📍 ATX Off-Leash Area: Two Parks We Can’t Recommend

Not every park on Austin’s Parks & Recreation DOLA list is a hit, and unfortunately, Norwood Estate Dog Park and Carson Ridge Bark Park were both a hard pass for us.

While we love finding great spots for off-leash adventures, these two parks just didn’t make the cut—and here’s why.

ATX Off-Leash Area:

🚫 Carson Ridge Bark Park – A Letdown in Every Way

Let’s just get straight to it—this park should not be on the DOLA list.

As we pulled up to what we expected to be a public dog park, we thought we were in the wrong place. What we found was a small, poorly maintained area that appeared to be attached to an apartment complex.

Right away, we noticed:

❌ Dirty & Unkempt – Dog poop everywhere, and smelled like pee.

❌ Not Secure – Right next to a fairly busy road with broken gate held together by a rusty wire.

❌ Unsafe Elements – Cool tree logs and boulders for the dogs to jump on, but they were growing mushrooms, which can be dangerous for dogs.

The only saving grace? If the park were cleaned up, it could have potential for training—dog parkour, obedience work, or medium-distraction sessions.

But as it stands? 10/10 would not recommend, unless you live at the apartment and use it for solo exercise. Ellie took one look and wanted to leave—can’t blame her.

🚫 Norwood Tract at Town Lake Metro Park – Immediate No

Before we even had a chance to park, a fight broke out inside the dog park. Hard pass.

This is a large, fenced-in dog park, but if you’ve been following BAMK9, you know we don’t recommend dog parks in general—and this park showed us exactly why.

🔹 Distracted owners

🔹 High-energy, unregulated dogs

🔹 Constant barking & tension

That said, the space outside the park? GOLD for training. We decided to set up right outside the fence, and it turned out to be the perfect distraction-heavy training session.

If you’re looking to:

✔️ Work through leash reactivity

✔️ Build engagement around distractions

✔️ Train with real-world noise & energy

Skip the dog park itself and train right outside instead.

🐕 Hard Pass on These Two

At BAMK9, we’re all about finding spaces where dogs can safely explore, train, and build engagement with their owners. Unfortunately, these two parks just don’t meet the mark.

Want to know why we don’t recommend fenced-in dog parks? Check out our interview with Kinship here:

🔗 Safety Concerns at Dog Parks

📍 Stay tuned for our next ATX Off-Leash review! Hopefully, we’ll have better news next time. 😅

Rusty wire being used to keep gate shut at Carson Ridge Bark Park.

Mushrooms growing out of log intended for dog use at Carson Ridge Bark Park.

Ellie working sit stay outside of Norwood Estates Dog Park