We hope to help you enjoy a holiday or day out in England , Scotland or Wales by suggesting suitable walks for you and your canine best friend to enjoy together. We have gathered a variety of routes to meet a range of dogs' needs and have become more aware of these as Hamish aged (he once thought nothing of 15 miles with a mountain in the way but now manages very little). Hamish or Tia have walked most routes and we welcome further contributions (please see copyright and data use) but will use our experience in deciding what to include in our UK-wide walks directory.
Walking instructions are free for private use and printer friendly versions are available. You don't have to walk with a dog to enjoy these routes and groups of ramblers will be welcomed by many of our pubs and places to eat advertisers.
If you are not used to walking longer distances, especially in hills and mountains, we suggest you take care to plan for your own and dogs' comfort and safety. Even when Hamish could keep going all day – longer than us – he needed regular drinks, especially in hot weather. We often carried at least a litre of water for him and supplement this with clear running supplies we encounter on the walk. Please consider your dog's need for a drink, safety (a harness might be important in the hills if your dog is not very well behaved and agile) and clear up where you need to.
Whilst we take care to ensure walking instructions are easy to follow Dogpeople Limited cannot, and do not, guarantee complete accuracy of all details. Users of instructions must accept the possibility of errors or omissions and any consequences arising there from. Routes can look different at different times of the year and landowners may change fence lines or access through them. Felling trees can make a difference - even in comparing 'the ground' with Ordnance Survey maps. Please take these possibilities into account before setting off. Please note most routes show the date we walked and provide other information for dog owners in the heading bar. .
Click on the map or list to the left of the map to select the area you wish to view
Follow the links or map above for routes and walking instructions.
Even in National Parks we occasionally found it difficult to find places for Hamish to really stretch his legs. Sheep and other livestock were the main reason. We are confident Hamish wouldn't hurt any of these but he would almost certainly make them run; so we always keep him on his lead when farm animals are around.
We found forest and woodland walks help overcome this problem. Even for a full day's walking we try and plan sections of them into the route so Hamish gets the chance to explore beyond the end of his extending lead. Blean Woods are Hamish's favourite place for local walks in Kent .
Another problem in planning enjoyable dog walking holidays is stiles, especially on longer walks. Step stiles over dry stone walls are especially difficult. Hamish was never good at these and had to be lifted – not desirable for him or us, especially when he was wet and muddy! We find long distance paths tend to have fewer ‘dog unfriendly' stiles and bridle paths nearly always have gates. A short diversion will sometimes allow passage through a farm gate as an alternative to lifting your dog. Always ensure you leave gates as you find them – for more information on The Countryside Code click here . We endeavour to give warning of stiles and other problems in walking instructions.
