National park
Dog walks on Dartmoor, and lead rules
Trekosa finds dog walks on Dartmoor to suit your dog and you. Tell us once what your dog finds hard, and we show you walks with the roads, stiles, livestock and council dog rules already marked.
This national park lies in Devon.
Do dogs have to be on a lead on Dartmoor?
On open access land, yes: from 1 March to 31 July your dog must be on a lead no longer than 2 metres. The park asks for a lead near farm animals at any time, and on the commons a byelaw requires close control and a lead when a ranger tells you.
- On open access land your dog must be on a fixed lead no longer than 2 metres from 1 March to 31 July, and under close control the rest of the year.The law. Dartmoor National Park Authority.
- The park asks you to keep your dog on a lead from 1 March to 31 July, at any time near farm animals, and in warm weather when adders are about.Asked of visitors. Dartmoor National Park Authority.
- On public footpaths and bridleways it asks for close control, and a lead when farm animals are near.Asked of visitors. Dartmoor National Park Authority.
- Some access land may be closed to dogs at times, or need a lead, so follow the signs on the ground.The law. Dartmoor National Park Authority.
- On the Dartmoor commons and the park's own access land, your dog must be under close control, and on a lead if a ranger tells you. The park is revising its byelaws, and nothing in the draft is law yet.A byelaw. Dartmoor National Park Authority.
- Do not go onto the Okehampton, Merrivale or Willsworthy ranges while a red flag flies by day or a red lamp by night. Their edges are marked with red and white posts.The law. Dartmoor National Park Authority.
- Since 18 March 2026, a dog that attacks or chases farm animals can bring its owner an unlimited fine, on roads and paths as well as in fields.The law. GOV.UK.
Each read on the page named beside it on 29 September 2026. Rules change, so check the page before you go.
Before you go, check:
What the walks on Dartmoor are like
We have measured 26,400 walks on Dartmoor so far, each against the same public map data as everywhere else: where the path runs, what is beside it, the roads it meets and what is on the way. Each bar is the share of those walks the sentence is true of, and the mark beside it is Devon as a whole.
What is beside the path
On open access land for a third or more: 68% of the walks on Dartmoor, against 17% across Devon.
Shares of walks where the ground beside the path is a given kind for the stated part of the way.
| Walks that | Share of walks measured |
|---|---|
| Under trees for a third or more of the way | 33% |
| Beside water for a tenth or more | 62% |
| On open access land for a third or more | 68% |
| Through a park or green space for a third or more | 1% |
| Beside crop fields for a third or more | 85% |
| Beside farm grassland for half or more | 89% |
| No farm grassland at all | 1% |
| Off road for four fifths or more | 39% |
| On roads or lanes for half or more | 38% |
| Through built-up streets for half or more | <1% |
What might stop you
No stile, gate or cattle grid: 68% of the walks on Dartmoor, against 80% across Devon.
Shares of walks with none of each thing on the way. A road counts when it runs within about fifteen metres of the path.
| Walks that | Share of walks measured |
|---|---|
| Never beside a fast road | 95% |
| Never beside a busy road | 82% |
| No busy road to cross | 82% |
| No stile, gate or cattle grid | 68% |
| No steps | 94% |
What is on the way
Pass a busy beauty spot: 63% of the walks on Dartmoor, against 30% across Devon.
Shares of walks that start by, or pass, each of these.
| Walks that | Share of walks measured |
|---|---|
| Start where you can park, at a car park or on a minor road | 61% |
| Pass a pub | 15% |
| Pass a dog-waste bin | 5% |
| Pass a public toilet | 11% |
| Pass a drinking-water tap | 1% |
| Pass a busy beauty spot | 63% |
The walks on Dartmoor are much like Devon's in how far they go and their shape: no row differs by 5 points or more.
Measured on 29 September 2026 from the map. A walk counts as on Dartmoor when its middle lies inside the boundary. How these figures are made
Walks on Dartmoor, for your dog
If you live in Devon, it is your home county, and every walk in it is free, for good. Tell the app what your dog finds hard and it shows you walks that suit, with anything that might stop you shown first.
Anywhere in Great Britain, even with no signal.
Further is the Trekosa subscription: walks beyond your home county, and help on the walk itself. The OS Explorer map, 1:25,000, on any walk while you have signal. Press Offline on a walk and its map stays on your phone until you remove it, for when the signal goes. Drift off the path and you get a quiet buzz.
The first 250 households have it for good. After that, £4.99 a month or £34.99 a year.
Towns and villages
On Dartmoor: Ashburton, Buckfastleigh, Yelverton, South Brent, Ilsington, Horrabridge, Hennock, Moretonhampstead, Chagford, South Tawton, Cornwood, Mary Tavy, Christow, Walkhampton, Drewsteignton and Shaugh Prior.
On its edge: Tavistock, Ivybridge, Bovey Tracey, Okehampton, Chudleigh, Bickleigh, Buckland Monachorum and Ugborough.
Where you may walk on Dartmoor
Every walk we show on Dartmoor keeps to public rights of way, open access land or woodland open to the public, and one that leaves them is refused before you see it.
There is military live-firing ground on Dartmoor: Okehampton Range, Merrivale Range and Willsworthy Range. We hold their edges, and a walk is checked against them before we show it.
Councils can also make orders about dogs, and each council's are on its county's page: Devon.
Other parks nearby
Every walk on Dartmoor is checked against the same data as everywhere else we cover. See what we check and where it comes from.
© Natural England copyright. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right.