24 | VIPDestinMagazine.com
story by
Kimberley Sabens
| photos provided by
City of Destin
Destin Dog Park
L
ooking for a fun and safe outdoor space to spend the
afternoon with the pups? Destin Dog Park is the perfect
spot to let the fur babies run wild and socialize. Located
on Indian Bayou Trail and in the heart of Destin, this
park is situated on 3 acres of Bermuda grass and includes separate
areas for large and small dogs. There are watering stations, ample
parking spots, and benches to relax on while your best buddy gets his
playtime in an aggression-free environment.
Since opening in January 2012, Destin Dog Park has consistently
been a cooperative effort between the City of Destin’s Parks &
Recreation Department and the “Friends of the Destin Dog Park,”
the valued volunteers who had their funds matched by the city to get
the park started. The dedicated volunteers passionately raised over
$60,000 and the city matched those funds, and donated the city land
to start the project.
“The dog park is probably one of the most well-utilized parks in
the city. We rarely see it empty. We also have a lot of park regulars.
We laugh, calling it a social people park as well because people get to
know one another through their dogs,” says Barb Pelford a “Friend of
the Destin Dog Park”. Boasting water features, fences, and abundant
clean up stations, the park is an ideal spot to enjoy a day outdoors
with your best friend.
“Friends of the Destin Dog Park” donate their time, effort, and
money to maintain and improve the park. With additional expansion
efforts in mind, including rotation park and agility equipment, they
always welcome donations. “We want to keep adding more and more
amenities over time, including benches and live oaks. We also need to
continue cleaning up the scrub pines. One big cost for us recently was
to add the lights. It ended up costing us around $30,000 but it allows
us to now stay open after dusk, providing park access to folks with all
types of schedules,” says Barb Pelford.
XX-XX AdventureOut.indd 1
5/23/17 10:58 AM