Dog-friendly walks in Poole

Three level miles of harbourside in an hour and a half, out along the Baiter peninsula, round Whitecliff and back past the old quay warehouses, with the whole of Poole Harbour, Brownsea and the Purbeck hills in view. Surfaced promenade and mown grass throughout, flat, and open to the wind off the water. Park at Baiter, a large pay and display right on the shore that stays cheap and rarely fills outside regatta weekends. Baiter and Whitecliff have big open off-lead greens, which makes this the best year-round running ground in Poole while the town beaches are shut, but leads are required on the promenade and the quay itself, where the drop into the water is sheer and the shingle at low tide is sharp with oyster shell.

A 3.2-mile loop of the largest surviving lowland heath inside an English town, an hour and three quarters on sandy tracks and single-track paths with 70 metres of gentle climb and long views west to the Purbecks. Start from the Francis Avenue or Gravel Hill entrances, where parking is free on-street at the edge of the estate: there is no formal car park, so park considerately and expect a five-minute walk in. This is a European-protected reserve, so BCP runs a dogs-on-lead season from March to August with leads of no more than two metres to protect nightjar, Dartford warbler and woodlark nesting on the ground. Outside those months it is superb off-lead country, but there is no water anywhere on the heath and adders are common.

A four-mile there-and-back along the northern shore of Poole Harbour, two hours, flat on a mix of promenade, shore path and shingle, out past Lake Pier to the low sandy point at Rockley with Brownsea across the water. Park at Hamworthy Park, a free council car park of about eighty spaces off Blandford Road, which fills on hot afternoons because this is a local secret. Hamworthy beach is one of the handful of BCP beaches where dogs are allowed all year round, which is the whole point of coming: sheltered shallow water for swimming in any month, no summer exclusion, and leads only on the promenade section. There is a drinking tap by the park toilets.

A flat 1.6-mile circuit of the saltwater lagoon in forty-five minutes, all tarmac and mown grass with no climb worth counting, and the harbour on one side and Victorian villas on the other. Start at the Keyhole Bridge or Park Gates car parks, both pay and display and both free for the first half hour, with the park a ten-minute walk from Poole station. Much of the park is off-lead ground with designated free-running areas, but leads are needed round the boating lake and the play areas, and the lagoon water is salt and shallow at the edges. The best of it is the connection: from the seaward side you can walk straight on to Baiter and Whitecliff without touching a road.

A 2.6-mile hour-and-a-quarter loop of parkland, meadow and the shore of Holes Bay, level and largely surfaced, past a Georgian house and out to a shoreline hide with waders on the mud. Park at Upton, gates open 8am to 9pm from April to September and 8am to 6pm in winter, parking charged with annual permits available, plus a dedicated dog walkers’ car park off Poole Road with 24 spaces and two hours free. The park signs its dog rules with coloured paw prints: green for off lead, orange for on lead, red for no dogs at all, with sheep-grazed phase two ground now under a lead order. There is an enclosed dog training area and a play pen for recall work, and the Tea Rooms take dogs on leads.