Rye

Playland Park

Dates visited: 2/14/2023 & 4/14/2023

This was a very fun stop! It was another unusually mild February day. It was in the low 50's in the Town of Rye (It's confusing, but like Poughkeepsie, the City of Rye is a separate municipality from the Town of Rye). We actually came back a second time, exactly two months name on another unusually warm day, but this time temps were approaching 90! In the winter time, the amusement park's boardwalk is open to the public. We walked the length of the boardwalk that goes around the amusement park, so the rides made for a nice backdrop for the photos below. There is also a scenic fishing pier. At the end of the boardwalk is a picnic area with views of a nice salt marsh. Scroll down below the first group of pictures to read about the best part of the park.

More Images From The Boardwalk

The highlight of the Playland Park in the winter is the beach. The company that runs the park allows the beach the become an off-leash dog park during the off-season. This year, the dates for the dog park are between October 8, 2022 and April 23, 2023. After we walked the boardwalk, and explored the adjacent Rye Town Park, the dogs got to run off-leash on the beach! Mandy and Lexi were sporting some long fur, so despite it being the middle of February, they got hot on the walk. They had no problem cooling off in the water, and had a lot of fun running around the beach as well!

More Dog Beach Images

Exactly two months later, we experienced record high temperatures in the Hartford area. It hit 96 degrees on April 14th! Playland Park was still on it's winter schedule, so the dog beach was still open. It wasn't quite 96 at the beach, but it was still extremely warm (upper 80's). The dog beach was much busier this time around! I thought Mandy and Lexi would play more, but maybe it was too hot, or they weren't as comfortable with so many dogs here. They seemed pretty low key this trip. They went in to the water right away, but didn't do as much as running. They did encounter a small fluffy white dog that was their size, and did play with her for a bit.

More Dog Beach Images

When we returned two months later, in addition to going to the beach, we went for a short walk. This time we walked around the front of the park, a section that we did not cover on our previous trip. I think they enjoyed the walk more than the beach this time around.

More Park Images

Rye Town Park

Date visited: 2/14/2023

This park is adjacent to Playland Park. The boardwalk continues where Playland's left off. There is a beach area here as well, but unlike Playland Park, dogs aren't allowed on the beach at all here. There is a section of the park where they are allowed off-leash in the early morning hours of the day, but leashed dogs are allowed in the non-beach areas anytime. There's plenty to see here. The beach house buildings are very cool looking, and there is a short gravel walking path that picks up where the boardwalk ends. There is an open grassy area, as well as a duck pond and a modern art exhibit.

More Images

Downtown Port Chester

Date visited: 4/6/2024

This is simply a two mile walk around the village of Port Chester, part of the Town of Rye (not the city of Rye, which is a completely different municipality). We wound up at Columbus Park, but I didn't see the sign saying No Dogs Allowed until we were already at the park. The park was littered with trash, but I guess the town is more concerned with dogs. It wasn't dogs that left trash and liquor bottles all over the place! We headed back to the center of the village where we walked by Capitol Theater, a concert venue that I've been to a number of times. The band Lotus was performing their sound check when we walked by. We finished up at Summerfield Park, a very small park that sits on a triangle in between a busy intersection. We parked at a small parking lot behind the park where some of the spaces are free on the weekend. This village did not seem particularly dog-friendly.