Best Parks and Off-Leash Areas for Dogs in Seattle

Off-leash zone: The whole forty-acre designated area, which is not fully fenced along the river side, so only let a reliable recall dog off the lead. Outside the marked boundary the leash goes back on, and dogs are not allowed on playgrounds or on fields where a game is in progress. Professional dog walkers need a King County permit.

💡 Marymoor Village Station on Link Line 2 sits at the north-east corner of the park, so with a dog that can ride the train this becomes a car-free day out. Drivers pay a small parking fee at the gate.

Off-leash zone: The fenced enclosure only, with a separate area for small and shy dogs on its south-west side. Between the car park and the gate the leash is compulsory, and the surrounding woodland trails of Westcrest Park are on-leash ground.

💡 The double gates and the full fence make this the safest choice in the city for a nervous or newly adopted dog. Go on a weekday morning and you may have the small dog pen to yourself.

Off-leash zone: There is no off-leash area here. Leashed dogs are welcome on the trails, but dogs are not allowed on the beach below the bluff or at the West Point lighthouse shoreline, which is the part most visitors want to reach. Read the signs at the top of the beach stairs before you descend.

💡 Park at the visitor centre on the east side and walk the Loop Trail clockwise: you get the meadow views without the long descent to the off-limits beach, which spares an argument with your dog and with a warden.