In short
Dog parks are located on public and private land, and most of them are registered by the Danish Nature Agency (Naturstyrelsen) and the municipalities. The information on hundeskoven.dk is based on our own visits and records over many years, on public data and on contributions from users. Here you can see the sources and the licences they are published under.
Where the information comes from
- The boundary on the map comes from the official data in the Common Outdoor Database (GeoFA), which the Danish Nature Agency and the municipalities maintain, from OpenStreetMap, or has been drawn by hundeskoven.dk from satellite photos where no public boundary exists.
- Parking is recorded by hundeskoven.dk or taken from OpenStreetMap.
- Fencing, size and facilities are recorded by hundeskoven.dk, supplemented by GeoFA, OpenStreetMap and corrections from owners and users.
- The descriptions are written by hundeskoven.dk based on our own information and the official descriptions – some with the help of AI. Where an official description exists, you can also read it on the dog park's page.
The information is corrected on an ongoing basis whenever we, the owners or the users spot changes.
Dog park data is public
Where the dog parks are, how big they are and what facilities they have has been published as open data by the Danish state and the municipalities for more than ten years – precisely so that everyone can use it in apps and on websites:
- 29 January 2013: The Danish Ministry of the Environment releases the Danish Nature Agency's data on the dog parks: “Data er løs i hundeskovene” (in Danish, roughly: “The data is off the lead in the dog parks”). “The open data must go out and create jobs and new initiatives such as the dog park app.” On the same day DR (in Danish) reports on the first app built on the free data.
- Today: The Danish Nature Agency and the municipalities register dog parks, dog runs and off-leash areas in the Common Outdoor Database (Den Fælles Friluftsdatabase, GeoFA) – more than 500 dog parks, most of them with a boundary – under the open licence CC BY 4.0. The same data is shown on the official outdoor guide udinaturen.dk, and several municipalities publish their dog parks as open datasets, for example Syddjurs Kommune.
- OpenStreetMap: Volunteers have mapped more than 550 dog parks in Denmark, the vast majority with a boundary, under the open licence ODbL.
Public data we use
We compare and supplement our information with open data from public sources:
| Source | What | Licence |
|---|---|---|
| GeoDanmark – Geografiske fagdata (GeoFA) | The Common Outdoor Database: dog parks, dog runs and off-leash areas registered by the Danish Nature Agency and the municipalities, with location, boundary, facilities and official descriptions | CC BY 4.0 · @geodanmark · the boundaries have been adapted (split into individual areas) |
| Naturstyrelsen | The state's dog parks and the rules for dogs in nature | Public information |
| DMI | The weather forecast for each dog park | CC BY 4.0 · Data from DMI |
| OpenStreetMap | Boundaries and parking for some of the dog parks, woodland, paths and motorway exits for our measurements, and EV chargers near the dog parks | ODbL · © OpenStreetMap contributors · the data we have from OpenStreetMap is available under the same licence |
| Ratings, reviews and photos that users have posted on Google – shown with the author and a reference to Google | Google's terms |
How we measure the dog parks
Details such as area, shade and paths are measured from the dog park's own boundary on our map, compared with data from OpenStreetMap:
- Area: calculated from the dog park's boundary.
- Woodland and shade: how much of the area is woodland.
- Paths: how many kilometres of paths there are inside the dog park, and how many of them have a firm surface such as tarmac or gravel.
- Parking: the distance from the parking to the dog park's boundary.
- Motorway: the straight-line distance to the nearest motorway exit.
The measurements are updated on an ongoing basis. Nature and conditions can change, so always check the individual dog park before you set off.
Maps and satellite photos
Maps and satellite photos are provided by Apple Maps. The map you draw on when you suggest a correction is provided by Mapbox: © Mapbox, © OpenStreetMap contributors, satellite photos © Maxar.
Contributions from users
Reviews, ratings, photos and check-ins come from users of hundeskoven.dk and our app. Reviews and photos are checked before they are shown, and we only show the first name and the first letter of the surname. Check-ins are anonymous.
Using the content
Hundeskoven.dk is a free service for everyone with a dog. You can get the public data directly from the sources above on their own licence terms, and you are welcome to use the information from here. Please credit hundeskoven.dk as the source. Automated fetching of many pages in a short time is limited, so the site stays fast for all users.
Looking for more places to find dog parks, the rules for dogs or emergency help? See Useful links for dog owners.