Inner city living for dogs is one thing, inner metropolitan life is another…read more It's seriously difficult for a dog to find somewhere to go these days what with the world going mad every time a bad owner lets their bad dog bite some child or elderly person. Everyone who owns a dog needs to find ways of socialising their animal, it's a natural thing to do because they are pack animals after all, and living a life of solitude does not suit them. Well here's a nice dog friendly spot you can bring the pooch in order for it to get out and have a bit of time to relax in a fresh environment as well as sniff the bottoms of peers. Bottom sniffing is one activity dogs can not get enough of. The second best thing to do is leave your mark. Widdle somewhere; preferably somewhere that other dogs have widdled, in order to play a kind of 'membership' game. Make yourself a member of the in crowd by leaving your mark. All of these things and more can be done at Pooch Park. It's provided by the West Torrens Council, and they keep it well lit into the evening, and make sure it is reasonably well looked after. It is a fenced off area, with two gate entrances so you can get the dog in, close the gate, then go that next step deeper... this way there can be fewer surprises involved. It's a great thing to have a nice sized dog park available in a heavily built up area with few outdoor spaces making dogs actually welcome like this.

Tedder Pooch Park (or you may, as I was, be told it's Findon Pooch Park) has to be the urban dog's…read moreidea of paradise. The day Leaf and I went there was light rain, that lovely Soft Irish Rain, so before entering the enclosed off leash area we took a walk around the park. I would imagine on a hot day this would be 'the' place to take a promenade with your pooch. Beautiful tall trees and a wide boulevarde where dogs have plenty of room to pass in the approved doggy manner, by arcing around each other not face to face as they have to on city side walks, this is truly a good long walk. By completing the circuit, we came back to the doubled gated off leash area. Being double gated it gives you a chance to 'suss' out who's who's, before entering. The off leash area is just perfect for City Pooches who are not able to really meet and greet other dogs in approved doggy style, so be prepared for lots of butt sniffing and general 'howdy doodys'. It's also a grand time for them to sniff and sniff some more, heaven only knows how many grand smells abound, and no chance of them picking up and eating anything totally undesirable as can happen on the urban streets. The park is very well equipped too with plenty of Agility Equipment for the fitness conscious dog to have a grand work out, or for those pooches who just 'wanna have fun'. A cutie little white gal was having a wonderful time trying to emulate the big guys, jumping over the tunnel. Plus there are bins, just in case of accidents, which is great no more having to walk miles carrying a bag of doggy doo! And for the humans, there's a great shade area, though please do watch your dog at all times! Plus the car park is a really decent size, so parking isn't a problem either. I understand the park is also well lit at night, so no excuses for not allowing your urban dog a little fun time in true doggy style. Leaf and I will definitely be back we had a real blast!

This is such a great place. With a playground, skate park AND beautiful bike/hiking tracks through…read morethe local bush land, this really is a pretty place. While it isn't the biggest playground, they certainly have designed it with a wide range of age groups in mind. There's a mix of rubber ground and bark chip ground with toilets right in the middle of the skating area and the playground area. I spoke to a local who said the skate park is great (I've been out of the skating scene for too long to know hehehe). There were a couple of broken street lights in the car park but he assured me that the park gets maintained and looked after well, and he was surprised to see the damage himself. Pack your family up, put the bikes in the car and head over here. It would be a lovely Sunday outing. This is definitely one to check out. It's such a pretty place and while there's more construction happening at the moment (looks like an extension to the playground) this really is a happy blend of playground and nature with plaques along the way with information about the wildlife in that area. *I didn't see a drink fountain or BBQ* *Dogs allowed...under effective control of course* *Stay tuned to this post, I want to check the tracks out more myself! :-) See you there!*

Minkarra Park is a great place to take the kids on school holidays when you just need to get out of…read morethe house. It has exercise equipment, large skate park, hiking trails, fenced dog park and playground with toilets. Whilst I mainly visited for the playground with friends, I was disappointed that it does not cater for crawlers or children under 2 very well. Some of the equipment was too high/difficult for them to climb and they spent the majority of the time on the rubber ground. There was also no toddler swing, so if your kids like swings as much as mine then it's not the place to go. That being said it s well kept and tidy, but probably suited more to 3/4yo and up.

Harold my 8 month old puppy and I just love heading to this dog park! Generally friendly pooches…read morewith owners who don't mind a chat. Doggy poop bags are readily available from all entrances however that doesn't mean that people always use them so keep an eye out as you walk around. There is a cafe truck that usually rocks up in the late afternoon on Wednesday and Saturdays, a great way to warm the hands in the cold winter months. The downside to this park is the lack of lighting at night. In winter it's a struggle for the 9-5 workers to get home, pick up their pooches and then get to the park before darkness kicks in. Overall a nice dog park with lots of space for your four legged friend!

Bring the four legged members of your family here. The more the merrier, I say! On the corner of…read moreHazelmere Rd and Oaklands Rd there's a fantastic oval which turns into a dog park when sport isn't being played. It was so lovely to watch all the four-footed family members running around, enjoying the sun. One mother (of children and dogs) was walking the dog around the while the children played on the playground. The two areas are fenced off from each other but there's easy access from one to the other via child-proof gates. The playground obviously is a hit as you can tell from the photos. While it looks like the playground is more suited for younger children, there is a large climbing frame and a rubber hammock that proves to be a nice place to 'hang out' with your friends and chat....as older children do ;-) There are sheltered table/chair areas, a BBQ, and a drinking fountain but these are a little distance from the playground area. I was quite baffled by this. I would have thought there would be some shaded seating closer to the playground. Electronic toilets are closer to the playground than seating! hehehe The playground itself doesn't get a lot of shade so make sure you Slip, Slop, Slap. *Dogs allowed in dog park* *Working drinking fountains in both the oval and playground areas* *Sheltered table/chair areas* *BBQ* *Electronic toilets*

This morning it was the venue for an Italian Greyhound meetup, everyone found it a fantastic park…read moreand really handy for those with smaller breeds who'd had issues with attacks from larger dogs at some of the nearby parks. Still super clean, it doesn't shut either so coming back at night we take Dallas for runs in the dark (the only downside is the lack of lighting at night, hopefully they follow North adelaide parks lead with that, get it, lead ).

Firstly the map on here does not show the correct location for this park. It is further away from…read moreRichmond Rd than this. Have a look at my pictures for the correct location of this park. This park is great. Not as big as our local but has some great features. * It is broken into 2 sections for different dogs * it has ample water with a dog bowl and tap,water fountain and a dog shower! In both sections * there is shade and shelter for hot or rainy days * lots of benches to sit at * fully fenced with double gates for doggy safety * poo bags and bins * lots of area to explore. This park has lots of newly planted trees. In a year or so this place will be even more lovey and have extra shade and character. A good effort by the council!

Ideally, this would be a five star rating but I had to leave room for improvement. This little…read moreripper of a park is getting MORE equipment added to it so I had to leave an extra star for a review at a later stage. If your dog or your child needs room to run about, this is the place to come. There is SO much room! The playground is fairly new and the entire play equipment area has a rubber floor. There are electronic toilets, BBQ, sheltered table/chair area, and a drinking fountain that needs a little servicing. It's one of those wonderful drinking fountains that have a lower collection spot for the off-run of water so the four legged pooches can have a drink also. Attached is also a tap. To be honest, if it wasn't such a great set up, the play equipment wouldn't be all that great. This is definitely a toddler park with one piece of equipment that reminds me of swinging around on the old lop sided hill hoist (which isn't suited for toddlers at all). This is a lovely place to be. The BBQ looks like it's the oldest piece of equipment of the whole area but it still looks like it gets used (it was a rainy day, I didn't try myself). This has all the makings of a wonderful 'destination playground' so hopefully the new equipment can help it get that one last star. *Dogs allowed (bags available)* *Drinking fountain (needs servicing)* *Sheltered table/chair* *entire rubber flooring*

This playground seems a little disjointed. There's a very small toddler playground near the tennis…read morecourts and a larger playground under shade cloth that is designed for older children. There's a rotunda area that you could set up with table and chairs although there is a table/chair in the sun just outside of the rotunda. There is also a BBQ in that same area. There is a lot of space here so if you brought bikes, they would definitely get some use, although the area is quite hilly so little ones might need to be supervised. The shaded playground is a great set up. There's a lot of different equipment for older children and would suit Primary School aged children. In my view, it's a shame the two playgrounds aren't closer together, at least on the same hill. There are toilets at the beginning of the park...not too far for little children to walk but it is right next to the car park. I'm not sure what Burnside Council has against putting in drinking fountains, but here's another playground without one. *Dogs allowed* *BBQ* *Rotunda* *Tennis Courts* *Shaded playground for older children* *Toilet block*

This park is really quite extensive and I'm sure everyone will find some aspect of it that they…read morereally like. It's a very well set up place; toilets, ovals, tennis courts, playground and the list goes on. With my playground reviews, I always consider it a good sign if I can't take a lot of photos because people are enjoying the area. This is the case with this playground. There's so much to explore here. The only piece of advice I can give you is that the playground is behind the Scout Hall.

What I like about Ridge Park at Myrtle Bank is that despite its location in a super heavy traffic…read morearea the park itself remains incredibly quiet. Ridge Park is just down from the end of the freeway so there's never any shortage of traffic whizzing by. Amazingly, step just a few metres into the park and the traffic noise disappears. You can actually hear the birds chirping. This is both a dog friendly and people friendly park and there's no shortage of users. I love the open spaces for the pooches to run around and the plentiful facilities on offer here. Also in the park on the corner of Glen Osmond Road and Barr Smith Avenue is a memorial listing the names of fallen soldiers from World War I. From history buffs to boy scouts to four legged people, Ridge Park has something for everyone.

This is a great little playground. It's geared towards toddler fun more than anything but with all…read morethe room around it, older children would be happy to kick a ball if they were bored, I'm sure....either that or they could spin around in the egg cup until they were sick?!?! ;-) I'm fast becoming a fan of any playground that has a sheltered table/chair area. Today, with all the rain, they have become a nice reprieve. There's not much here more than a smallish playground and covered table/chair. No drinking fountain. No toilets. This was clearly never designed to be a 'destination playground'. In saying that however, this is a beautiful addition to any community area. *Dogs allowed* *No drinking fountain* *Sheltered table/chair*

Hmmmm, look at the photo...the sign says it all! This would have to be the worst playground I have…read moreseen in the City of Marion area. It is as run down and decrepit as the sign, it really is. There's a swing seat missing, so the chains just hang there like something out of a horror movie. The only pluses of this place is that the entire floor of the main equipment is rubber and there's shade built into the playground structure. This would NOT be a place I would want my child to play, especially seeing as there's SO many better playgrounds in the general area. It might mean getting in the car or getting on the bike, but it's better than here. City of Marion, this is DEFINITELY one playground that needs to be on your upgrade list!!

All aboard the Crozier Train!!…read more There's something for all ages here. The train is obviously designed for younger children and the other play equipment is used mostly by older children, only for the fact that there's a lot of climbing things. There aren't even steps up to the slide. The elderly gentleman in the photos wanted the children in his care to be "Super Stars" hehehe. That's the only reason why I've included the photo of them on the swings. He was quite insistent that I take the photo. Sweet man :-) There is some tree shade here but don't rely on that. Depending on what time of day you visit, there may be no shade over any of the equipment. The playground area is fully fenced. No dogs allowed. *No dogs allowed*