A hill built on a former garbage dump, right in the middle of the city — where the whole park is off-leash, the path loops to a compass at the top, and Winnipeg glows at your feet in every direction you turn.
This is a city park, not a road trip — but it earned its own story, because it was the very first dog park we ever set foot in after moving to Canada. If you want a bigger, wilder Manitoba park instead, see our guide to Birds Hill Provincial Park.
Where It Is
Westview Park sits at 1 Midland Street, at the corner of Midland and Saskatchewan Avenue, in Winnipeg’s west-end industrial belt — close to the airport, next to a railway line. The official name is Westview Park, but nobody calls it that. To everyone in Winnipeg it is Garbage Hill.
The whole park — all of it — is an off-leash area, which makes it one of a handful of fully leash-free parks in the city, and one of the largest. You drive up a road that winds around the hill to a big half-circle parking lot near the top, and from there it is all yours: a looped path, open slopes of native grass and wildflowers, and a view.
One practical note from our own visits: the road to the top has a gate, and it is sometimes closed — most often in winter or bad weather. When it is shut, you simply park lower and walk up. There is no formal pedestrian path from the street, but the hill is small and the climb is short.
Why They Call It “Garbage Hill”
The name is not a joke, and it is not an insult. It is the literal truth.
In a city as famously flat as Winnipeg, a hill is a strange thing to find — so where did this one come from? It was built. The prominent hill at the heart of Westview Park was raised on top of an old municipal garbage dump, and then capped, landscaped, and planted with native grass and wildflowers until it became a park. About 28 acres of it. The garbage is still down there under your feet; the wildflowers are on top.
Winnipeggers have embraced the nickname so thoroughly that in December 2018 a Hollywood-style “GARBAGE HILL” sign was put up on the eastern slope — officially, with community support, after an unofficial prank version had appeared and been taken down a few months earlier. So now the city’s most honestly-named landmark announces itself in big white letters, and somehow that makes it more loveable, not less.
How We Found It
We came to Garbage Hill in our very first days in Canada, though we had no idea what it was at the time.
When we first arrived, we stayed for a while in a hotel right nearby — the Best Western Plus by the Winnipeg airport. And anyone who has done this knows the problem: the streets around an airport hotel are an industrial zone. Warehouses, fences, parking lots, the occasional company sign. Not somewhere you can really walk a dog. For the first few days we just circled the hotel and the neighbouring streets, walking Nika along concrete paths past factories.
But that is not a real walk for a dog like ours. Nika is an active, restless dachshund, and back home in Ukraine she had mostly walked off-leash — we lived next to a big forest-park, and that was her whole world. Circling a hotel on concrete was not going to cut it, for her or for us. So we started looking at the map for anything nearby that wasn’t pavement — a park, a field, a patch of grass, anything.
The closest thing within walking distance was something called Westview Dog Park. We didn’t know what we’d find — a hill, a meadow, a park, who knew. We just needed a walk, all three of us. So one evening we set off on foot, and it turned out to be right there, barely any distance at all.
And we ran straight into a big hill. We climbed it. The place itself is small — you can walk the whole thing quickly — but at the top there was a compass-shaped monument, a path to follow, grass instead of concrete, and a view over a huge part of the city. After days of factory sidewalks, it felt like a lot. It was the first dog park we ever saw in Canada, and even now, after we have visited many others, this is the one that stuck.
The View From the Top
The reason people keep coming back here has nothing to do with the dump and everything to do with the view. From the summit you get a full 360-degree panorama of Winnipeg’s skyline. Turn in any direction and there is more city.
We have now seen it in three different lights — evening, daylight, and finally, the one everyone had told us about: at night.
That last visit was the most spontaneous of all. One evening we simply remembered the park, and that we had never seen it after dark, and that so many people had said the city view at night was the whole point. So we went — just the two of us this time, without Nika — to take photos of the lit-up city and see for ourselves.
We drove right up to the lot at the top, and there were already a fair number of cars — at least ten. Young people were gathered near the compass monument, taking photos and wandering the paths. We did the same: walked the loop, drank a coffee we’d picked up nearby, took our pictures, looked up at the night sky and out at a city wearing a thousand lights.
The strange magic of it is that the park itself has no lighting. You stand in near-total darkness, and the whole of Winnipeg glows around you on every side. It is the kind of view that makes a former garbage dump feel like the best seat in the city.
We had not expected so many people after dark. It is not a crowd, exactly, but it is busier than you’d think. The good news is that almost everyone gathers at the highest point, around the compass — so if you want to be alone, or just sit a little apart from everyone, you easily can. There is room up there for both the social crowd and the quiet ones.
The Off-Leash Experience
Because the entire park is off-leash, and because it sits up on a hill well back from any road, it is a genuinely relaxed place to let a dog run. The seclusion from traffic is one of its best features — there’s a real buffer between the slopes and the streets below, which matters when your dog is off the leash.
It is not a big park, and it is not a fancy one. There are no fenced enclosures, no agility equipment, no manicured anything. What it has is open slopes and a couple of hills, which is exactly what an energetic dog needs to burn off a day’s worth of energy. Nika loved it for the simplest reason: it was grass and space and freedom, not concrete and fences.
Through the Seasons
We’ve now seen Garbage Hill across the year, and it changes character with the weather.
Late fall was our very first visit — the end of November, with the first snow just starting to spit from the sky. The grass was going brown, the air was sharp, and the city looked crisp and clear from the top.
Winter turns the hill into one of Winnipeg’s classic toboggan runs. When we went back later in the season, the road up was closed to cars entirely, and the slope was criss-crossed with sled tracks. This is the park’s winter life: tobogganing, plus cross-country skiing and snowshoeing for those who want them. If you’re coming to walk a dog in deep winter, expect to park below and climb up on foot — and expect company on the sledding side.
Summer is when the hill is busiest and easiest — the gate open, the lot full, the grass green, and the long evenings perfect for a late stroll. Our summer-night visit, with the coffee and the city lights, is the version of this place we’ll remember best. In the warm months people come up here to run, cycle, picnic, watch the sunset, and yes, take photos of the skyline.
Good to Know Before You Go
A few honest things, because the hill has its quirks:
- It isn’t fenced. If your dog is a runner with shaky recall, be careful — there’s nothing to stop them, and the open ground rolls away in every direction.
- Wildlife happens. Deer are sometimes around, and a dog that loves a chase could take off after one.
- Watch their paws. Because of what’s buried here, you can find broken glass and old holes from the former dump. If your dog is a digger, this isn’t the spot for that.
- The neighbours are industrial. On some days there’s a faint smell drifting up from the surrounding businesses. It comes and goes.
- The gate and the road. The road to the summit can be closed in winter or rough weather — park lower and walk up when it is.
- City off-leash rules apply: stay within sight of your dog, keep a leash in hand, dogs under voice control, no aggressive dogs and no females in heat, fill any holes your dog digs, pick up after them, and make sure your dog is licensed under the City of Winnipeg by-law.
What to Bring
- A leash in hand — required even where dogs run free.
- Water for your dog — there’s no shade and no services up top.
- Waste bags — always.
- Decent footwear — the slopes are grass and can be uneven; slick in snow.
- A coffee and a camera — if you’re going for the evening or night view. Trust us on this.
Who This Place Is For
- Dog owners with good recall — a fully off-leash hill, well back from traffic.
- Newcomers and west-enders — a real patch of green in an industrial part of the city.
- View-chasers and photographers — 360-degree skyline, sunsets, and a dark park under a lit city at night.
- Runners and cyclists — a short, steep climb with a reward at the top.
- Families in winter — one of Winnipeg’s best-loved toboggan hills.
- Anyone who needs a small, close outing — for the evenings when you can’t go far but still want to get out.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Westview Park (Garbage Hill) fully off-leash?
Yes — the entire park is an off-leash area, not just a fenced corner of it. It’s one of the few fully leash-free parks in Winnipeg, though you still need to keep a leash in hand.
Is the dog park fenced?
No. There’s no fencing anywhere, and the open slopes roll away in every direction, so it suits dogs with reliable recall best. If yours tends to bolt, keep that in mind.
Can you drive to the top, and is the road open in winter?
In good weather you can drive right up to the parking lot near the summit. The road has a gate that’s sometimes closed — usually in winter or rough weather — and when it is, you park lower and walk up.
Can you go tobogganing at Garbage Hill?
Yes — it’s one of Winnipeg’s classic toboggan hills, and it’s also used for cross-country skiing and snowshoeing in winter. Expect company on the sledding side on a good snow day.
Are there washrooms or other amenities?
No, this is a bare-bones hill — no washrooms, no water, no shade, no services. Bring whatever you and your dog need with you.
When’s the best time for the city view?
Sunset and after dark. The park itself has no lighting, so at night you stand in the dark while the whole city glows around you in a full 360 degrees. Bring a coffee and a camera.
Quick Reference
| What | Details |
|---|---|
| Name | Westview Park — locally “Garbage Hill” |
| Address | 1 Midland St, Winnipeg (Midland & Saskatchewan Ave) |
| Size | ~28 acres; entire park is off-leash |
| Built on | a former municipal garbage dump, now grassed and planted |
| Famous for | 360° views of the Winnipeg skyline; the compass monument; the “Garbage Hill” sign (2018) |
| Parking | large half-circle lot near the top (road gated in winter/bad weather) |
| Winter | toboggan hill, skiing, snowshoeing |
| Dog-friendly | yes — fully off-leash, but not fenced; leash in hand required |
| Watch for | no fencing, deer, broken glass/holes, occasional industrial smell |
| Best time | summer evenings and nights for the view; winter for sledding |
Why It’s Worth Visiting
Garbage Hill will never be the most beautiful park in Winnipeg, and it doesn’t try to be. It’s a grass-covered dump with a Hollywood sign and the best view in the city — and that honesty is exactly why we love it.
We’ve come to believe that walks like this one matter: the small, close, unplanned ones, for the evenings when you don’t feel like driving anywhere, or there’s no time, or it’s already late and you just need to get out of the house for an hour. (If that idea speaks to you, it’s the same instinct behind our 40-minute rule for spontaneous outings.) Winnipeg has plenty of dog parks — bigger ones, fancier ones, with every kind of rule and fence. But this odd little hill was our first, in our first days in a brand-new country, when we needed somewhere green more than we knew. A late walk, a coffee, a quiet conversation, and a whole city lit up below us. For that, it will always be the one we remember.
