The Best Dog Parks in San Mateo, With Off-Leash Hours
Where can your dog actually run off-leash in San Mateo? Here is every official off-leash park and area in the city, split by all-day parks and early-morning fields, with the exact hours for each.
San Mateo is a good dog town, but the off-leash rules trip people up. Some parks are fully fenced and open all day. Others are regular fields that only go off-leash for a short window first thing in the morning, and if you show up at the wrong hour you are right back on the leash. Here is where your dog can run, split into the all-day fenced parks and the early-morning fields, with the hours for each. One rule applies everywhere: no more than three dogs per person.
Every off-leash dog park and area in San Mateo, pulled from the city's official list and checked against what is actually open, with the exact hours for each.
The fenced dog parks
Seal Point Park
The best off-leash park in the city, no contest. Around three acres of fenced run out on the Bay shoreline off J Hart Clinton Drive, with a separate area just for small dogs so the little ones are not getting bowled over. Double-gated entries, water bowls, and crushed-gravel ground that drains instead of turning to mud. Bay views and a breeze most afternoons. Open daily, six in the morning to sunset.
Laurie Meadows Park
A fenced off-leash area inside this seven-and-a-half-acre neighborhood park, connected to Casanova Park by a little foot bridge. Quieter and more local than Seal Point, which is exactly why the regulars love it. Open daily, sunrise to sunset.
Bayside-Joinville Park
A fenced run tucked away on the bay side off Detroit Drive, near the water treatment plant. Out of the way enough that it rarely gets crowded, and it has a real family feel, the kind of place where the regulars know each other and everyone is friendly. Look closely at the fence posts and you will find the names of dogs who have passed, quietly engraved by someone who loved this place. It stays open the latest of any of them, daily from six in the morning to ten at night.
Los Prados Park
A fenced off-leash area at the southwest end of Los Prados Park, over by the south ball diamond. A solid, low-key neighborhood option on the north side of town. Open daily, six in the morning to ten at night.
The off-leash grass fields (hours vary)
Beresford Park
Not a fenced dog park, but Chanteloup Field opens up for off-leash every morning from six to eight. Three acres of grass to let a dog really stretch out and run before the day starts. Leashes back on at eight. Find it at Beresford Park on Alameda de las Pulgas.
Central Park
Downtown's off-leash option, right in the middle of Central Park. Fitzgerald Field runs the classic early window, six to eight in the morning, daily. The city has also kept a longer-hours off-leash trial going in the park since 2023, open from six in the morning to sunset, which makes it the most flexible spot in the middle of town. Leashes everywhere else in the park.
Frequently asked
What is the best dog park in San Mateo?
Local favorites include Seal Point Park, Laurie Meadows Park, Bayside-Joinville Park. Browse the full guide above.
How many off-leash spots does San Mateo Local recommend?
6, all added by hand and refreshed regularly.
Is San Mateo Local a paid directory?
No. Nobody pays to be listed here, and nothing was scraped or bought. A business can sponsor a guide, and if one does, it is clearly marked as a sponsor.
That is the full off-leash map for San Mateo. The one rule that applies at every single one: no more than three dogs per handler. Hours here come straight from the City of San Mateo, so if a park changes its schedule, or we missed a spot, tell us and we will fix it. Good luck out there.