Benjamin Banneker Park

Where are all the small dog owners at? This park is one of the few I’ve found in the area with a section for small dogs– and there never are any to play with! My puppy would’ve loved to have made some friends today!

Hey, it’s a dog park. Give me a good variety of pups, lots of baggies for poop pickup, friendly folks, and I’m pretty happy. Toss in the newly constructed small dog area, and I’m sold! Benjamin Banneker Park is super conveniently located less than a mile from my parents’ house, so I go here often with my rag-​tag bunch of schnauzers.
It’s a mixture of dirt and gravel, but mainly gravel, so it’s nice that the dogs don’t get too muddy or disheveled, and while you used to have to be a little careful with smaller pups because there are a lot of big dogs that run around here, the new small dog/​puppy area easily takes care of any issues there.
Harry, Daxter, and Pixel-​approved!

I take my cocker spaniel puppy to the small dog section sometimes. I’m a bit disappointed that the folks who frequent the park do not pay close attention to their dogs. They like to bring larger dogs over to the small dog section with no explanation and then they don’t watch their pet. Even watching on the larger dog side, folks don’t seem to be tending their dogs very closely. After a little girl wandered into my section alone without a parent for the third time and tried to play with my dog, I packed up and left. I must find an alternative to dog parks!

This particular park is also the long time home of the 1791 SW-​9 Boundary marker that is located not very far from 4 Mile run. Took a really close look at the fence surrounding the marker and have found that it is sturdy, strong and well maintained as well as the park itself. But the bridge crossing over 4 mile run has be fixed or repaired because the the sidewalk on the eastern side is blocked off and shut down.

Perhaps the B person should consider medication to help with negativity. Banneker is the friendliest, best managed, most supported and caring dog park in Arlington. The Facebook group has 200 members, the sponsor group and Go Fund Me group supply toys, clean the water bowls on an hourly schedule, and welcome all newcomers. Many park goers pick up piles left by negative and/​or inattentive humans because Banneker folks care about healthy pleasant conditions for all. Over the past year significant progress has been made in ground cover, weed control, toy availability, installation of brand new small/​elderly/​handicapped dog enclosure and almost everything else that results in a pleasant experience for all. A lot of humans and canines have worked really hard to create a wonderful environment. Certainly hope that human’s negativity does not extend to the canine. Poor pup.

I don’t know what the other reviewers here are smoking. I attempted to make this our after work park due to it being on the way home and near the metro. In two weeks each and every night we visited from say 6 – 8 pm we saw aggressive dog fights (one to the point the guy who pulled his dog off another almost lost a finger) and owners who don’t correct their dogs. Aside from the obvious problem fights where at least one dog was bleeding we saw all sorts of unacceptable behaviour. ie letting dogs rip toys from human hands, aggressive growling over toys, jumping up ripping my shirt to grab a toy I had attempted to remove from play and double-​bullying other dogs by nipping their legs or the hind quarters when being harrasssed face to face by another dog.
My dogs are medium sized and are not sissy little brats. They are extremely social and very passive when another dog gets confrontational. I have never had problems at Annandale, South Run, Cabin John, Glen Carlyn, not even notoriously wild Shirlington but at this park I found that the few bad apples at this park run the show from 6 – 8. The odd thing was out of two weeks it never seemed to be the same bad dog we could avoid. Each night it was an entirely new bad dog.
The dogs my dogs played with for a little while scurry off as quickly as their owner can get them out as soon as the «problem» dogs arrive. Unlike other community parks where good people gang up and enforce aggressive dog bans here it seems that if your dog gets attacked you are the one forced to leave allowing the aggressive dog to stay and attack the next dog.
The facility itself is not bad aside from it getting extremely muddy after the rain. I don’t get why people are reviewing the surrounding area park when clearly this is meant as a review of the dog park only. The location is fantastic so I was very disappointed that we still have to drive 20 mins out of the way to go to Glen Carlyn or Annandale since during winter that means we can’t make it before dark.
Maybe it is better at a different time of day but unless we have no choice we won’t be trying to use this park as our regular after work park.

Great park! I have a small 10lb dog and he does fine being mingled with big dogs. It can get pretty muddy after rain, snow, etc. I really love how there are plenty of tennis balls for all the dogs to play with.

Thank god for Reddit for introducing me to this park. There is a Trail (walking/​biking), playground, soccer field (i think?) and a playground. The playground is kind of sad… but i went here during the winter, so hopefully during the summer it gets more vibrant.
Dog park is AMAZING. Oh my goodness. Its a pretty big fenced in yard that has two water bowls, a bucket of toys, and two fences so when you come in and out the dogs can’t just bolt out. The park itself is gravel but most dogs didn’t seem to mind. We went on Sat around 2:00pm and there were about 15 dogs there. Around 3pm, there were about 20+ dogs! Big and small, light and dark. The owners were really vigilant about their dogs and watching them so they didn’t get into trouble. There was this mean mini dog that kept barking but the owners were really nice and stepped in when they had to. We had this dog that kept humping my dog… kind of funny. Anyways, excellent park. Right near East Falls Church metro. HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend.
PS: Your dog will get dirty.

Benjamin Banneker Park in general is very nice. Great sports field, nice bike/​jog/​walking trail as part of the Four Mile Run Trail, picnic area and grills, etc. But the highlight for us is the dog park.
Living about a mile away from here, this is our go-​to play area for our dogs. The park is well maintained and the participants are conscientious about picking up after their furry friends. Very few piles to avoid!
The dogs have plenty of room to run around in. There is ample water and baggies for those who may forget them. The ‘air lock’ arrangement for getting in and out without letting other beasties loose works very smoothly… and l like the two entrances at either end of the dog area.
Seating is a bit sparse and it does get rather muddy after a rain… but neither bothers the dogs, who are happy to be there.
I really appreciate it… as do our furry buddies.

It seems like there’s a lot to do at this park. Here’s a description of it from its website:
This open, grassy 11-​acre park features trail access, picnic tables with charcoal grills, a combined school age and preschool playground, a multi-​use field, and dog park. Benjamin Banneker Park also includes boundary markers of the original District of Columbia.

Great dog park — pretty clean and well maintained. The only reason I don’t give it 5 stars is because I like the park in Reston better. Reston separates their dog park into two sections: one for little dogs, one for bigger dogs.

I take my friend’s dog here when I am petsitting for him, and the park is always filled with really cool, responsible dog owners. If the dog is annoying other dogs or people, the owners address it right away, and I feel comfortable taking the pup here and know there wont be issues. The only downside is the mud as others have said.

I head to this dog park at least 3 times a month, and each time I always leave with a story. Sometimes they’re not so good, other times they’re hilarious. The people who come here are always super friendly and polite, and for the most part, so are their pups. I’ve seen a few dog tussles that went beyond just playing, but the owners are pretty good about removing the troublesome dog.
The one downside? Not enough places to sit, and it gets really muddy after the slightest of rain, and stays muddy.

This is a good park, though not my favourite. As others have said, it is a good size with lots of trees, toys, and bags and the other dog owners we interacted with seemed to be good ones who understood their dogs and knew what behaviour to worry about and what to do about it. Contrary to what others have said, however, the mud situation has not been remedied. When we were there, several days after the last rain, it was still super muddy. It does look like a good place for the summer — I imagine it’s nice and shady.

This dog park is a good size and is half open, half covered in trees. There are benches, picnic tables and a new water faucet area with bowls (the area used to always be muddy/​flooded but Arlington has since fixed this). There is always a diverse group of dogs but sometimes I see people with very tiny dogs walk on by. There are lots of tennis balls for the dogs to chase. If there’s ever a fight or dogs get too rowdy, owners are usually very good at breaking it up and controlling their pet.

Great!

This is a good local dog park for Falls Church and Arlington. It can get pretty dusty in the summer and muddy in the winter. However, it has a water station, bags, a bulletin board and lots of toys. The parking situation can be tricky at times because the lot is shared with a soccer field. All in all, your dog will love it and that’s what matters.

I really like this dog park because it actually has shade. Shade of real trees. There are other dog parks in the area (I won’t name names so I don’t hurt that parks feelings) that don’t have any trees and get really dusty when it hasn’t rained in 2 days. It’s plenty long for the dogs to run at full keel and people bring lots of toys for the dogs to play with. There’s limited parking right there at the park, but right around the corner there are a bunch of street spots. It’s open until 8 or so which is nice and it has lights for when it gets too dark.