MacDonald Gardens Park — Attraction in Ottawa

A lovely neighborhood park designed at the turn of the century, which maintains its period charm. The west side is rolling lawns filled with beautiful old specimen trees. The east side is flat open grassy areas with pickup soccer games on summer afternoons, and an area set aside for off-leash dogs. Through the center runs a grove of shaded forest. The undergrowth has been cleared (as it would be in a European park) which creates a stately green cathedral in which to shelter from the hot summer sun. Benches are generously planted throughout. And a pretty summer house sits on a hill in the dead center of the park...

A sketchy sort of park; some shady people hang out here in the evenings on the people side of the park (where the no dogs signs are). Often something weird happening in this park for some reason, one day it was Armenians and Turkish yelling at each other, another night I went there was a woman being literally thrown around by two large men and dragged though the grass. It's a nice park during the day though with many dog owners. Nobody heeds the No Dogs signs on the human side...

Pretty park, very relaxing, with a lot of dog walkers and dogs in off leash play. No facilities other than benches to speak of, though. No playground equipment for kids (which makes it quieter if that is what you are looking for). If you are looking for a kids park, there is one a couple of blocks up Clarence Street (sort of to the west), next to the community pool (Patro...