Owen’s Rose Garden is a park that is hard to get enough of. This park, as the name suggests, has roses. Over 400 varieties and 4.5k plants. Which is heavenly in the spring when they are all blooming.
The park is 8.5 acres and is next to the river and there is access to the Ruth Bascom path system. The bike path and the park are separated by climbing roses, so if you’ve got a dog who is very sensitive to bikes or fast moving people, don’t worry there is a barrier to cut down heavily on those triggers.
There are some open field areas in Owen’s Rose Garden, perfect for a picnic or playing with your dog (on leash of course). To top it all off there is also an absolutely gargantuan cherry tree in the park, which is truly impressive and worth seeing just for that alone.
This is a park that deserves many visits both with and without your dog, so let’s talk a little more in depth about that!
Park features
Amenities
- Paved and gravel paths
- Restrooms and drinking fountains
- Picnic benches and sitting benches
- Gazebo
- Shade structure
- Shaded areas with trees
- Poop bags
- Trash bins
- Dedicated parking lot
- Open lawns
This park DOES NOT HAVE:
- Dog park
- Play structures
- Sports areas
- Easy river access
Owen’s Rose Garden is a free park with no fees or paid parking area. Simply park and walk in! Alternatively you can walk to the park via the Ruth Bascom path system, and there are a handful of parks within easy access of Owen’s Rose Garden.
The park is flat and has a mix of rose beds with walking paths between them, and grass fields. Even though this park isn’t huge, there is plenty of space for everyone. It’s a very relaxed park and atmosphere.
The park patrons are pretty predictable here. They mostly stay on paths/sidewalks, or are utilizing river path behind the park. It is also fairly easy to slip into a path that goes between rose beds, in case you need to use a barrier for your dog. This alone is extremely handy when we are training and makes this a good park to use with your dog if they’re in training for sensitives or reactivity issues.
This is an on leash park, so obey leash laws while at the park. Owen’s Rose Garden is dog friendly so dog traffic is to be expected, especially since the park backs right onto the river path system, which is always quite busy. This may not be a good choice for a dog who has just started training or who gets easily overwhelmed because there can be a lot going on in the area and although there are places to create space, there is no absolute escape.
Owen’s Rose Garden is great at any time of the year, but is especially beautiful when the roses are in bloom. The plants stay in bloom for weeks, so there’s a pretty big swath of time to check in and catch the roses. It smells amazing and really makes for great springtime pics. Use your best judgement with your dog. It is a park that can be challenging at times, but due to how it’s laid out, and the type of park patrons, it is still a good place to go with many dogs. If nothing else the difficulty is something to build up to.
Explore before you go! Take a look at my recent visit to this park.
Where is it?
Owen’s Rose Garden is in Eugene and right next to the Willamette River. It is pretty easy to reach; once you’re on N Jefferson St you just follow the road all the way to the end and park in the lot.
Here is the address : 300 N Jefferson St, Eugene, OR 97402
