Riverside Dog Park

Fayetteville, North Carolina is an old city, having been founded nearly twenty years before the Revolutionary War. The city started as an inland cotton port and became quite urban. Much of the town was destroyed by General Sherman at the end of the Civil War. The city has struggled to recover for most of the rest of the 19th century, but it really came out of its doldrums after WWI. 

Today, Fayetteville is the home of Fort Bragg, the largest military base in the world, but there is more to the city than just the Army. For instance, there is the Cape Fear Botanical Garden, dedicated to preserving southern plantlife and providing education in botany. Next to the beautiful Botanical Gardens is Riverside Dog Park. The park is nicely sized, at over two acres. 

The park is divided into two sections, with a smaller section dedicated to dogs under twenty-five pounds, but the small dog section is large enough for a little dog to really run around in. The park is nicely shaded, with natural grass as the main ground covering, although there are some areas with gravel covering. The park is well-supplied with poop bags and has plenty of benches. 

There are water fountains for people and puppies, and a dog wash station just outside the gate. The water is available year round. Riverside Dog Park is a popular park, so it's a great place to visit if your dog is very sociable. You can also take your leashed dog out to the Cape Fear River trail for extra exploration. Riverside is well-maintained but doesn't have a lot of bells and whistles. 

What makes it a really great dog park is the fact that it has excellent, dedicated volunteers who come to the park to clean, provide extra toys like frisbees and tennis balls, and spend time reaching out to visitors from out of town, especially members of the military who stop by the park with their puppies.