If you see David Letterman during the fall, I can guarantee you will hear him say that this is the best time of year to visit New York City. He says it every year about the fall weather in New York. So what if you want to take a trip to New York, or the other big Northeast cities that are equally attractive, and you want to take your active dog …

BOSTON

Boston Common is the oldest public park in the country, created in 1634 as a “cow training and grazing field” for common use. Cattle grazed here for 200 years, and I could look up from time to time to see the occasional public hanging that took place on the Common. The park is approximately 50 acres in size and is the anchor of the Emerald Necklace, a system of connected parks visited by many of Boston’s neighborhoods. Dogs are welcome on Boston Common and can even run off leash from 5 to 7 a.m. M. And from 5 to 7 p. M.

bounded by Beacon, Charles, Boylston, Tremont and Park streets

NEW YORK

Chances are, your dog will enjoy America’s most famous park in midtown Manhattan as much as you do. Dogs are not allowed everywhere (the Elm Islands in the mall, Sheep Meadow, East Green, or Strawberry Fields are among the main no-leash areas), but they can go off-leash before 9 a.m. where allowed. Keep an eye out for the horses and city streets that crisscross the park. Bring a bowl of water on hot days – the only current equipped dog fountain is at the East 90th Street entrance. Architects Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux designed the park to remain in a naturalistic setting, so even in New York City you can get lost on forest trails.

from 59th to 110th Streets and from Fifth Avenue to Central Park West

PHILADELPHIA

Fairmount Park is the largest contiguous municipal park in the world at nearly 9,000 acres that began with just 5 acres in 1812. It is the bucolic home to an estimated 2,500,000 trees. The backbone of the park is Forbidden Drive, so named when it was closed to cars in the 1920s. The 7-mile paved trail travels along Wissahickon Creek to the Schuylkill River; Dog walks can be shortened with several bridges across the Wissahickon. Plus, there are plenty of fiery one-way trails that rise steeply from the Wissahickon Gorge.

The Andorra Visitor Center is located on Northwestern Avenue between Ridge Avenue and Germantown Avenue

BALTIMORE

The city of Baltimore paid $ 475,000 for the Rogers family property in 1860 to create the jewel of its park system, Druid Park. Colonel Nicholas Rogers designed his property to resemble an English pastoral park and the town continued the theme with picnic pavilions, grassy walkways, statues, and fountains. A huge Tuscan Doric inlet was built with Nova Scotia sandstone in 1868 at a cost of $ 24,000 and Druid Lake was formed in 1871 behind the largest earthen dam in America to provide drinking water. Today, the historic park covers 600 acres with winding paths and lawns for canine visitors.

on Druid Park Lake Drive via Pennsylvania Avenue, Eutaw Place, or Mount Royal Terrace

WASHINGTON DC

In the words of Calvin Coolidge, “Any man who does not like dogs and loves them does not deserve to be in the White House.” Across the street on the National Mall, dogs are not only welcome, but also celebrated. The finals of the Frisbee Disc Dog Championships have traditionally been held on the National Mall, which is dog friendly. The patches of uneven grass make a fun place to play with your dog, or the mall can be the setting for a nearly two-mile people-watching canine walk from Capitol Steps to the feet of Abraham Lincoln.