172 US dog beaches in 21 states, Hawaii to Maine

Dog-friendly US beaches, each rule from the official page

For each beach I read the dog rule on the page put out by whoever sets it, then link that page with the date I checked. Seasons and hours are on the listing; Del Mar is off-leash dawn to 8 a.m. in summer and leashed after. Beaches that ban dogs are listed too, Jones Beach among them, so you don't drive out for nothing.

Open the map Off-leash beaches Where dogs are banned
172 beaches listed
21 states
32 off-leash options
71 beaches closed to dogs

Browse by rule

A place to share what you saw

The official rule is only half of a beach day. The rest is what you learn on the sand: whether the lot fills by 8 a.m., where the rinse-off tap is, how hard the current runs at the river mouth, which end the big dogs favor. That knowledge belongs to the people who go, so every listing has a place to post what you saw and share a photo. Read what others found, add your own, and help the next dog owner have a safe day out.

Browse by state

AlabamaCaliforniaDelawareFloridaGeorgiaHawaiiMassachusettsMarylandMaineMichiganMinnesotaNorth CarolinaNew HampshireNew JerseyNew YorkOregonSouth CarolinaTexasVirginiaWashingtonWisconsin

All beaches in the index

Before you drive

Of 172 beaches here, 47 have a season or set hours. Willard Beach in Maine takes dogs 7 to 9, morning and evening, and at no other hour all summer. Hampton Beach State Park bans them May 1 to Sep 30.

Dog beach questions

Are dogs allowed on beaches in the US?

There's no national rule; whoever runs the beach sets it, and the answer changes from one town to the next. Rosie's Dog Beach in Long Beach, California is an off-leash zone, and Tybee Island, Georgia bans dogs from every beach with fines starting at $200.

What does 'seasonal access' mean?

The beach bans dogs for the summer swim season and allows them back, usually leashed, for the rest of the year. Ocean City, New Jersey is a typical case: dogs are allowed October 1 through April 30 and banned the other five months.

Can my dog be off-leash on a beach?

At some, and a 'Dog Beach' name doesn't settle it: Huntington Dog Beach in California requires a leash under city code, while Coronado Dog Beach has a marked zone where dogs are always off leash. Most Oregon ocean beaches allow dogs under voice control with a leash carried, and the status badge on each listing says which kind of rule applies.

How do you check the rules?

Against whatever the responsible agency publishes, which for Newport Beach is the city's beach information page and for Padre Island is the National Park Service's pets page. If I can't find a page like that, the beach doesn't go up.

Why isn't my dog beach listed?

Either I haven't reached its state yet or I couldn't find an official page for its rule. Send it through the corrections page with a link if you have one, and I'll read it and add the beach.

172 beaches listed Map view