Massive Off Leash Dog Park Planned For North Carolina’s Whitewater Center
This sounds like dog heaven. There is nothing my dog Winnie likes more than being free to roam without restrictions. Soon that dream will become a reality for lots of local dogs. A massive off leash dog park is planned for Charlotte, North Carolina’s Whitewater Center.
According to the Charlotte Observer, the U.S. National Whitewater Center is planning a massive 70 acre off leash dog park . It should be ready as early as November. Dogs are already welcome at the Center but right now they are required to be on a leash. All that is about to change. The enclosed dog park will also feature a lake-front beach with water and trail access.
My family and I already love going to the Whitewater Center in Charlotte with their 1300 acres of of lakes trails and woods. We go for the rafting and zip lining. We also go for the food and music. Now we will be going to let Winnie roam and make friends til her heart is content.
So when does this dog Nirvana begin? Man’s best friend and their moms and dads will be able to hopefully use the massive off leash dog park November 17. For ten dollars you can bring one dog for the day. There’s only one dog per day with a day pass. If you want to bring another, additional dogs are $50 each. To learn more about this massive off leash dog park planned for North Carolina’s Whitewater Center, get details from the Charlotte Observer right here.
After a hard day of playing at the Whitewater Center, you might want to take your pooch with you to your favorite restaurant. Here are a few of our suggestions for top dog friendly restaurants.
5 Of The Nation's Top Dog Friendly Restaurants Are In North Carolina
Five of the most dog-friendly restaurants in America are in North Carolina. Listen I love dogs. I really do. And I’m on board (if your dog can handle it and is happy) for taking dogs to places like breweries. Perhaps even somewhere with an outdoor patio to eat. But I’m a little more hazy on that one. But what I saw this weekend in Blowing Rock, was two different dogs one in a stroller and the other just laying under the table, inside in a restaurant. I’m sorry the line has to be drawn somewhere. Your dog will be ok at home for an hour by themselves. These were not service animals, just dogs that were accompanying their owners to dine inside a sit-down restaurant.
I get it. When my dog was alive I did wish I could take him everywhere. He loved to go to the drive threw, the bank, or a pet-friendly store like Petsmart. But I never took him into a general store and certainly never to a restaurant. And in all honesty, he would have been miserable at a restaurant. He hated sitting still in a new place, would have been trying to eat everyone’s food, and the heat outside would have bothered him as well. But despite my personal feelings about taking your dog out to eat, numerous people do it. This is what led Yelp to create a list of the most dog-friendly restaurants in America. And not one, not two, but 5 North Carolina restaurants made the list.
Here’s how Yelp says the list was curated: “We identified businesses in the restaurants and food categories with a large concentration of reviews mentioning “dog friendly,” then ranked those spots using a number of factors including the total volume and ratings of reviews mentioning those keywords between June 1, 2020, and June 1, 2023. If a chain appeared on the list more than once, we only included the highest-rated location. When available, all businesses on this list have a passing health score as of June 1, 2023.” You can view the full list of 100 restaurants here or keep reading to see the 5 top dog-friendly restaurants in North Carolina.
Catherine Lane is the morning show co-host and midday host on Country 1037 in Charlotte, North Carolina. She has been with the station for the past 24 years and is a recipient of the Academy of Country Music Major Market Personality of the Year award. Catherine has been on air in both radio and television in the Queen City for 38 years. As a content creator for Country 1037, Catherine writes blogs on local events and restaurants. She also writes about great travel spots and out of the way places in the Carolinas. Anything outdoors, travel, food, animals or the many country artists from the Carolinas.