Information about dogs on Bournemouth beaches

Beautiful area with narrow, steep-sided wooded valleys, great views across the sea and beach with seafront promenade.  Includes all year round dog-friendly beach.

Species rich damp chalk grassland bordered by industrial estate and housing estates. Ditches and pond have three species of newt including the protected Great Crested Newt.

Lovely grassy 37 acre open space for dogs and people to enjoy, managed specifically for public recreation.  Path network suitable for use with pushchairs, wheelchairs & mobility vehicles.

One of Dorset’s largest areas of heath, around 850 acres, with a few areas of woodland.

Large woodland plantation with a multitude of tracks and paths, with some open areas and great views.

Chalk downland bordered by steep slopes and a housing estate.

A 6km section of old railway line, owned by Dorset County Council and managed by Dorset Countryside Ranger Service.

Dog walking information about Christchurch Beaches

  A beautiful woodland area with unsurfaced paths, a shallow stream,
  a grassed area and a dog activity area. Access onto the Castleman Trailway.
 

 
Fenners Field is a recreation ground with paths through the woods down a gentle slope to the Castleman Trailway.

Managed by the National Trust, these downs are home to rare wildlife and offer breath-taking views. Parts of the Downs are also managed as a Nature Reserve by the Dorset Wildlife Trust.

In Dorset the Forestry Commission looks after a variety of fantastic areas that include both woodland and heathland.

A large, diverse area including grassland, heathland, cliffs and beaches with great facilities

Kingston Lacy's countryside estate between Wimborne and Spetisbury includes places like Badbury Rings, walks by the River Stour and fantastic public footpaths around rolling countryside - you may have heard of the House but have you explored the wider countryside?

A linear woodland walk in an urban area with open glades and small areas of heath, with a few side paths.

A linear strip of woodland on the western edge of Poole adjoining the Roman Road/Castleman Trailway and Upton Heath.

A large park with open playing fields, woodland walks, walks across the golf course (keep to the paths!) and waymarked trails.

Gently sloping chalk grassland with woodland fringes bordering around the site

Moreton Forest is an attractive, large and varied woodland with options for short and long circular walks along its network of paths. There is also a wide ford and footbridge with walking links through to Moreton village and surrounding countryside.

Lovely woodland walks with a stream, footbridges and open grassed space

Secluded former parkland, with lake, woodland and pleasant walks around meadow areas.

A 2.5 metre wide compacted stone path which follows the route of the old Somerset and Dorset Railway line.

Small hilltop picnic site with lovely far-reaching views across the Blackmore Vale.

Information on dogs on Poole beaches

Quiet woodland area with paths near Ferndown

Park with playing fields, surfaced paths right around the park, stream and wooded margin

Puddletown Forest is an attractive, large and varied woodland with options for short and long circular walks along its network of public footpaths and bridleways, with walking links through to Hardy's Cottage and Thorncombe Wood.

Information on dogs on beaches in the Purbeck area.

Wooded walks, walks across golf course (keep to the paths!), open grassed space, cafe and super playground.

Chalk/clay riverside floodplain bordered by farmland.

Patches of scrub and trees add variety to this riverside grassland, along the River Stour.

This is an unusual and special landscape where you can enjoy a vast expanse of open heathland and old oak woodland.

This ancient wood is at its best when its breathtaking carpets of bluebells, wood anemones and primroses are in bloom (mid-April to the end of May).

The large reedbed, open water, saltmarsh, wet grassland and bushes attract many different birds.

A nature reserve in central Weymouth sounds unlikely, but once you are on the footpath amongst the reeds and lagoons, you could be far away in the countryside.

Open sandy beach where dogs are welcome all year round, great views across to Old Harry Rocks and around the Poole & Bournemouth shoreline

Fantastic open space for dogs, children and adults too!  Suitable for use with pushchairs, wheelchairs & mobility vehicles.

A wildlife rich site, part of a SSSI. Rising to 53m, there are good views across Dorset and into Hampshire.

Old sewage treatment works. Small section of North Dorset Trailway bordering farmland with a local nature reserve next to it.

Chalk floodplain with large oak trees. Bridge interlinks Langton Meadows with Stour Meadows.

Small local woodland nature reserve in middle of urban area.  Also has a grassed open space.

Studland Beach & NNR is managed by the National Trust. As described by the NT Visitor Guide leaflet it is ‘one of the most stunning beaches in England'. 

Dogs are now welcome on all of Studland's beaches all year round: 1st May-30th Sept dogs must be on lead (max. 2 metre) at all other times dogs under effective control are welcome off-lead.

  Close to Dorchester, this 26 hectare mixed woodland and heath site has a dog friendly visitor centre with cafe and toilets

A park with an off-lead field and also gardens & woodlands which can be enjoyed on lead. 

There have been exciting changes here with a a new, large (30 acre) area where dogs are able to go off-lead.  There is also a new securely-fenced area within the off-lead area, for exercise and training.

Upton Heath is an extensive (500 acre) lowland heath site.

Mixed woodland with an area of heath, also streams, bridges, benches and a network of paths.

The Wessex Ridgeway Trail is a magnificent ridge-top route crossing Dorset's rural heartland.

Dogs and West Dorset beaches

Dogs on Weymouth & Portland beaches