Best Dog Park

Located just north of where Park Drive crosses from Monroe Drive into Piedmont Park, the PIEDMONT PARK DOG PARK is where the city's pooches, from Great Danes to Pekinese, run wild. The 2.5-acre doggie playground also has a separate fenced-in plot for small dogs and puppies. The place is paradise for dog-watchers - and perfect for Atlantans who don't have a Fido of their own to scratch that dog-owning itch.
www.piedmontpark.org.

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MASON MILL DOG PARK is metro Atlanta's ground zero in the canine-oriented recreation craze. The shady, fenced, half-acre romping zone features park benches for humans, "Dog Pot" courtesy bags for pooches and a drinking fountain for man and beast, as well as plenty of communal tennis balls with requisite dried slobber. If you own a mutt, it's "the" place to mingle with your fellow dog people. If you don't, it's a fine opportunity to hang with the dogs without going to the trouble of buying and cleaning up after one. "1400 McConnell Drive" less...

It opened on a trial basis in 2002, but thankfully, the Atlanta City Council voted in July to make the PIEDMONT PARK OFF-LEASH DOG PARK a permanent fixture. A good thing, too; metro Atlanta has too few places where dog lovers can unleash their pets to socialize, sniff each other's genitalia, and basically frolic with canine abandon. The park is thoughtfully designed, from the vinyl-covered fencing to the double gates that keep dogs from sneaking out when people come and go. And now that the park is officially sanctioned, dozens of trees have been planted and benches have been installed. A victory for pooches and their owners. "Northeast corner of Piedmont Park, 10th Street and Piedmont Avenue." less...

Scanning the lush, green expanse of Piedmont Park on its busiest weekend afternoons, anyone can see at least half the visitors are quadrupeds. Piedmont is a doggie cotillion: a place for the hippest Midtown pups to meet and greet. But all good parties leave their share of messes, so park officials ask that all pets visiting Piedmont be leashed and cleaned up after. less...