At Morgan Falls Dog Park, the trouble started with a ditch. Over time it filled with silt, fallen limbs and tree roots. When it rained, the water had nowhere to go, so it spilled over into the large-dog area and stayed there.
That ditch explains most of the renovation. On Wednesday, October 14, at 2 p.m., the City of Sandy Springs will cut the ribbon on the renovated Morgan Falls Dog Park at 100 Morgan Falls Rd. Yeager, a Sandy Springs Police Department K-9, is scheduled to attend and inspect the improvements. The new shade canopies and wash station are what you see first. What actually changed is how water moves across the site, and getting that done took two construction phases, a lease amendment with Georgia Power, and a budget that grew from one fiscal year to the next.
The Complaint Was Mud, and the Cause Was Water
In the spring before construction began, the city held several public meetings to ask what people wanted changed at the dog park. The most common answer was simple. Owners wanted dry ground, because their dogs came home too muddy after a visit. The Sandy Springs Record later called muddy dogs the top complaint in that 2024 community survey.
So the city started underground, not with amenities. Its construction update described the first job plainly:
"The work, scheduled to begin Monday, September 30, will include excavation and grading to channel water away from the dog park. Fixing the grade requires tree removal."
The city expected that phase to take about six to eight weeks, weather permitting, and closed the park while it ran. The same notice said benches, shade and washing stations would come in "a future phase." In 2024, that future phase was still more than a year away.
Two Phases, With a Landlord in Between
The dog park sits inside Morgan Falls Overlook Park, on land the city leases from Georgia Power. That matters, because the second phase couldn't start until the lease terms changed. Here is the sequence, pieced together from city documents and local reporting:
- 2024. The city gathers community input through meetings and a survey, and mud is the top complaint.
- Fall 2024. Earthwork regrades the site, channels water away from the play areas, and removes several trees.
- May 2025. The Springway Trail's 1.88-mile Segment 2A opens, linking Morgan Falls Overlook Park to Cimarron Parkway and Roswell Road.
- October 2025. City Council approves an amendment to the Georgia Power lease so a contractor can get onto the property for phase two. According to Rough Draft Atlanta, the amendment cost $10, and the planned work covered shade structures, agility equipment, a wash station, ground cover and more drainage.
- September 2026. The park soft-opens, then closes again September 21 through 23 while crews install the shade canopies.
- Early October 2026. The park reopens ahead of the October 14 ceremony. The city says the work finished ahead of schedule.
Drainage shows up twice on that list, at the start in 2024 and again in the 2025 phase-two scope. That fits what the original complaint was about. The canopies and fountains are the visible part of a project whose main job was keeping rainwater out of the large-dog area.
How the Budget Moved
The project's price changed as the scope took shape, and no single document captures it. Three figures appear at different points:
- $750,000, the cost estimate in the city's FY2025 budget, which covered July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025. That plan included grading, surfacing, fencing, shade, a fountain, a wash station, agility equipment, furnishings and bioswales, and the budget said it was guided by public input.
- $938,600, listed for Morgan Falls Dog Park Improvements in the FY2026 approved budget, adopted June 17, 2025.
- $1.04 million, the total the Sandy Springs Record reported on September 29, 2026, citing the city's 2027 budget document. As of that report, about $560,000 had been spent, and the rest was expected to be used this fiscal year.
Taken together, they show a project that grew by roughly $290,000 between its first estimate and its latest total. The original $750,000 scope already included shade, a fountain, a wash station and agility equipment, and none of the documents explains what drove the later increases.
What You'll Find Inside the Fence
The city lists the park at 3.421 acres, with separate fenced areas for small dogs and large dogs. Per the city's October 1 announcement and the Record's coverage, the renovated park adds:
- A graded drainage channel meant to keep both play areas dry after rain
- Shade structures over seating areas
- Benches and picnic tables
- Waste stations and a dog wash station
- Drinking fountains
- Agility equipment and new grass
- Boulders for dogs to climb and survey the yard from
Some practical details are harder to pin down. The city's listing doesn't publish hours, fees or rules specific to the dog park. Its general parks FAQ requires leashes and waste pickup across the park system. The city lists Morgan Falls Overlook Park hours as 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Visit Sandy Springs describes Morgan Falls as a free, off-leash park. For anything beyond that, the city's dog park page is the place to check as the reopening settles in.
A Dog Park That Doubles as a River Outing
Because of where it sits, the dog park is often only part of the trip. The surrounding Morgan Falls Overlook Park has Chattahoochee River views, a two-thirds-mile wooded trail, a playground, a picnic pavilion, porch swings, a fire pit, restrooms and a floating dock. Visitors can bring or rent a kayak, canoe or paddleboard.
The Springway connection opened up another option. Since May 2025, Segment 2A has run 1.88 miles from the overlook park to Cimarron Parkway and Roswell Road, so a walk along Roswell Road can now end at the river. The same tourism guide lists dog-friendly stops elsewhere in the city, including Dog City Bakery II, the rooftop patio at Meehan's Public House, Perk-N-Pooch for grooming and DIY baths, Whole Dog Market and Pontoon Brewing.
Still the Only One on the List
The city's park directory lists only one dog park, and it's Morgan Falls. Lost Corner, Hammond and Old Riverside all appear in the directory with other amenities, but none is listed as a dog park. That means the two years of work at Morgan Falls went into the only park in the directory built for this purpose, and every closure along the way took that one option offline.
That's the gap the 2019 plan flagged. In the city's February 2019 Recreation & Parks Master Plan, survey respondents ranked dog parks third among facility priorities, behind hiking trails and multi-use trails and ahead of community gardens and an indoor pool. The plan said more locations were needed and recommended new dog parks suited to the city's suburban and urban nodes.
That plan is now being rewritten. Public Workshop #3 for the city's next Comprehensive Plan and Recreation & Parks Master Plan is Thursday, October 29, 6 to 8 p.m., at the Conference Center at City Springs, 1 Galambos Way. The city says the session will cover emerging themes and preliminary recommendations. The parks plan will take a closer look at the city's existing inventory, assess future needs, and identify opportunities to expand amenities. The 2026 surveys closed August 21, and the city expects Council to adopt both plans in June 2027. No published results yet show whether dog parks came up again in this round. Background materials and ways to comment are posted at PlanTheNextChapter.org.
Two weeks after the ribbon-cutting at Morgan Falls, the plan that will assess what parks and amenities the city needs next is open for public comment at City Springs.
Parks and trails like Morgan Falls shape how a part of Sandy Springs feels day to day, and Josephine Traina keeps up with projects like this one, from the Springway's next segments to what the new parks plan recommends in 2027. If you'd like to talk through how these changes touch your part of the city, Book Your 15–30 Minute Consultation.
