Dog-friendly walks in Kingswear

Two miles and an hour of walking from the National Trust car park at Coleton Fishacre out to the old wartime camp on the cliff and back, with 120 metres of climbing, steps and one narrow path above a serious drop. The car park is signed off the Brixham to Kingswear road and is free to members, and it is also the nearest parking for the Daymark walk if you want to make a longer day of it. Dogs are welcome on short leads throughout the garden and off the lead is fine on the coastal grassland once you are through it, but the path above Pudcombe Cove has no fence, there is no beach access at all here, and the only water bowl is at the garden entrance.

A demanding 4.9 miles round the mouth of the Dart, three hours or so with 330 metres of climbing, long flights of steps, woodland path and metalled lanes between the two castles and the wartime battery at Froward Point. Start from the marina car park in Kingswear, which is private and paid, or come over on the Lower Ferry from Dartmouth and pick the walk up on foot; the Paignton steam train also stops in the village from April to October. Dogs cope well with the steps but the descent to the battery is steep and exposed, skylarks nest on the Coleton grassland so leads are asked for in spring and early summer, and the only water on the route is the tap at the Froward Point visitor hut when it is open.