The Franklin District council provides a list of places on their website where dogs can run off a leash. http://www.franklin.govt.nz/CouncilServices/AnimalsandBees/Dogs/DogExerciseAreas/tabid/299/Default.aspx

Again there are numerous dog exercise areas in the district which can be viewed on the rodney district council website. I've highlighted some listed on the website for specific areas below but for more information I'd advise you check out the website yourself. For longer walks there is up to 10km of walking to be had at Muriwai Beach (NW Auckland). For keen mountain bikers, dogs are also allowed in the Woodhill Forest, although permission must be obtained from Carter Holt Harvey.      

Helensville - In Helensville dogs can be walked onany part of the river reserve.

Orewa - If you are travelling south on SH1 and need to let the dog out for walking before hitting Auckland City, dogs can be run in Amorino Park, Orewa, next to the Orewa River, Hatfield Beach Reserve, west of the public toilets and the Western Reserve, Orewa which is part of the south-western portion of Western Reserve bounded by the Orewa River estuary.

Te Arai - South of Mangawhai Heads, dogs can be walked at Eyres Point, Te Arai in the disused quarry area but NOT in the wetlands.

Waimauku - In Waimauku dogs can be run in Glasgow Park but NOT in the dressage arena, playcentre or kindergarten area.

Warkworth - Dogs can be walked in part of Lucy Moore Park, Matheson Bay and in a section of the Warkworth Showgrounds.

Hanmer Springs is another of those places where some good mountain biking can be had with your dog as dogs are allowed in the forest which borders the township. This allows a good variety of walks of differing lengths. A walk up to Conical Hill takes about 1 hour and provides views from a lookout at the
top. There is also a waterfall track which at about 2.5 hours provides a slightly longer option.

Horopito:Just south of Horopito on SH4, Middle Road takes you into the Erua conservation area and although it is managed by DOC, dogs are allowed here. It is mostly 4WD tracks through native forest and is a popular mountain biking area.

National Park: Dogs are allowed in and around the village although there are no specific dog walking areas. If you want a bit more than a short walk around town then you could do part of the popular mountain bike ride over Fishers Track, but if you want something other than a 4WD track you can park at the start of Fishers Track or at the railway station and walk up the track to the start of a single track walk (out and back) that goes up to a look out (30mins) or further on down to a waterfall. For more information ask at the Petrol Station on SH4. Also see nearby Raurimu for a possible walk. The Tongariro Forest Park does have numerous 4WD trcks used my mountain bikers and some walkers. However, there are many kiwi in the Tongariro Forest and dogs must have current avian aversion certification and a permit in order to be in the forest.

Ohakune:There aren't specific dog walking areas here but there are a couple of short walks where dogs are allowed. Go through the play area close to the information centre on SH49 and across a small bridge to the beginning of a loop track that takes about 20 minutes to walk at a reasinable pace through native bush. This is a nice walk. Alternatively, there is a walk alongside the Mangawhero River from the town centre. Dogs are also allowed in the DOC estate at Rangataua, Erua and Tongariro as long as they have current avian aversion certificate.

Owhango: There is a lovely loop walk of approximately an hour through native bush of the Tongariro Forest which starts down by the bridge over the Whakapapa River. Dogs MUST have current avian aversion certification and a permit in order to walk here.

Raurimu: For a very short toilet stop (for dogs) and stretch of the legs, dogs are allowed up to the spiral lookout, the car park is about 200m on the left after leaving SH4 in the direction of the village. For a slightly longer walk either walk the dog through the village, there are many very friendly dog owners in this sleepy village who are often out and about or drive through the village over the railway and onto metal road. Take the left fork and park on the side of the road where the houses end (1.6km from SH4). You can walk your dog on foot from here along a 4WD track surrounded by native bush. There is a small padlocked gate near the start but you are allowed beyond it. You can either walk down to a culvert (10mins) and give the dog a drink before heading back the way you came or carry on until you reach a padlocked deer gate (20mins) beyond which is a private farm, and then turn back.

Taupo: Dogs can be walked on a leash along the lake front in Taupo or if you want to let them have a free run you can go to Spa Park (should be readily obvious on any map of the town). If you are a mountain biker, there are some awesome tracks at the Craters of the Moon MTB park and dogs are allowed to run free here too.

Turangi: There is a nice loop track that runs alonside the Tongariro River. On SH1 heading N towards Taupo turn right opposite the Shell station down Arahori Road. At the end of the reserve on the left hand side their is a carpark. Park up and enjoy the walk, it takes about an hour.

MULTI-DAY TRAMPS:Multi-day tramps can be undertaken in both the Pureora Forest Park (West of Lake Taupo) or the Kaimanawa Forest Park (East and South of Lake Taupo). Dogs are allowed in both these areas. Permits are required for the Pureora Forest Park but these are easily obtained from the Pureora Field Centre. Check with DOC Ruapehu or Pureora for any poison control work currently being undertaken.

Coromandel council have good information on their website, http://www.tcdc.govt.nz/Services/Dogs/Summer+Dog+Exercise+Information+and+Maps.htm

Kauaeranga Valley - There is some great tramping to be had in the Kauaeranga Valley, dogs are allowed on most of the walks but NOT the famous Kauri Trail which includes the Pinnacles route and Billy Goat Track. The DOC website (under a track and walk search) has detailed information on all the walks.

Manapouri - Any public place or reserve outside the Township boundary. Frasers Beach reserve area (including beach areas).

Te Anau - Dogs may be exercised in any public place or reserve area outside the Township boundaries. This includes Ivon Wilson Park, the area adjacent the Lakefront north from the Rodeo Ground in Te Anau, the Water Park behind the Underground Trout Observatory, Fergus Square Reserve and the reserve adjacent to the boat harbour (not including playing areas and sports grounds).

There is a walkway which starts in the centre of Blenheim on which dogs can be walked and if you prefer to head out of town, dogs can be walked on Rarangi Beach Front.

There is also a very large area available for walking inside the stopbank at Condors which is on the East side of the Wairau river bridge near Renwick

There are a few good walks around Picton, we've done a few with our dog while waiting for the ferry. We have a good little walk guide which we got from the information centre called Picton by Foot and it doesn't mention that dogs are not allowed on any of the walks. Soooo we've always taken our dogs and we've never had any problems, also I can't recall any no dog signs. Most of the tracks are on the snout (Victoria Domain) which is the small peninsula that extends between Picton Harbour and Waikawa Bay. There are beautiful views out across Queen Charlotte Sound from up there. You can either drive up onto the snout through or walk up from town.

Pete from the AAA Marlin Motel e-mailed me with another suggesion - Another excellent walk in Picton is the track up Esson’s Valley to either Humphries Dam or Barnes Dam, it is a well maintained & very pleasant track of around an hour return which is used by many locals to exercise their dogs. It can be found by driving to the end of Devon St, which becomes Garden Terrace, and then becomes the track. Enjoy.

Around Nelson City, dogs can be walked along the Maitai River Walkway, Centre of New Zealand, Branford Park Reserve and the estuary side of Tahunanui Beach. Doggy-Doo bags are available on the Maitai River Walk and Tahunanui Beach. There is also a very large forest exercise area for dogs at Rough Island which is just before Rabbit Island. Also see Richmond below.

Thanks to Margaret in Nelson who has also suggested the next few walks, for more information when you arrive it may be worth asking at the visitors centre. The Grampians - although it is quite a steep hillside walk and often they have sheep grazing, there is a walk from the track up to the Centre of NZ that heads Nth along the hillside and you can come down at Walter Bluff. Another nice walk for a dogs on a leash (mostly) is around the Fairfield House grounds and along the forest tracks. This walks can then be expanded onto the grampians if you feel up to it.

Rory, a new arrival in Nelson also offered the following info, thanks Rory: In the Nelson area, we are finding quite a few areas that don't seem to mind dog access.  In particular Gordon's knob and the surrounding ranges seem promising.  We have found a track that does not have any "No dogs" signage and appears to constitute a 3 day circular walk with huts. It starts from the forestry lookout about four hours walk away form the top of Gordon's knob. Most of the local forestry companies seem happy to issue permits for dog exercising in the plantations as well, provided you sign to say you are not hunting with them.

There are 3 good walks and 2 tramp that I have been advised that dogs are allowed on in the Paihia area. The following descriptions are taken from the Bay Of Islands Walks hDOC produced pamphlet.

Oromahoe Road Traverse is a 6km tramp that takes approximately 2.5h. The track follows a ridgeline through regenerating hardwood/podocarp forest, linking Oromahoe Road with School Road and the Paihia View Track near Paihia. This track offers forest and sea views.

Opua/Paihia Track is a 5km walk and again takes approximately 2.5h. The track starts at the southerm end of Paihia beach and for the most part, follows the coastline - giving wonderful views of the inlet. It crosses mangrove estuaries and ends in Opua.

Paihia View Track - is about a 1.5km pleasant walk through regenerating forest to a lookout over the bay. Access to the track is via School Road, 700m from the Paihia township. The track takes approximately 30 minutes.

Waitangi National Trust Mangrove Walk is a 6km walk which starts at the Treaty grounds and follows the bush-clad banks of the Waitangi River to Haruru falls. A boardwalk section passes through mangrove forest. Return is via the same track and it takes approximately 2.5h.

Grace Elias owner of the modernbach in Pahia (listed on the accommodation page under Northland, Paihia) also mentioned that there is also a bush walk which starts at School Road (the look-out walk) and takes you via Oramahoe Rd all the way to Opua and then you can follow the Opua to Paihia waterfront track back to the house which is a 31/2 to 4 hr round trip for the dog walking enthusiasts. It's pretty hilly so would suit the fitter dog walker, and there are a couple of cafes in Opua for refreshments half way round.

There are several walking tracks on Russell but only 2 allow dogs; the Okiato - Russell Walkway and the Walk to Long Beach, the beaches north and south of Long Beach allow unleashed dog walks at all times.

Tapeka Point walk allows dogs.  However it is very high with steep nearby drops most of the way: http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/tracks-and-walks/northland/bay-of-islands/tapeka-point/. There is also a nice walk at mid to low tide north (left) from the stony beach at the end of the Tapeka Point settlement.

The Queenstown area can be a difficult place to walk a dog because a siginifacnt part of Mt.Aspiring National Park is in the Queenstown Lakes District. However, there are some walks in and around Queenstown of differing lengths.The station information centre suggested a handful of fantastic walks to me, I have also walked and mountain biked a number of them and some others myself.

The Queenstown Hill walk. This walk is around 2-3 hours return and walks up a hill behind the town so you get fantastic views of the lake and mountains at the top. (I have actually mountain biked a good portion of this walk and then Ben Lomond and took my dog - it was awesome, I have great memories and photos of this ride).

The Ben Lomond trail. This is a harder, full-day walk up to the peak of one of the hills surrounding Queenstown. From the base of the walk in town to the peak is around 6-8 hours return.

The Frankton Track. This walk begins in the beautiful Queenstown gardens and follows the lake around to the neighbouring suburb of Frankton. This track is quite long in total, but is a lovely easy walk and you can walk for as long as you like and then return back along the same trail to Queenstown (I have also walked on this track and again it is beautiful).

Twelve Mile Delta. There is a DOC campsite at twelve mile delta out of town towards. We have stayed there on our travels and also mountain biked (with our dog) a track thats starts at the campsite and heads out onto a peninsula. From memory I think it took us about an hour round trip but I can't be sure so a trip to the local DOC office or i-site would give you a more accurate update.

Balclutha - Blair Athol Walkway 1 hour return(around our riverbank)

Catlins - Jacks Blowhole 1 hour return and the Catlins River Walk 5 hours one way

Oamaru - If you drive along Beach Rd, close to town you have access to kilometers of beach and some grass reserve areas on which to walk the dog.

Home of the infamous Bluff Oyster and the end of New Zealand, there are some nice dog-friendly walks to be had along the coastline here; The Glory Track which is 1 1/2 hrs or the Foveaux Walkway 2 1/2 hrs. These have been described to me as both having stunning views of Bluffs rugged coastline and if you are adventurous enough to climb to the top of Bluff hill then amazing vistas await with rewarding views of Stewart Island, Riverton and the Catlins coasts. I have done this and can agree the views are lovely.

I was lucky enough to live in Invercargill for 4 months when I first moved to New Zealand and happily walked my dog in a variety of places.

Fosbender Park is a sled dog area (Thanks to Ragnar Berg of the Southland Dog Sled Association (SSDA) for this info) - Fosbender is a dog friendly area and is part of the Sandy Point Domain (see below). There are approximately 13km of interconnecting trails, most of which are at least 3m wide and most of them are loop tracks. As with most of the trails at Sandy Point, they are forest trails so they are well sheltered from the weather. The most convenient access to the sled dog area is via Fosbender car park at the start of Kilmoch Bush walking track and there is a map on SSDA website that might be of help http://groups.msn.com/ssda.

Oreti Beach was, I think the scene used for screening parts of the Fastest Indian movie featuring Anthony Hopkins and dogs are allowed to run to their content in the dunes or aon the beach and it is a huge long beach. I think you can walk many kilometers down the beach on a good day.

Queens Park is a large park near the city centre with beautiful gardens, a golf course and a fitness trail among it's many attractions. You can taek your dog there and do quite reasonable length walks. There are some parts of the park where dogs are not permitted but these are well marked.

Sandy Point - Sandy Point is a reserve out towards Oreti Beach which has a number of good single track mountain bike trails developed. Dogs are allowed there so there is much dog walking or mountain biking to be done.

The Waihopai Walkway is also a nice walk that takes you along the stop banks (flood banks) in North Invervargill. Off one part of the walkway is a bush reserve called Thomsons Bush (I think) that is also a nice area for a short (less than 30 minute) walk.

Bryant Memorial Track - Staring from Earl's Place, a 20min walk takes you down to the coast. From the Bryant Home Crusade Bible Camp you walk down through a small patch of coastal forest to Ngarunui Beach. Nikau palms are a significant feature of this track. A third of the way down there is an excellent lookout with views northward along the coast.

Mt. Karioi (Pirongia Forest Park) - this western section of the forest park sees Mt. Karioi standing over the Ragland area at 756m. I didn't do this walk but it is apparently about 2.5 - 3h to a look out and 3-3.5h to the summit through bush. I was itching to do this walk but don't think it was stroller friendly and my 6 month old would not sustain that length of walk.

Dogs are allowed on the main beach (Ngarunui) all day throughout the summer (how refreshing) and from what we observed they were all so well behaved. Dogs aren't allowed in the town as per usual but if you park in the town you can walk over the footbridge (close to the info centre) and then out around the beach on the edge of the estuary behind the camp ground. At low tide or during neaps you can walk right around the coast to Ngarunui Beach - I'm guessing this would take a couple of hours but would be gorgeous. Alternatively, you could just drive out to the beach and walk from there up and down the beach.

Wainui Reserve - A km or so out of town is the Wainui Reserve. This reserve actually encompasses some of the cliff top area next to Ngarunui Beach. From the reserve car park on the main road you can do a little bush walk or can walk up to the cliffe tops. If you drive as to the beach car park but turn right at the first roundabout you can park at the top of the cliffs and then walk along the tops to a trig point or go further towards town and come out on Riria Kereopa Memorial Drive (about 40mins). Either way there will be some nice views and walks of different lengths.

Wanganui /Manawatu

Hylton Park: This is a mountain bike area on the northeast side of town along Brunswick Road. Dogs are allowed in the park and as there are several large tracks and open areas walkers shoudln't really worry the bikers at all.

Kai-Iwi Beach: Kai-Iwi is a few km out of town (past the Botanical Gardens and Westmere Lake neither of which allows dogs). This a pretty beach, popular with surfers and walkers but beware, the tide comes right into the crumbling cliffs when at its highest so if you're not careful you can get stranded - You have been warned.

South Beach: South beach is located near to the airport on the south side of town. Dogs are free to run up and down the beach and on the weekends and evenings it can be a popular dog walking spot although some locals would be wary of leaving their car in the car park so if you have 4WD you may prefer to leave it on the beach itself. The tides are not a problem here because you can walk through the dunes at high tide.

Whanganui River: Dogs can be walked along the river whether its for a quick toilet stop or a couple of hours. You should have the dog on a leash through Kowhai Park (but if your dog is obedient, you shouldn't encounter too many problems from it running free, I used to live here and almost never had my dog on a leash and neither did anyone else I knew or saw). Park by the rivercity canoe club and then either walk up and down the length of the park (approx. 60mins) or walk around any of the 4 bridges from SH3 to the rail bridge on SH4.

As a keen mountain biker, I have had some good riding in Wellington accompanied by my dog. Makara Peak is really a MTB park, walking there is probably not ideal although I don't think its forbidden. Short- and extensive- walks can be done with a dog on Mt.Victoria. Another area, close to Makara where dogs can be walked and mountain bikes ridden is Wrights Hill.

Hutt River Trail - There is a long trail which runs along the Hutt River from Upper to Lower Hutt that allows dogs. The trail can be accessed at several places and you can walk or cycle seperate sections, the individual sections vary in length between 1-2.5h in length, however, in many places tracks are located on both sides of the river offering a range of short loops.

Kaitoke Regional Park - There are 2 entrances to Kaitoke Regional Park off SH2; the main entrance is at Waterworks road, 12km north of Upper Hutt. Alternatively, turn left off SH2 at Twin Lakes Road, Te Marua, 5km north of upper hutt. This is a great dog-friendly and there are a number of different walking options from as little as 15mins to 3hours for a longer option.

Porirua/Titahi Bay: Dogs can be walked in the Whitirea Park area. There is sometimes stock loose on this ground so beware.