Whitewater Center Off Leash — Attraction in Belmont

I’m honestly surprised to see so many negative reviews about this park. Let me start by saying that I am not a local. I visit the area every couple months. This is the best dog park I’ve ever been to! I have a couple dogs, one of them being a hound who follows his nose. As soon as I let him off leash, he’s gone, checking back in with me every hour or so and then running back off to sniff. The other stays around me most of the time and runs off with my hound occasionally. There are provided Adirondack chairs, covered picnic tables, seasonal beer and cider, two main trails, a pier, trash cans, agility area, dog washing station, water station, and clean restrooms. Side note: They had cider last weekend when I visited, and it was SO GOOD! It tasted better than the cider I tried at an actual apple orchard a few days later. September 2025. Day passes are $10/dog, monthly passes $20/dog, and annual passes are $149/dog. Parking is $12 per visit unless you get an annual parking pass, which is $40 and runs calendar year to calendar year. There is a store on site to purchase accessories for your dogs. My recommendations to those who plan to visit: Bring life vests just in case if your dog is an active swimmer, as many wear themselves out by playing fetch or swimming incessantly. Make sure your pups have collars and updated tags with your contact information. Carry dog bags, collapsible water bowls, and treats for them, or snacks for yourself, if you plan to stay a while. Keeping a folding chair in your vehicle might come in handy if you visit on a busy day when the other chairs are occupied. If you have a hound or dog who is prone to following their nose, I suggest using an AirTag or GPS collar. This park is 70 fenced acres with ponds, trails, and thousands of trees. You can’t see from one side to the other, so this will help you have an idea of where your dog is if they run off. (I was timid to let my dog go the first time because of the “what ifs”. I assure you, it’s completely fenced. I walked the entire fence line to make sure 😅.) For those who have Apple AirTag collars, you’ll lose signal on the location of your pet unless someone with an iPhone happens to come in contact with your dog. Ask me how I know! I found that out the hard way on visit #2. Seeing question marks on location status is a scary feeling. Things to keep in mind: There is not a verification for updated vet records. Please keep aggressive dogs and dogs in heat at home! This is one large park that is open and NOT separated by size or breeds of dog. All dogs have access to the same amenities. The trails go through the woods. When it rains, there will be puddles. (Some of the lower reviews listed this as a negative feature. You’re in THE WOODS.) Upon entering, you have to walk through two locked gates before entering the main check-in area. It’s safe! Tennis balls are provided as community property. If I lived in the area, I’d be here as much as I could. My dogs LOVE this park, and after trial and error on my part with the hound, my boys had a great third visit that was stress-free. We stayed for nearly 6 hours! They were so tired afterwards. Bring your dogs. Bring a book. Bring your optimism, and leave stress at home. This experience is worth every...

So glad we walked the area before bringing our dog because we will not be bringing him. It's a wonderful idea but it's a terrible execution. It seems as if the whitewater center just took a piece of land they weren't using, slapped a fence around it and called it a dog park.

For starters, a MAJORITY of the advertised acreage is water and woodland that isn't really ideal for walking your dog through. The "beer garden" was more of a gift shop than anything else. There were like 5 taps inside and the outside area was closed. It just isn't what was advertised nor what was expected based on the high quality of the whitewater center.

There are multiple aspects we found that were unsafe for your dog. There is metal sticking out of concrete at the bank of the pond that could hurt your dog. There's a collapsing building in the woods that just has a giant hole for anyone to fall into. There is trash not just around this building but all around the park. There is apparently barbed wire in the pile of trash around this building. There were dog toys in the middle of the pond, which I get are going to happen, but these had clearly been in the water a while and we didn't see any method to get them out so it's only a matter of time before a dog tries to swim out to one of these and ends up stuck in the middle of the pond. The fencing around it isn't complete and doesn't have the top pipes and is quite low meaning if a dog does try to jump the fence, they probably can and could cut themselves on the chainlinking.

The open field is torn up, overgrown and had a giant puddle even though it hadn't rained for a few days. It had what appeared to be two things for agility training in the middle of the field but that was it which doesn't make a lot of sense.

There are rules put in place for safety which are nice, but there was one employee at the "beer garden" which means once you're in the park there's no one to enforce any of these rules. There are dogs that are not in control of their owners as we came across multiple dogs without an owner in sight. There is poop all over the walking trails, which again is going to happen in a dog park, but if you're going to have a posted rule that you have to pick up after your dog, have someone to enforce that.

We talked to the employee on the way out and she was fantastic. Took our feedback and seemed concerned by the pictures we showed her and wrote them down. However, she said that the building was known about which means no one attempted to fill in the hole. I don't know how no one knew about the metal sticking out as it was immediately seen when walking around the pond. Overall, with how long it took to open and how long it was delayed, we expected a lot more and it just...

70 acres of off leash fun for your four legged kids! They can romp at the beach or take them out on the 1.5 mile trail through the woods. There’s food and beverages (including of the adult variety) available, too

Weekdays are MUCH less crowded than weekends. Go first thing on weekends to beat the rush. The first time we went on a weekend afternoon the entire parking lot, including the smaller lot around the corner, was full, not to mention dealing with traffic from all those going to the main Whitewater Center facility, too.

So far my experiences have generally been positive. Dogs for the most part are well behaved and any issues are resolved quickly by owners.

I do wish they did not allow dogs off leash inside the Barley House/guest services where you first enter. If you have to stand in line there with your dog on leash to get your pass and other dogs are running around off leash trying to interact with them, it can be hard on the owners trying to control their dog on leash and get a little chaotic. I've also seen and experienced dogs getting tense from it, too. Had one dog wanting to play with my dog while we were waiting in line and it jumped and landed on my dog's head while she was on leash not able to protect herself and she snapped at the other dog and I had to quickly pull my dog away and put her down to correct her behavior (not that I was necessarily mad at her given what happened, but still...) and nudge the other dog away.

Also, really wish they did not allow unneutered male dogs at the park. Yes, it's a dog park and a male dog might try to get frisky with a female dog, but so far from my trips here those dogs who are fixed are generally good about not trying it again when their owner breaks it up. Had one of those instances on my last trip to the park (my female dog is fixed, FWIW). However, also had a dog who was literally glued to my dog's side, who kept trying the neck dominance and hump her for several minutes before his owner pulled him away and walked away and within a minute that dog was right back to following my dog again side-by-side or with its mouth literally up her rear end and that's when I noticed he wasn't fixed. He was fixated on trying to mount her and it became very uncomfortable for my dog and irritating for me, both the dog's obsessive behavior from not being fixed and the other owner not paying attention and keeping their dog away. I finally had to interject to let my dog try to get away for a second before the other owner finally came to get their dog again and we ended up leaving the beach area.

That said, these instances have been exceptions, not the norm. Our experiences have been mostly positive, and we will...