Dog-friendly Teesside & Cleveland

Redcar's town sand runs below the Esplanade under the vertical pier, and at low water it is wide enough and hard enough to lose a dog on. The Redcar and Cleveland dog Public Spaces Protection Order excludes dogs from one stretch only, between the Regent cinema and the point where the Esplanade meets Graffenberg Street, and only from 1 May to 30 September; the council's own wording is that during those months dogs are still welcome to be walked on a lead along the Esplanade itself. From 1 October to 30 April the whole beach is open with no lead requirement, and the sand west of the Regent towards Coatham is outside the zone all year round. Enforcement is a £100 fixed penalty on the spot with a maximum court fine of £1,000, and the order runs to 30 June 2028. Parking is on the Esplanade and at the Coatham end, both pay and display, and both fill by mid-morning on a hot Sunday.

Saltburn's sand sits below Marine Parade with the pier and the cliff lift on it and Hunt Cliff rising at the eastern end. The dog exclusion under the borough PSPO covers only the middle of it, described by the council as running from the point of access to the beach at Hazelgrove east to the eastern side of the pier, and it applies from 1 May to 30 September. That leaves two stretches open all year: west of the Hazelgrove access the sand runs unbroken towards Marske, and east of the pier the beck mouth, Cat Nab and the sand under Hunt Cliff are not covered at all. During the closed months the council states dogs are still welcome on a lead along the promenade. Fines are £100 on the spot and up to £1,000 in court; the order runs to 30 June 2028. Cat Nab car park at the foot of Saltburn Bank is the useful one and is full by ten on a summer weekend.

Cattersty Sands is the beach at Skinningrove, in Loftus parish, tucked between Cattersty Cliff and the old jetty where the ironstone was loaded. It sits outside both of the borough's exclusion zones, which cover named stretches at Redcar and Saltburn only, so dogs are unrestricted here every month of the year. Park at the Skinningrove seafront car park below the village and the sand is straight ahead; the Cleveland Way climbs the cliff to the west towards Brotton and Warsett Hill. It is a working-coast beach rather than a pretty one, backed by mine spoil and steelworks history, and it is almost always empty even in August when Saltburn is full.

Coatham Sands is the long open beach running west from the Regent cinema past the dunes towards South Gare, and it falls entirely outside the summer exclusion zone, which stops at the Regent. That makes it the beach to use in Redcar between 1 May and 30 September, when the town frontage east of the cinema is closed to dogs and this stretch is not. There is no seasonal ban and no lead requirement here at any point in the year, only the borough-wide duty to keep a dog supervised and under control and to carry the means to pick up. Park on Majuba Road by the leisure centre or in the Coatham seafront car park; walk west and it empties out fast, and at low tide the flats run for the best part of a mile before the Gare breakwater.

Marske Sands is the middle of the three-mile run of beach between Redcar and Saltburn and carries no seasonal dog ban whatever. The borough's exclusion zones are written to cover two named stretches at Redcar and Saltburn only, and the council states dogs are welcome on the other beaches in the borough through the year. Access is down the slipway from the Marske seafront car park at the end of Winkies Castle end of High Street, or from the old cemetery and the ruined St Germain's church tower above the dunes. It is a flat, firm beach with a long shallow tide, backed by grassed banks rather than promenade, and the walk south east from here to Saltburn pier is about two miles of continuous sand.

Redcar's town sand runs below the Esplanade under the vertical pier, and at low water it is wide enough and hard enough to lose a dog on. The Redcar and Cleveland dog Public Spaces Protection Order excludes dogs from one stretch only, between the Regent cinema and the point where the Esplanade meets Graffenberg Street, and only from 1 May to 30 September; the council's own wording is that during those months dogs are still welcome to be walked on a lead along the Esplanade itself. From 1 October to 30 April the whole beach is open with no lead requirement, and the sand west of the Regent towards Coatham is outside the zone all year round. Enforcement is a £100 fixed penalty on the spot with a maximum court fine of £1,000, and the order runs to 30 June 2028. Parking is on the Esplanade and at the Coatham end, both pay and display, and both fill by mid-morning on a hot Sunday.

Saltburn's sand sits below Marine Parade with the pier and the cliff lift on it and Hunt Cliff rising at the eastern end. The dog exclusion under the borough PSPO covers only the middle of it, described by the council as running from the point of access to the beach at Hazelgrove east to the eastern side of the pier, and it applies from 1 May to 30 September. That leaves two stretches open all year: west of the Hazelgrove access the sand runs unbroken towards Marske, and east of the pier the beck mouth, Cat Nab and the sand under Hunt Cliff are not covered at all. During the closed months the council states dogs are still welcome on a lead along the promenade. Fines are £100 on the spot and up to £1,000 in court; the order runs to 30 June 2028. Cat Nab car park at the foot of Saltburn Bank is the useful one and is full by ten on a summer weekend.