Posted August 11, 2014 | Updated June 18, 2019

We, at Virginia State Parks love our dogs so much so we are a very pet friendly place. People bring their dogs on vacation to camp or stay in one of our many overnight facilities.

And most of all, for our day use parks, to walk their dogs.

Every dog certainly has their day at Leesylvania State Park

Meet Moose the star of this blog

Ok what does that mean?

I have read that the saying goes all the way back to Shakespeare. I have heard it used negatively and positively. I am using it in a positive way; the dogs in my family have great days. The star of this blog, Moose, had his day at Leesylvania State Park.

In fact Leesylvania State Park in Woodbridge was named the “Best Place to Walk a Dog” by the readers of Prince William Today  from insideNOVA.com

Moose finds a nice place to sit 

I headed out to Leesylvania State Park to see if indeed it is the best to bring a dog?  

I myself do not have a dog only because I have two cats that will not allow me to have a dog in the house. The last dog I had, for over 17 years, was the center of my universe and if you know anything about felines, that is not acceptable. I decided to invite my favorite “nephew dog” Moose out to Leesylvania State Park for Music at the Marina and to check out the validity of this award. Of course, one of my favorite nephews came with Moose. Now Moose is an interesting canine a Plott Hound, the North Carolina state dog. He is a rescue dog as are all the dogs in my family. Sweet does not begin to describe him!  Easy going, smart and oh so friendly, especially with the ladies.

A new friend for Moose, wow, what a beauty!

While we were walking Moose around the trails, I began to notice all the dogs in the park that night. They were accompanied by their pet parents young and young at heart. We had a great time meeting all the different dogs and hearing their stories.

This guest comes to the park twice a day to walk her dogs.

She said "I feel so safe here."

Moose making himself comfortable

I brought an old hand made quilt for us to picnic on, it didn’t take long for Moose to discover just how comfy is was, in fact at one point we were sitting on the grass and Moose was on the quilt. Being the polite boy that he is, he asked for some of his “Aunt Nettie’s (that’s me) three cheese tortellini salad, normally I do not give dogs people food, but found Moose hard to resist.  I have to admit, he almost caved in to temptation when the people next to us put down a bucket of chicken on their picnic blanket.  It was just more than a dog could handle, thankfully my ever-vigilant nephew kept a tight hold on his leash to avert any ugly scenes. Moose did however; give them the most rude and intense stare down ever.

Moose wonders if that is a wolf or a dog?

It was a wonderful night full of family, music, food, and friends and of course the subject of this blog, the dogs. And yes, Leesylvania State Park is not only the Best Place to Walk your dog," but the Best Place to Bring your dog as endorsed by Moose himself! 

If you and your best friend would like to visit the park, please keep these few rules in mind to make everyone's stay safe and happy:

• Your dog must be on a leash no more than 6 feet in length. 
• Please bring fresh water, there are several water sources in the park but not all are near trail heads.
• There are trash cans and "poop stations" throughout the park for your convenience. 
• And I am sure as most pet parents know, never; ever leave your pet in a vehicle on a warm day. Since a dog's average body temperature is around 101.5 degrees, they heat up a lot quicker than we humans do.

Leesylvania State Park is located in Woodbridge, about 32 miles outside of Washington D.C. in Northern Virginia. See Google Map below.  For more information on the park, please call (703)730-8205