River Road and Essex Park Off-Leash Dog Area is a mouthful, but to your dog it’s a mouthful of of freedom. This large designated area of Essex Park is fenced and ready for romping. Your dog has a variety of spaces, from open grasslands to woodchip trails, to keep them happy and take care of their paws. The other park in the neighborhood is Buckridge Park. Your dog can enjoy leashed walks on trails or lunch at the multi-use picnic tables. It’s a hit with pets and pet-parents both.

Cooke Park, next to Cascade Creek, is an oasis in the heavily built up City Center neighborhood of Rochester. Leashed dogs can walk the trails, enjoy the picnic tables, or drink from a few dog-friendly fountains. If you take your dog down to the water in the summer months, he’s allowed off-leash for swimming--just be sure you can get him back on leash before heading back to the rest of the park! Then get a snack at Forager Brewery, where dogs are always welcome on the patio, and the drinks and pub food are flowing.

Smetka Park and Meadow Park are two on-leash parks in Chester/Marion that are great for exercising your dog. Do loops of the park to burn off energy or work up stamina. They’re solid five tail wag parks. Jean & Carl Frank Canine Park is simply off the wag-o-meter, however. This large, fenced, off-leash romp zone is the best park in the neighborhood, and maybe all of Rochester. It has open areas and wooded areas, and opens into walking paths for leashed dogs. This popular park is open year-round and almost always has visitors ready to run and play.