Top Dog Parks And Dog-Friendly Trails In The Haverford Area

By Justin Heinze:

If there's one thing dogs love, it's running free.

Walks in the neighborhood can be great too, but sometimes humans struggle to understand or appreciate the bounty of the great outdoors.

The fresh scent of a recently passed squirrel, for example, is, inexplicably, of no interest to the human. Many humans likely don't even notice the scent.

Meanwhile, at the oak tree on the corner, the neighbor's dog relieved himself no more than an hour ago. This is plain for the dog to see, but humans especially do not have interest in this. Instead they walk in a straight line, on a set path, out and back, back and forth, around in a circle or a square around the block.

Dog parks change all that - now they can run, uninhibited, in any direction, and linger for indeterminate amounts of time wherever they please.

There are an abundance of dog parks in the suburbs. In addition, there are several great local trails for dogs to explore (on-leash) as summertime officially begins. After all, if the human is willing to participate in an adventure, running free doesn't have to mean running off-leash.

Here are a few of the top local spots:

Ithan Valley Park, 642 S Ithan Ave, Bryn Mawr

Rolling Hill Park, 1301 Rose Glen Road, Gladwyne

Harford Park, 260 Gulf Creek Road, Wayne

Friends of the Radnor Trail Park, 304 Liberty Lane, Wayne

George Lorimer Nature Preserve, 1379-1529 N Valley Rd, Malvern

Skunk Hollow, 600 Darby Paoli Road, Radnor

Haverford Reserve Dog Park 9000 Parkview Drive, Haverford

Reservoir Dogs Park, Fillmore Street & Franklin Ave, Phoenixville

Reynold’s Dog Park, 1000 Longford Rd, Phoenixville

Valley Forge National Historical Park, 1400 N Outer Line Dr, King of Prussia

Lower Perkiomen Valley Park, 101 New Mill Rd, Oaks

Schuylkill River Trail

Evansburg State Park, 851 Mayhall Rd, Collegeville