Boscombe Beach

A 3.4-mile loop of an hour and three quarters along the seafront promenade between two wooded chines, returning up through the subtropical planting of Alum Chine and the pines of Branksome Dene. Flat on the prom, then 60 metres of steady climb through the chines on surfaced paths and steps. Park at Branksome Chine or Alum Chine, both pay and display, both a steep zig zag walk down to the sand and both busy from mid-morning in summer. This is the key stretch to know: BCP allows dogs all year from the western side of Alum Chine to the Branksome Chine beach office, so a swim is legal in August here when the main Bournemouth sands are shut, with leads required on the promenade and the zig zags.

A 5.2-mile circuit in two and three quarter hours, over Warren Hill to the head, out along the sand spit past the beach huts to the harbour mouth and back on the sheltered Christchurch Harbour side. Surfaced track, sand and grass, with one climb of 90 metres and no shelter on the top. Start at the Hengistbury Head car park off Broadway, pay and display, large, and served by the land train to the spit from April to October, though the train does not take dogs. This is one of the few BCP frontages where dogs are allowed on the beach all year, and Mudeford Sandbank too, but the head is a nature reserve with a March-to-August lead season and grazing cattle, so leads on the top and freedom on the sand.