Since coming back from our road trip nearly two months ago, we've been staying indoors due to COVID-19 as per the restrictions in our area. We've been walking around our neighbourhood block almost exclusively, so we planned to take Markus out early this morning. Even though British Columbia's been doing fairly well, we still went early to beat the crowd.

To ensure that people kept a safe distance of 6 feet from each other, there were signs throughout the park. At this point, most of the dog owners are also mindful of social distancing and respectful to one another, so it wasn't an issue. It was also early, so the park wasn't as busy yet, which made things easier.

About Barnet Marine Park

• Type: Park

• Length: 3.7 km

• Traffic: Moderate to Heavy

• Route Type: Out & Back

A lot of our friends have told us about Barnet Marine Park in Burnaby, British Columbia and we've always wanted to visit it. We haven't had the chance since the park is far for us, but since we haven't really gone anywhere during these unprecedented times, we decided to make the drive out. The first thing that we noticed was that the park is a very family-oriented space, which comes with a safe community feel. Even though it was earlier in the morning, there were other groups of families, who likely also wanted to beat the crowds.

As you approach the park, there is a parking lot with plenty of parking (though, it does fill up - spoilers). From the parking lot, there is a short path that takes you down and over the railroad tracks to the park. From here, you'll be met with a fork in the road. Most owners go towards the left side of the park where the dog park is and on a path that goes along the water called Drummond's Walk. There are areas on the right side of the park that don't allow dogs, so we didn't bother visiting that side.

Barnet Marine Park Off-Leash Area

• Type: Off-Leash Dog Park

• Size: Small

• Enclosed: No

• Doors: None

• Traffic: Moderate

Barnet Marine Park has an off-leash dog area immediately left of the fork on the path. Since the area isn't enclosed, it wasn't the most comfortable for us even just walking through on the path. Dogs were running from beyond the off-leash area and coming straight at Markus, who did well considering he's only seen the same neighbourhood dogs for the past almost two months.

I need to warn those with reactive dogs that most of the dogs at the park are off-leash. Even though there's a designated off-leash area and leashes are required on the path, you can almost assume most dogs are off-leash both in and out of those areas. Since Markus isn't good with dogs coming straight at him, we were a bit on higher alert, but he got along pretty well and only barked at one other dog who went in to sniff his butt a bit too aggressively.

During the walk, we also came across a small beach area that was kind of enclosed by rocks. It's not truly enclosed in the sense that it's fenced around, but the rock cliffs were steep enough that dog won't be able to escape quickly, but not so steep that you can't get up or down. This created a natural enclosure for us to let Markus and his dog friends roam freely and it was good to see him playing like this after having only been around our neighbourhood for so long. As usual, Markus didn't go into the water!

When we were done with the beach area, we kept walking down Drummond's Walk until we hit the end of the trail. From here, then we doubled back and headed back on the path that we just walked to get back to the parking lot. 

It was nice to be able to get out and get a walk in with fresh air during these times. The park started to get extremely busy towards the end of our walk - so much so that all the parking spots were taken and there was a line up for cars waiting to get in. Considering what we're currently going through, you would imagine that given regular circumstances, that the park would've been even busier. If you get the chance to make it all the way out here, it's definitely worth it as long as your dog is comfortable with other dogs being off-leash!

What we liked

• The views at this park are spectacular especially when the weather's nice. There are benches along the water so you can sit and enjoy the view.

• It was nice that there were beaches that were "enclosed" where we could let Markus off to roam and explore off-leash.

• The other owners were respectful about their dogs and we felt that they had pretty good control of them.

What we didn't like

• Even though there are designated areas for off-leash dogs most of the dogs to be off-leash throughout the entire park.

Our Recommendation For Reactive Dogs

Because almost all the dogs in the park are off-leash - even outside of the designated areas, it's hard for me to recommend it to reactive dogs even though it's a beautiful park. We did get the sense that most of the dogs, though off-leash, were very well controlled. Still, there were too many moments with dogs rushing at Markus.

At the end of our time here, Markus had done very well with most of the dogs (except for one he growled and barked at), but if your dog is not great with off-leash dogs approaching you, I would proceed with bringing your dog at this park with a bit of caution.

Disclaimer

Markus is a reactive, but not aggressive dog. His instinct is to avoid other dogs and he may growl, bark or lunge if provoked, but will not attack. We normally do not have issues with leashed dogs when both sides are controlled, but we will be on guard when an oncoming dog is not leashed. There are varying levels to a dog’s reactivity and only you can decide if this park, trail or hotel is appropriate for your dog. Our visits generally will not include off-leash areas; most experiences shared on The Markus Project are within leashed or undefined areas.

Please remember that our past experience visiting a park, trail or hotel may not be the same as your experience at the same park, trail or hotel. We have no control of who visits the park and whether they adhere to park rules - like leashing their dogs on leash-required paths - or not. Please use your discretion with the information provided and with your personal knowledge of your dog’s reactivity when visiting these parks, trails or hotels.