Is Summit Park a big dog park, or not?
A tempest is brewing over whether Summit Park, the 23‑hectare forest atop one of Mount Royal’s peaks, should be an off‑leash dog park. Opinions largely depend whether someone has a dog or not.
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Ian 19:06 on 2024-07-09 Permalink
One of the biggest problems is that there isn’t a dog park anywhere else nearby. Obviously this is a nature preserve, not a dog run – it’s already leash-only throughout early spring so flowers and plants at least have the chance to get started, and walking through the park is confined to the paths.
I’m not a dog owner but I get it, dogs like to run and get weird if they can’t. If only the electorate of Westmount could find another place for people to let their pets do whatever… Sunnyside Park, for example, is mostly unused and basically adjacent.
Nicholas 19:56 on 2024-07-09 Permalink
Westmount has three dog runs, not including the Summit Woods, for 20,000 people in a 4 km² city. CDN-NDG has five, for 167,000 people on 21 km². Le Sud-Ouest will soon have seven, for 78,000 people on 16 km². The Plateau has four, for 104,000 people on 8 km². Cote St Luc has two for 35,000 people on 7 km². I didn’t check further, but I bet Westmount has more dog runs per capita and per area than all the central boroughs and cities, and probably many of the suburban ones. I think the people who live in the million dollar mansions at the top of the hill can schlep down to Murray Hill Park, whose dog run is at worst 1.4 km away and mostly under 1 km for people north of The Boulevard, so as to protect one of the few natural areas in the centre of the island.
carswell 23:22 on 2024-07-09 Permalink
Summit Park is a site of major importance for small migrating birds like warblers in the spring, historically early May. Such birds tend to migrate not like geese, covering long distances at a stretch, but by flying from tree to tree. After a long, non-stop flight over the very wide St. Lawrence, a huge distance for them, they’re exhausted and head to the nearby and highly visible woods, where they often spend a day or two eating and recovering before continuing their journey. And they really are famished and exhausted, sometimes letting you stand close by as they gobble a line of aphids from the underside of a stem, behaviour I’ve never seen in their natural habitat.
If Westmount doesn’t do the right thing and ban off-leash dogs from the park at all times, they should at least do so during that crucial period (mid-April to mid/late May).
Ian 23:24 on 2024-07-09 Permalink
I’d love to see it, the park really is a gem with a lot of wildflowers and wildlife. It’s a shame the local residents don’t see more value in that.