Anamax Park

The actual park here is very nice and a nice place to take a walk or just relax even on a summer day. But I’m reviewing this for the Anamax dog park. I went here once and never again. In most dog parks there are two sets of gates so you can leash/​unleash your pet before entering or leaving. This only has one set so if someone leaves it open your dog can get out. Also the small dog area shares a fence with a horse stable so it’s pretty stinky (I know this could be considered a «first world problem» but if I’m going to sit here with my dog for a long period of time, no thanks). Both the small dog area and large dog area are unimpressive. Not much room for them to run like other parks in the Tucson area have. Lots of dirt and not very well landscaped or clean for a dog park. I understand that dog parks aren’t always going to be the cleanest but nobody picked up after their pets here and there were no waste disposal bags like other parks have. I don’t want my dog getting sick from sniffing another dogs poop. Also kudos (not!) to one of the guys that was here when I was. His dogs were not friendly with mine what-​so-​ever. No idea why he would bring his unfriendly dogs to an off leash dog park. He also had the nerve to leave the gate open after he left. Won’t be bringing my dogs back here again.

There are basically three types of Moms on the park circuit. There’s the «I-just-crawled-out-of-bed-after-three-hours-of-sleep-don’t-you-f’ing-dare-judge-me» Mom on the sidelines, buried in her smart phone. There’s the perfectly coifed yoga Mom, gathered around her other hot mom friends talking $hit about their husbands. Lastly, there’s the universally reviled Helicopter Mom, romping after Sweet Baby Noah down the slide.
Trust me, I’d love to relax in the shade catching up on Facebook drama or chatting up my friends but as a parent of a special needs child, I HAVE to shadow two steps behind my son or he’ll run off and join a pack of javalinas. Anamax Park is the only park that I’ve found in the greater Tucson area that was designed specifically for such children and their families. The covered playground has a fence around the perimeter, with only one gate in and out.
We visited this park on the Sunday during Memorial Day weekend, and oddly enough it was totally deserted. We were the only family at this 22 acre park. In addition to the little fenced in playground that we visited, there’s also a sensory park, but that requires keys to get in which wasn’t happening on a Sunday.
My review wouldn’t be complete without mentioning the bathrooms. Actually, that was kind of a problem… I’m pretty sure the restrooms are in the recreation center building, which was locked up. I’ll spare you the grisly details on how that problem was resolved. I did mention that the park was totally deserted, didn’t I?

Anamax Park is a 22 acre park where skateboarders were practicing jumps and kids were blowing off steam.
Features:
* covered playground area with swings and multiple structures
* skate area
* new sensory playground for children with special needs
* 3 lighted little league baseball fields
* 2 lighted multi-​use football & soccer fields
* 2 concession areas
* lighted basketball and sand volleyball court
* one acre off leash dog area called Anamax Bark Park
* several picnic areas and barbeque grills
* 2 restrooms
There is an approximate half mile path surrounding the northern portion of the park with additional pathways connecting all park facilities.
The 5,000 square foot recreation center is open M-​F from 8am-​5pm, Saturdays, from 9am to 4pm. Park hours are 7am-​10pm.