Tanner Park — Attraction in Salt Lake City

I used to Have a house right above the room overlooking Tanner Park. I crossed Luise Ave and went through my neighbors backyard down the slopes right into the park. That's when Tanner Park was NICE! There were NO fences! It was wild. Then came the bike riders (the worst group of people) who thought that 20 THOUSAND miles of bike trails were not enough and they wanted to go right through Tanner Park. Then our ineffective and idiotic city planets (2nd worst group of people) went to work and because none of these idiots are dog owners, started to fence Tanner Park into a horrible, ugly mess or is today. They fenced large portions of to plant useless vegetation, including CACTI!!! There was a beautiful little Oasis smack on the middle between the access to the river at the beginning and the swift deep waters at the end where the pipe comes out of the mountains. It had a little bridge, lots of trees and shade. It was a nice meeting point for dogs and owners. Now? Inaccessible. Back then you could cross the walk/bike path to the north to an open field with shady trees, a little pond with frogs and plenty of trees trumps to sit on. The bikers hated dogs because once in a while a dog would be in the way of them as they came down the hill racing at 60 MILES PER HOUR. What did the morons at the city do? Regulate the bikes and made them aware that they were on an OFF LEASH AREA? One of the few few few in Salt Lake? Nope. The bikers lobbied and won! Eventhough we as dog owners pay a MONETARY FEE FOR OUR DOGS ( bikers pay NOTHING), the cretins sitting in their offices hated dogs so much they used millions of tax payers money to fence off Tanner Park into oblivion and created a bike trail just for them (no dogs allowed) and left is with only an ugly, dusty, trail! No access to the stream besides a dirty hole at the beginning (they even removed the bench that was under the only tree) and access to reading esters on the spring were dogs get swept away frequently. And you know what? There is a shady, flowery path that runs the entire length on the opposite side of the creek. And as you guessed it: NO DOGS ALLOWED!! But guess who can use it: BIKE PEOPLE TO GET TO A STUPID BMX JUMP AREA!! The people in the city office are idiots and not worth their huge salaries one bit! I am not a vengeful or violet person, but every time I walk the park and I see that someone has damaged the fence and made it fall down, I cheer! I wished more hooligans would come at night with Sawzalls and cut all of it down. Last but not least: The idiots at the court even allow bones IN THE PARK!! Who thought bikes and off mesh dogs were a good idea? Bikers have thousands of miles were they bike, WE have TWO places where they can run off leash legally! And they couldn't give us this Park 100%??? Unfortunately I am very busy with work, otherwise i WOULD be at the city offices and look for the idiots who decided to destroy Tanner Park and file motions to be heard and would make them take every...

Love this place! So fun to bring my golden and my havanese here. First of all, words of caution for anyone who reads this!!!!

Sometimes the water can get high and dangerous! Not only for you, but for your dogs. Today, both my dogs actually got stuck in an undertow area right by the tunnel. Luckily, my golden managed to stay afloat despite getting pulled back but my little tiny 10lb pup actually starting going under. If it wasn’t for my boyfriend, my small pup definitely would have drowned if he didn’t act quick enough in going in the water himself and pulling her out. My boyfriend also ended up drawing my golden out too until I also got in the water to my knees to pull him out the rest of the way! Could of been a lot worse of a situation!

June 4th - the drowning happened again! This time I went all the way under the water trying to pull my dog out. The undertow is very strong. For someone who isn’t an experienced life guard or swimmer, or even a quick thinker. Damage can definitely be done to a human or a dog. I was able to pull my dog out by holding my breath and letting the water push me away. Even then, you get in a spot where you can still get pulled in. PLEASE BE CAUTIOUS OF THE UNDERTOW

Next, some words of advice. If your dog isn’t nice to other dogs...don’t bring him to the park, especially if they are off the leash. It’s happened about five times to where a dog has tried to aggressively attack my little one or provoke my big one. Its not fun for the dogs or the owner. Keep your aggressive dogs on the leash! Pick up after your dogs. Seriously. Doggy bags at the start of the walk...take them! Take more than one and give it to another owner who was too careless to do the same. Pick up the poop and if you don’t want to hold it...just tie it to your dog. If anything, set it down and come back and get it!! BUT PLEASE pick it back up. Expect dogs. All kinds of dogs. Big dogs, small dogs, old dogs, new dogs...they are everywhere! That being said, you’ll get some more trained than others. If you don’t like dogs slobbering or jumping on you...maybe this isn’t the place for you. And again, if your dog doesn’t do well with other dogs....keep him away from other dogs...

Curious where people are getting the idea that it’s a “dog park” or a “dog play ground” as @kayla has said. Yes there is an off leash area but it’s not a place reserved strictly for dogs and their owners. So NO kids should not be banned from exploring nature because you want to slack off. I used to hike this trail years ago and decided to bring my littles here and the smell, the feces everywhere and complete disregard dog owners have for others looking for a nice walk along this “historical nature trail” with or without children is a turn off.

This is the only nature park I know of that is like this in my area, and it’s a shame what’s become of it. We love dogs and it is a bit of a struggle to keep my kids from touching the dogs but I respect their space, and teach my children to do the same. I wish it was reciprocal, because it is possible to train your dog. My daughter was jumped on so many times with the owners so far away AND YES IT IS THE OWNERS FAULT when your dog jumps on people. That behavior is unacceptable and unfortunate considering your dog can learn not to jump on people and have pleasant interactions with people, many dog owners I know personally would agree.

The city really needs to step in and intervene, it is disgusting. It’s kind of hard to be proud of this “dog playground” as some of you call it when it looks and smells the way it does. There are other off leash dog areas that do not look or smell like this. Maybe it’s because the owners respect the space that is for “EVERYONE” and not so entitled like the dog...