About Everett Crowley Park

• Type: Trail

• Length: Varies (the outer perimeter is 2.5 km)

• Traffic: Moderate

• Route Type: Loop/Multiple Trails

Over the weekend, we met up with some of our dog friends at Everett Crowley Park in Vancouver, British Columbia. It's the first time we've been to this park and we enjoyed the time that we spent there. Just off of SE Marine Drive, Everett Crowley Park is a trail that feels like it was made with dogs in mind. They have a nice combination of paths that you can take, for both on-leash and off-leash dogs.

This park is one of those that have multiple paths and trails that you can take depending on the length of the walk that you want. As you go along the trail, there are maps along the way to guide you, but we found the maps to be a bit hard to follow. Most of them don't have "You Are Here" indicators and the ones that do have been placed there by people who probably felt the same confusion.

Once you get to the first map (at the entrance of the trail when you enter, just past the parking lot), you'll notice that the park is split up into on-leash paths and off-leash paths. If you're an owner of a reactive dog, you should quite honestly disregard this. Our dog is always on-leash and some of our dog friends are also reactive so we purposely take the on-leash paths, but we've come across too many dogs that weren't leashed. If you're planning to do this trail and your dog is reactive, keep this in mind.

The trail does vary between wide paths and narrow paths, but we found that it's just wide enough for dogs to pass each other without coming head on. If the other dog is off-leash, which they often are, then it becomes that much harder for the dogs to pass each other. It becomes more stressful for Markus (and for us). Remember, even if you are taking on-leash specific trails, there's a good chance you'll run into off-leash dogs.

The park is pretty big and there are quite a few things to see. It's mostly paths and trees, but there are also a bunch of logs along the way too. Towards one end of the park is a pond where we've seen some ducks. There's also an off-leash dog area almost exactly in the middle of the park if you want to get your pup to burn off some energy. While the area is loosely fenced off, it's also not fully gated, so unless your dog has good recall and won't take off on you, you might not want to bring your dog here.

As a whole, we liked this park and we'll likely come back. That said, if your dog is reactive, you might want to be cautious coming to this one. Markus did really well and although he can be reactive, he's also not the most reactive of dogs. Some of his friends that we came with had a bit of a harder time, though. In the end, I still think that if you're comfortable bringing them to this park, it's worth trying at least once. Just be prepared that off-leash dogs will be coming up to you.

What we liked

• The park itself is really large and it's quite a nice walk.

• There are multiple paths that you can take to with varying lengths.

• There are a good number of garbage cans throughout the park.

What we didn’t like

• The maps were very poorly marked. They were missing the You Are Here indicators and the paths were hard to follow.

• Off-leash dogs are on on-leash trails. It can be hard for owners with reactive dogs.

• The off-leash dog area's not gated, but it is loosely fenced.

• For people with allergies, we came here once in the spring and cotton covered the ground so much that it looked like snow.

Our Recommendation for Reactive Dogs

For the most part, this park isn’t bad for reactive dogs, but unfortunately we see a lot of off-leash dogs on on-leash paths. We haven’t had any issues ourselves, but there are areas where the paths are narrow and without much room for dogs to pass. Generally speaking, the paths are wide enough for dogs to go by without issues and I would try to avoid those narrow areas, especially if there are dogs off-leash. While I think it’s alright, I would err on the side of caution and not bring your reactive dog here if you’re not confident.

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.