Minnehaha off-leash dog park to close after sacred site ruling

Minneapolis is losing one of its most useful off-leash outlets for hard-charging dogs. The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board voted 8-1 on June 17 to decommission the Minnehaha off-leash recreation area no later than Dec. 31, 2026, ending off-leash use at a site that has drawn dog owners since 1992.

The closure does not shut down the park itself. The area inside Minnehaha Regional Park identified as a dog park will stay open to the public, but dogs will have to be leashed once the change takes effect. Park officials said they will work with community and technical expertise to create additional off-leash recreation opportunities elsewhere, a search that now matters most to owners who rely on Minnehaha’s mix of woods, trails, open fields and river access.

The fight over the park was bigger than a standard access vote. Several dozen people testified for and against the closure, and the board framed the decision around the site’s status within Mni Owe Sni, also known as Coldwater Spring, a Dakota sacred area with deep cultural, spiritual, historical and archaeological significance. The National Park Service designated Mni Owe Sni a Traditional Cultural Place and listed it on the National Register of Historic Places in 2023, underscoring the land’s importance beyond recreation.

That cultural argument collided with the loss of a rare dog space that many owners consider hard to replace. The off-leash area covers about 6 acres of river bottomland, and the National Park Service describes it as a partially fenced 4.3-acre site with accessible river bottoms where dogs can take a dip. For hyperenergetic dogs that need full-speed running and water, that combination is unusually valuable in an urban park system.

The board’s June decision followed another boundary change in 2024, when commissioners formalized park lines and cut off access to more than half of the beach. Staff later said off-leash dogs had harassed and killed a river otter and migratory birds, bitten two National Park Service-affiliated workers, trampled and destroyed restoration plantings, and interfered with breeding bird surveys. The broader Coldwater Spring landscape has also been under restoration for years, after it was added to the Mississippi National River & Recreation Area in January 2010 and reopened in 2012 following demolition of 12 buildings, restoration and seeding of 12 acres of prairie and 1 acre of wetlands, and planting of more than 1,000 trees, shrubs, grasses and wildflowers.

For Minnehaha’s regulars, the final deadline is now clear. A rare off-leash stretch with water access is being phased out, and the city’s next move will determine whether anything comparable can be built elsewhere.