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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. 

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5/23/17   10:58 AM