Before 8 a.m. at Thompson Peak Park, two of the three fenced lawns are open. One is for active dogs and the other is for passive dogs. The third sits empty behind its gate on purpose. That empty lawn explains how Scottsdale's newest dog park works, and it explains why the next five months there will feel different from the first two.
The park opened Friday, Aug. 21, 2026, at Hayden Road and Thompson Peak Parkway. It covers 3.5 acres and cost $6 million. It has restrooms for people, bone-shaped benches, a footbridge to the rest of Thompson Peak Park, and public art about the desert, all reported by ABC15. It is the city's fourth dog park, and admission is free. The park opened in late summer, so most of its regulars have only seen it in heat and green grass. Over the winter, the maintenance schedule, the grass's dormant season, and cooler trail weather will all change how the park gets used.
A park built to rest its own grass
According to ABC15, the design is "meant to keep the grass green and the mud away." Crews rotate which of the three cells stay open, so each lawn gets time to recover. The City of Scottsdale's dog parks page explains how that plays out. Two areas are open most of the time, one for active dogs and one for passive dogs. The third rotates out for maintenance and turf repair.
Chaparral Dog Park at 5401 N. Hayden Road uses the same setup. The city calls it Scottsdale's most popular dog park, with 3 acres of grass. So the north side now has a slightly larger version of the city's busiest dog park. You won't get the whole 3.5 acres on any given visit, because one cell is always resting.
Day-to-day details from the city's page:
- Address: 20199 N. 78th Place, Scottsdale, AZ 85255
- Hours: 5:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., year-round
- Maintenance closures: every Monday and Thursday, 8 a.m. to noon
- On site: shade canopies, benches, water fountains, waste stations, a new restroom building, and extra parking along Hayden Road
Monday and Thursday mornings close both north-side parks
Thompson Peak's schedule matters most when you compare it with the other dog parks. Horizon Dog Park at 15444 N. 100th Street is the city's other dog park with a North Scottsdale address, and it closes on the same mornings.
| Dog park | Address | Weekly maintenance closure |
|---|---|---|
| Thompson Peak | 20199 N. 78th Place, 85255 | Monday and Thursday, 8 a.m. to noon |
| Horizon | 15444 N. 100th St., 85260 | Monday and Thursday, 8 a.m. to noon |
| Chaparral | 5401 N. Hayden Road, 85250 | Tuesday and Friday, 8 a.m. to noon |
| Vista del Camino | 7800 E. Pierce St., 85257 | No current schedule listed |
From 8 a.m. to noon on Mondays and Thursdays, neither city dog park on the north side is open. Chaparral and Vista del Camino are the city's options during those hours, and both are well to the south. On Tuesdays and Fridays it flips: Chaparral closes and both north-side parks are open.
Horizon is a different kind of park anyway. The city describes it as a small dog park in a retention basin at the far west end of Horizon Park. It has a large shade structure, a water fountain, and a water feature to keep the dust down, and the city notes it is prone to flooding after storms. Its maintenance mornings match Thompson Peak's, so on Mondays and Thursdays the gap starts at 8 a.m. Both north-side parks open at 5:30 a.m., which leaves a dawn session before the gates close for crews, and both reopen at noon.
The grass is likely to go tan in November
The rotating cells keep mud down, but they don't change the season. On its No Need to Overseed page, the city's water conservation team says Bermuda grass can stay green until mid-November, then goes dormant and starts growing again sometime in mid-March. The same page argues that overseeding with winter ryegrass hurts Bermuda, because it keeps the summer grass from storing energy before dormancy. It names Scottsdale's own parks as "a good example of not overseeding."
The city hasn't published a turf calendar or any overseeding closures specific to Thompson Peak. If the new park follows the approach the city describes for its parks, though, the green lawns from the August opening photos will start turning tan within about five weeks and stay that way until spring. That tan is ordinary winter dormancy for Bermuda.
The same city page speaks to dog owners directly. "If you provide grass, they usually use it," it says, and pets will keep using Bermuda through its seasonal cycle. For dogs that don't like the change, the page suggests a new routine such as walks or trips to the park. For a park that rests one of every three lawns, dormancy also changes what "resting" means. In summer a closed cell grows back quickly. In winter it mostly just stays off-limits until the weather warms.
Under 90 degrees, Gateway Trailhead is an option again
The same weather that sends the grass dormant opens up the McDowell Sonoran Preserve for dogs. The city's preserve rules say that if it is over 90 degrees "at any time in your hike, it's too hot for your dog." For much of the time since Thompson Peak opened in August, that rule ruled out long leashed hikes, and the fenced lawns were the main place for dogs to burn off energy.
As fall cools down, the closest preserve access is on the same road. Gateway Trailhead is at 18333 N. Thompson Peak Parkway. It has parking, restrooms, shade ramadas, water, and the accessible Bajada Nature Trail. Lost Dog Wash Trailhead, at 12601 N. 124th Street, also has water, restrooms, shade ramadas, and an accessible nature trail.
The preserve rules are stricter than the dog park's. Dogs must stay on a handheld leash no longer than 6 feet at all times, and owners must pick up waste right away. The city also recommends going early, carrying plenty of water for you and your dog, and turning back once half the water is gone. The preserve is open every day from sunrise to sunset, free of charge, and each trailhead posts its own opening and closing times through the year.
That makes a Monday or Thursday morning easier to plan. When both north-side dog parks close at 8 a.m., Gateway is still open. A leashed walk on the Bajada Nature Trail or a longer preserve loop can fill the hours the lawns are closed, as long as the temperature stays under the city's 90-degree limit.
Rules at the gate
Thompson Peak runs under the same rules as Scottsdale's other dog parks. The city's dog parks page lists them:
- All dogs must be currently licensed and vaccinated. Puppies under four months aren't allowed until they have both.
- No more than four dogs per visitor.
- An adult must accompany anyone under 16.
- Female dogs in heat aren't allowed in the exercise area.
- Dogs should be under voice control, and aggressive dogs must be removed right away.
- Owners fill any holes their dogs dig and bag waste using the canisters provided.
- No food or alcoholic beverages in the exercise area.
- Outside the fenced area, dogs must be on a leash no longer than 6 feet, under Scottsdale Revised Code Chapter 20, Section 20-32.
The city also says it doesn't supervise the dog parks, that people use them at their own risk, and that dog attacks should be reported to Maricopa County Animal Care & Control at 602-506-7387.
The hole-filling rule matters more at Thompson Peak than it might seem. The park keeps its grass healthy by resting one cell at a time, and in a dormant season the lawns grow back slowly. A dug-up patch in December could still be there in March.
Two of the city's own pages are out of date. The Thompson Peak project page still labels the park "Coming Summer 2025," and the dog parks page intro still says Scottsdale has three dog parks. The park has been open since Aug. 21, and ABC15 reported it as the city's fourth.
If friends or family are coming to see North Scottsdale the way you know it, from the dawn hour at Thompson Peak to a cool-morning walk out of Gateway, Arizonadise can host them in a design-forward stay nearby. Book a stay, and ask us about buying when a visit starts to feel like home.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
