Hueston Woods State Park, north of Oxford, offers various year-round recreational activities to both students and city residents. And as of last summer, dogs can get in on the fun as well.

The state park opened its own dog park in June last year that has been quite a hit since.

Chad Smith, Hueston Woods’ naturalist supervisor, said the park has a total of three acres, ample shade trees and plenty of benches for owners while their canine friends frolic.

According to Smith, the area used to house five captive white tailed deer. The park had them for education purposes before an unknown incident occurred where they all ingested something fatal and died.

“A great deal of land had opened up, but we didn’t know how we wanted to use it,” Smith said. “Dog parks have been very successful at other state parks so we decided to follow suit.”

Hueston Woods collaborated with the Oxford Dog Park when plans were being developed, Smith said. The operators of the Oxford Dog Park provided key insight into what people look for and enjoy when using a dog park.

Senior Justin Reash has been to the state park multiple times with his dog Wilson.

“When I go, I usually see about three or four other people enjoying the area as well,” Reash said. “It’s awesome to go there because it’s much bigger than the Oxford Dog Park.”

Smith said not only is Hueston Wood’s Dog Park well maintained, planting new grass as needed, but they also have several plans for future improvements and developments.

“We would like to add agility equipment and have competitions sometime in the future,” Smith said. “As for plans for this year, we’re hoping to put in new water fountains and make fence improvements. Overall, we would just like to expand the opportunities for people and their dogs.”

The Hueston Woods Dog Park is open from sunrise to sunset, seven days a week all year.