Yuba City off-leash dog park closes, owners face uncertain future

Yuba-Sutter is losing its only off-leash dog park, leaving owners of high-energy dogs with no clear replacement and no guaranteed place to let their dogs run safely. The Yuba-Sutter Off the Leash Dog Park in Yuba City, at 2050 Wild River Drive, has entered shutdown mode, and the loss hits hardest in a region that has relied on this five-acre space as its only dedicated off-leash option.

The timing is messy, but the consequences are immediate. The park board said in a public notice on March 29 that it would stop maintaining the park effective March 31. Caltrans said the nonprofit received a 60-day notice to vacate on April 1, giving it until May 31 to leave the property. Caltrans also said marketing of the land would begin June 1, with an auction potentially coming in late July if the schedule holds.

That auction would not happen quietly. Caltrans says its excess-land sales are open to the public and are usually conducted by oral or sealed bid, and every sale still needs final approval from the California Transportation Commission. For dog owners, that means the closure is not just a local setback but the start of a broader state property process that could keep the site in limbo for weeks.

The park’s collapse carries extra weight because it is not just another recreation spot. Prior coverage has described it as the only off-leash dog park serving the Yuba-Sutter region, and the nonprofit says it provides more than five acres for dogs and their humans to walk, run and play off leash. The land sits in the Shanghai Bend area of Yuba City and was originally tied to a bridge project that was later abandoned.

Financial pressure had been building for years. The park had leased the land from Caltrans for 17 years at a reported annual rate of $100 before the rent jumped to $1,790 in January 2025. Volunteers explored paying monthly instead of upfront and even hoped the parcel might be donated, but the nonprofit said it could no longer sustain maintenance through the spring. The park has been funded and maintained entirely by volunteers and donations, including raffles and sponsorships.

The gates may stay unlocked for now, but that is not the same as having a functioning dog park. Without maintenance or oversight, the space’s safety and usability are uncertain, and the region’s high-drive dogs are left waiting for a substitute that has not yet emerged.