Beach · Dorset

Church Ope Cove

Portland
No reviews yet
RIGHT NOW (SEP) · OPEN — AND EVERY OTHER MONTH TOO
Church Ope Cove

Photograph: ITookSomePhotos, CC BY-SA 4.0

Sheltered shingle cove reached down steps through the ruins of Rufus Castle and St Andrew's churchyard, the only proper beach on Portland. Dorset Council lists it as open to dogs all year round. Beach huts, clear water and no vehicle access at all.

House rules, decoded

Off-lead allowed
REGION · DORSET
GRID · 50.5382, -2.4283
SOURCE · HTTPS://WWW.DORSETCOUNCIL.GOV.UK/W/WALKING-DOGS-ON-BEACHES
Also in Portland
WAGFINDER No photo yet
N 440 YD 3.4 MI · LOOP
SOME LIMITS

Portland Bill and the east cliffs

Portland · DT5 2JT
No reviews yet
3.4MILES
1:45TIME
60mCLIMB
80%OFF-ROAD
Water bowls

A 3.4-mile loop of the island’s southern tip in an hour and three quarters, out past the red and white lighthouse, up the east side above Cave Hole and Freshwater Bay, then back through Southwell on lanes and field paths. Almost flat at 60 metres of climb, but the going is bare limestone, quarry spoil and stone stiles that a big dog will need lifting over. Park at the Portland Bill pay and display beside the lighthouse, a large open area that still overflows onto the verges when the sea is up and the spray is worth watching. The clifftop has no fence and old quarry shafts and gullies open without warning right beside the path, so this is a lead walk unless recall is faultless; there is a water bowl at the Lobster Pot café.

VERIFIED 29 JUL 2026 VIEW WALK ›
WAGFINDER No photo yet
Pub SOME LIMITS

The Cove House Inn

DT5 1AW
No reviews yet

Eighteenth-century inn built into the sea wall at Chiswell, looking straight down the length of Chesil Beach. Dogs are permitted in the bar and on the Madeline Tristan side of the restaurant, kept on leads under the table and off the benches. Storms break over the wall in winter, which is when regulars like it best.

In the bar In the dining room
VERIFIED 29 JUL 2026 VIEW ›
WAGFINDER No photo yet
N 176 YD 2.8 MI · LOOP
SOME LIMITS

Tout Quarry sculpture park and King Barrow

Portland
No reviews yet
2.8MILES
1:30TIME
95mCLIMB
90%OFF-ROAD
Off-lead allowed

Two and three quarter miles of wandering through two abandoned Portland stone quarries, an hour and a half, with more than seventy carvings hidden in the rock faces of Tout and a level tramway track running north through King Barrow to a grandstand view over Chesil and the Fleet. Underfoot is stone chippings, bare rock and short turf, with plenty of scrambling if you want it. Start at the free Tout Quarry car park on the hairpin above Chiswell, which takes about twenty cars and has no overflow, so a Sunday afternoon may mean parking in Portland Heights instead. Sheer worked faces and unfenced drops are everywhere among the sculptures, so keep a dog on a lead in the quarry itself; the tramway section beyond the gate is safe enough for a run.

VERIFIED 29 JUL 2026 VIEW WALK ›
Reviews
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