Our drawing of the route, over road and path data from OpenStreetMap. It shows where the walk goes and what it goes through. It is not a survey and not a navigation aid — carry OS Explorer on the hill.
The city's standard dog circuit: out of the Bitts Park car park on Dacre Road behind the castle, east along the Eden past the bowling greens, over the Memorial suspension bridge into Rickerby Park, a loop of the park to the obelisk and back down the north bank to Eden Bridge. Rickerby Park is grazed, so there is stock on the grass most of the year and the field gates matter more than the map does. The return leg runs west through Bitts Park to the Sheepmount athletics ground, where the Hadrian's Wall Path carries on along the river. Cumberland Council's PSPO puts no lead requirement on either park, but it does exclude dogs from the fenced play area and skate park, which sit right on the line of the walk.
The all-day cafe and bar at the front of the Halston on Warwick Road, a couple of minutes from the station and the citadel. Dogs are allowed in here with their owners, which is useful because the Halston's other room, the Penny Blue restaurant, is stated to be for humans only. Leads are required anywhere in the hotel's public areas and grounds. If you are staying, dogs cannot be left in the apartment unaccompanied, so Bartons Yard is where the dog goes while you eat.
Since 25 November 2023 the cathedral has admitted dogs to the main building as well as the grounds, which makes it one of the few indoor wet-weather stops in the city you can take a dog into. A water bowl is kept opposite the main door. The rule is one dog per adult, on a short lead, and it does not extend to services, to the tours that go above ground level, or to the Treasury. Guide, therapy and assistance dogs were already admitted and are unaffected.
Open parkland off Wigton Road on the west side of the city, laid out over medieval ridge and furrow that still shows in low sun. A network of surfaced paths links the restored Georgian Garden, the Manor grounds with their old trees and rebuilt ha-ha, a hay meadow that is cut once a year, and football pitches. It is a good short-legged or elderly-dog walk: nothing steep, everything surfaced, and a free car park at the community centre. Cumberland Council states no lead requirement and no exclusion here, only the duty to clear up, which carries a fine up to £1,000.
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