Dog-friendly walks in Conisbrough

A chain of north-facing limestone slopes above Denaby and Conisbrough forming one wall of the funnel that leads into the Don Gorge, called the Crags for at least a hundred years and Northcliffe Hills on the 1841 Ordnance Survey. The paths run along the tops of the outcrops and the view on a clear day takes in the Derbyshire hills, Emley Moor mast, Barnsley town hall and the Sheffield and Rotherham skylines. On the Conisbrough side is Northcliffe Quarry, which fed the lime kilns by a tramway incline still visible in the ground, and is now a local nature reserve and SSSI. It is council land under the Doncaster PSPO so there is no standing lead requirement, but there are unfenced quarry faces and steep drops, which is the real reason to keep a dog close here.

The best stretch of the Trans Pennine Trail in the borough, from Conisbrough up onto the twenty-one-arch viaduct high over the Don and then north-east along the river through the Don Gorge to Sprotbrough Lock. The viaduct deck is wide, fenced and surfaced, the towpath beyond it is level all the way, and the whole line is a former railway and canal towpath so there is not a stile on it. The Trail's own walker user code asks that dogs are kept under close control and in sight, and says a short lead is better on busy stretches and near farm animals and horses, which matters here because the trail is shared with cyclists and horse riders and the Sprotbrough Flash reserve alongside it is grazed by sheep and is lead-only. The Boat Inn sits at the Sprotbrough end and takes dogs, which makes this a natural one-way walk with a bus or a second car back.