Best Dog Friendly Walks Melbourne – Despite being surrounded by thousands of acres of national parkland, dog walking in the Dandenong Ranges can be incredibly rewarding for owners.
Dog friendly hikes are the best places to take your dog around Melbourne and Victoria. We’ve explored all of these forest trails because we have dogs and each one offers something a little different – tall forests, views, rivers and rolling terrain – so they’re worth doing.
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The Mathias Track is a popular hiking trail for horses and mountain bikes as well as dogs. It is an 8km round trip and can be accessed from Falls Road, Sylvan Road, the former Olinda Golf Course (best option) or Hammer Arboretum.
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Terms and conditions are subject to change. Please let us know if there are signs restricting dog access to the track. Also, follow the rules. Most bush tracks are lead only. Trail 11 is a great place for dogs to have fun.
The Olinda Golf Course ceased to be used as a golf course a few years ago and is now used by many people for walks with or without their dogs. This is a large area with great views, so enjoy a picnic or just enjoy this special place. The golf course provides easy access to Mathias Track, Rock Track and Hammer Arboretum (on-lead).
Another great place to hike is Emerald in “Pepy’s Land”. Find the location on the map.
We encourage dogs to be allowed in some of our parks and gardens. Rules can change, so always read the rules at your point of entry before taking your dog.
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Well-behaved dogs are currently allowed on leads in Alfred Nicholls Gardens, George Tyndale Gardens and Piranda Gardens. Both of these gardens are beautiful in the fall and beautiful all year round. Mt Dandenong Arboretum is another great place.
When taking your dog on holiday, please observe the rules set by the property owner. This is polite behavior and means your accommodation options should remain dog-friendly.
Who would have thought there would be 14 dog-friendly beaches around the bay and on the Mornington Peninsula? Mordialloc has some horse/pony friendly beaches!
On the PTV Animals website, dogs/animals using public transport may travel subject to the following conditions:
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Other small animals can travel on metropolitan trains, trams and buses if they are carried in an approved animal container. See V/Line instructions below for animal approved containers.
Animals, other than dogs and service animals, are not permitted to travel on public transportation unless placed in an approved container as described above.
Customers with dogs are advised to avoid traveling between 7:00am to 9:00am and 4:00pm to 6:00pm on weekdays. One of the most important things about traveling with your dog, whether it’s a day trip or a long trip, is finding dog-friendly walks. It is a joy to go for a walk together in a new and interesting environment, not just to walk the same suburban streets.
There are lots of great places to walk in Victoria, and lots of places to walk your dog in general. I mostly tested it on short walks around Victoria with my dog. Each walk is less than 5km, sometimes much shorter, and suitable for an hour or two of walking.
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Yu Yangs Regional Park is the perfect day trip from Melbourne with your dog. Located less than an hour from central Melbourne and 25 minutes north of Geelong, this park allows dogs off leash. The park is named after a local indigenous word meaning “big mountain in the middle of the plains”.
The park’s most popular walk is the Flinders Peak Walk, which climbs to the top of a granite outcrop and offers spectacular views across Melbourne and the Bellarine Peninsula. The round trip distance is 3.2 km and takes about 1 hour. There are many stairs to climb, so be careful!
If you prefer a short, easy walk, another great option is the 800m circuit around Big Rock, which can also be done a short 100m walk from the car park.
Or, for a longer walk, combine the return route with the east-west walk adjacent to Flinders Peak, a 4.5km loop that leaves from the same car park. The combined ride takes 3 hours.
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With Macedon Regional Park in the Macedon Ranges less than an hour north-west of Melbourne, Yu Yangs isn’t the only regional park conveniently located on Melbourne’s doorstep.
One of the most popular short walks in the park is the Memorial Cross Trail, which leaves from the tea house and main picnic area. However, there are many short and long walks that can be completed with your dog on a leash.
I recommend hiking to the top of Camel’s Hump, the highest point of the mountain range. A moderate bushwalk takes you gently to the top, where you can enjoy spectacular views of Hanging Rock and the surrounding countryside. The return distance is only 1km, so it’s a brisk 20-30 minute walk, but enough to stretch your legs.
If you prefer a longer trip, you can combine the walk with part of the 30km circular trail that connects all the important sites of Macedon Regional Park.
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Daylesford is another beautiful area close enough to Melbourne for a day trip but also great for a weekend getaway. And one of the most popular dog-friendly attractions in Daylesford is completing the Daylesford Lake Circuit Walk.
The entire walking circuit is about 2.8km long, and takes about an hour to complete a full lap at an easy pace. There are several car parks along the circuit at Foreshore, Fulcher Street and Wombat Flat, all within easy walking distance of most accommodation in the city. There are plenty of signs indicating the distance to various points of interest, so it’s easy to complete just one section of the walk and then return to the starting point.
The Daylesford area is famous for its mineral springs and you can sample the local spring water at the end of your walk. Stop at Wombat Flat Mineral Spring to see the historic pumps that provide mineral water or take a short detour to Central Springs Reserve. Dogs must be on a leash.
I was hoping to visit Torango and Amphitheater Falls on my trip around Victoria, but after days of heavy rain it was best to leave hiking with my dog in one of Victoria’s wettest areas.
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Victoria’s dog-friendly waterfalls are just south of the Yarra Ranges National Park in the Torango Falls Reserve at Nuji, about two hours east of Melbourne. can be controlled with
The circular walk, which visits Turango and the Amphitheater Falls lookout, is 2.2 kilometers long and takes about an hour. The forest trails are well laid out and relatively flat, but it is best to avoid heavy rain.
There are many great dog walking spots in the Bright area, but one of the best options is the Canyon Walk, which runs along the Owen River through a section known as ‘The Canyon’ where gold was once mined.
The walk starts on the west side of Star Road, but you can start about 200 meters before Howitt Park, where there is convenient parking. The walk is about 3km long starting at Star Road, but there are several longer options, including the Murray to Pahar Rail Trail.
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The walk is initially on a paved path, but the path along the gorge becomes more challenging, especially on the north bank of the river. Cross the river twice via two swing bridges at either end of the canyon section.
Dogs must be kept on a lead in central Bright, including Howitt Park, but dogs are allowed off leash as long as they are under effective control. I haven’t seen any such sign, but according to a map on the council’s website, dogs are off at the end of Riverside Avenue.
Not far from Bright in the Victorian High Country is the historic village of Beechworth, famous as one of the best preserved gold mining towns in Australia. There are a number of walks around the village, many of which are dog friendly, but one that combines a scenic bush walk with the chance to see some historic sites is the Gorge Walk.
The Gorge Walk runs through Beechworth Historic Park on the northern edge of the town. It mainly follows the 5km Canyon Scenic Byway, a historic road that runs through the park. Recently
