (I personally have no issue with people who are homeless and I know they don’t have anywhere to go) it definitely lowers the park though because they were smoking and sleeping as I was trying to play with the pup.
A bonus is the lack of dog owners here… If you are looking for a place to take a «shy» dog then this might be good for you.
Plus side: it does have shade and water
… I won’t be coming here again.

The CRA just spent 200K renovating this block and turning it into a garden and off leas play area for dogs. New high end lighting, benches, double gate fence entry for the dog play area and water fountains were included. A trash can is there and maintained for people to clean up after their pets.
Its really nice to have this sort of amenity in the Downtown!