Located on 110 beautiful acres off Dale Road, a half mile east of Cottage Grove Drive, Woodbury’s off-leash dog park is now boasting a new name: Andy’s Bark Park. “Andy was the Woodbury police department’s first K-9, named after captain Andy Niemala, a 24-year veteran of the department at the time who was instrumental in starting the K-9 program in Woodbury,” says Mike Adams, assistant parks and recreation director for the city of Woodbury.
The property for Andy’s Bark Park was acquired using open space referendum funds, with the first acquisition of 70 acres occurring in 1998, followed by the acquisition of an additional 40 acres in 2009. The park offers approximately 2.5 miles of natural surface trails with benches, 10 acres of prairie, a pole barn with picnic tables, pet watering stations and waste disposal stations, a portable restroom and trash containers. Owners are allowed to have their dogs off-leash as long as the dogs have a Woodbury dog license.
Recent improvements to Andy’s Bark Park include a paved parking lot, new perimeter fencing, a separate dog area, crushed rock trail loops and a paved trail loop. “All of these improvements have been well-received and remain popular with park patrons who use it year-round,” Adams says. “New signage will go up this year, as will a parking lot kiosk.”
