10 Best Boise Dog Parks for Off-Leash Fun

Ask any dog owner and they’ll tell you that some of their best happy hours don’t come in a pint glass. Their happiest hours are the ones spent with their best four-legged friends, letting off steam and socializing at a Boise dog park.

But dogs, like people, have their own preferences when it comes to recreating. Some like nothing more than a leisurely sniff, others like to romp with new friends, while still others like to sprint full bore in circles until they drop.

So we’ve compiled a list of our top 10 favorite off-leash dog parks in the Treasure Valley, along with what makes them so great. Here they are, in no particular order:

1. Ann Morrison Park

Downtown Boise – 1000 S Americana Blvd
Off-Leash Hours: sunrise to sunset, Nov. 1 - Feb. 28

Dogs are welcome year-round at Ann Morrison’s Together Treasure Valley Dog Island, a 5.4-acre site with swimming holes and even a fenced area for shy canines. But during the winter months, the entire 153-acre park is open to off-leash dogs. This is the best park for energetic pooches who need plenty of room to run.

2. Military Reserve Dog Park

Boise North End – 750 N Mountain Cove Rd
Off-Leash Hours: sunrise to sunset

If you prefer to hike with your dog over playing fetch, Military Reserve will become your new favorite spot. The 734-acre reserve includes an off-leash dog hill that’s a good workout to climb (right behind the new bike park), as well as miles of trails behind it. Some trails are designated off-leash while others are on-leash, so be sure to bring a leash with you and check the signage.

3. Castle Hills Park

Northwest Boise – 5350 Eugene St
Off-Leash Hours: sunrise to 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. to sunset

Located in the Pierce Park neighborhood, this quiet park is surrounded by houses and mature trees. In the mornings and evenings, you can take your dog for a rousing game of fetch on 2.2 acres of the park. With plenty of shady trees and nearby tennis and basketball courts, this park is very popular with families.

4. Cypress Park

Southeast Boise – 4382 Tableridge Way
Off-Leash Hours: sunrise to 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. to sunset

This 7-acre neighborhood park is popular thanks to its walking paths and sweeping views of the foothills. This is the type of park where people greet each other’s dogs by name and have informal “doggy playdate” meetups for a turn around the park and a romp in the grass.

5. Manitou Park

Southeast Boise – 2001 S Manitou Ave
Off-Leash Hours: sunrise to 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. to sunset

“Fur parents” flock to this park, as roughly half of this 11-acre park is open to off-leash pups during designated hours. This is another good park for energetic dogs – you’ll see a lot of them racing each other in the open field (and then panting contentedly under shady trees).

6. Morris Hill Park

Boise Depot Bench – 10 N Roosevelt St
Off-Leash Hours: sunrise to sunset

This quiet neighborhood park is a great option for older, skittish, or smaller dogs. The designated 1-acre dog park is fully fenced and includes a separate area for small pups to socialize. There’s not a lot of room for energetic dogs, but it does include some agility training equipment to play around with.

7. Storey Bark Park, Meridian

Northwest Meridian – 430 E Watertower Ln
Off-Leash Hours: sunrise to sunset

This is the Disneyland of dog parks – full of fun things for dogs to do and a crowd of dogs to do it all with. All 2.25 acres of this Meridian dog park are fully fenced. It’s also got separate large and small dog play areas, doggy drinking fountains, agility equipment, and shade shelters. Grassy and graveled areas are separated by paved walkways, so owners can follow their playful pups around at their own pace.

8. Sunset Park

North End Boise – 2625 N 32nd St
Off-Leash Hours: sunrise to 10 a.m., Oct. 15 - Mar. 15, 3 p.m. to sunset

This is another treasured neighborhood gem. A little under half of this 10-acre park in Boise’s Sunset neighborhood is off-leash to dogs in the mornings. Here, you’ll find a dedicated troupe of dogs and their owners socializing each morning while their dogs cavort in an open field.

9. Discovery Park, Meridian

Southeast Meridian – 2121 E Lake Hazel Rd
Off-Leash Hours: sunrise to sunset

This new Meridian park is a great option for families. Socialized dogs do great in the park’s 1.2-acre dog park, which has separate areas for large and small breed pups. But the park’s main attractions are its climbing wall, zip lines, roller slides, sand and water play areas and splash pad. You’ll see many families dividing and conquering duties, with one parent overseeing the kids on the playground and the other in the dog park with their “fur baby.”

10. Molenaar Park

South Boise – 2815 S Maple Grove Rd
Off-Leash Hours: sunrise to sunset

This 20-acre park has great on- and off-leash options to give both you and your pet a leisurely workout. The former dairy farm features meandering walking paths where you can stroll with your dog on-leash, as well as ponds, environmental education “conservation stations,” and even nesting stations where you can see and learn about bird species.

The park also has a newly opened, fully fenced off-leash dog area. While the area is just under one acre, it has a separate “shy dog” fenced section and is a great place to let your dog run out some energy before or after an on-leash stroll about the park.

While we all love to bring our dogs with us to parks, it’s good to note that there are also several parks in Boise where dogs are strictly prohibited, even when on-leash: Quinn's Pond, Veterans Park Pond, and Esther Simplot Park.

And please remember to follow Boise’s rules and regulations when visiting on- and off-leash dog areas.

Boise Dog Off-Leash Parks/Areas Map

*Note: With the exception of Story Bark Park and Discovery Park, which are in the City of Meridian, all 15 Boise dog parks are noted on the map. For more information on Boise City's four-legged recreation areas, you can visit Boise City Parks & Rec here.

Originally published in Mar 2016, updated Aug 2022.

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