Big Sky Park
21690 Neff Road
Good for: Residents of the East side. It’s far.
Okay, really, Big Sky is only about 5 miles from my house. I’m already spoiled by Bend, so this seemed like a very long way to drive. Ha.
The park has lots of room and two completely fenced areas, but I didn’t love the feel of it. It was flat and dry (I know, welcome to the high desert), and while Betty seemed to like it, it wasn’t as much fun for me.
There were lots of other dogs who seemed pretty well socialized, so if your dog is jonesing for playtime and you don’t mind the “trek,” this might be a good place for doggie playtime.
Details:
You turn into Big Sky Park and drive another mile or so into the park, past several grassy sports fields (follow signs for the off-leash area). Once you’ve parked, you cross this little stream:
Here’s the main entry:
And then it’s pretty straight-up high desert for the minute or so it takes to walk to this grassy area:
The grassy area is bordered by desert brush and dirt; dogs chasing each other would bound into the border area, churning up tufts of dust,, and would play a little hide-and-go-seek. There were more dogs/owners here than in any other park I’ve been to so far.
Mostly big dogs, which of course delighted Betty. She loves being manhandled by a dog 10 times her size.
Not the prettiest park I’ve seen…Well, it’s not chopped liver. It’s still pretty in that high desert way; this is the desert trail area:
But given the hilly terrain of Overturf, and the pretty garden at Hollinshead, I probably won’t be back to Big Sky unless Betty needs to be chased by big dogs. Maybe it was driving past the sports fields that made it feel less wild somehow, I don’t know.
Or maybe it was the Big Sky effect — it doesn’t feel like the woods, it feels flat and open, with well, lots of big skies above.
Dad is coming over from Eugene today, so we’ll take the dogs to Pine Nursery later… Will report back.