We map where dogs are welcome in New Zealand, walk by walk and rule by rule. When we can't prove a rule, we say so.
Run by James and Banks in ChristchurchBanks is Chief Scout in training. He has never read a bylaw.
For each walk we stop at the first source that states a dog rule, and store the rule with it. On conflict, the stricter or better-sourced reading wins.
City and district councils write dog bylaws. If the walk sits in a zone on our map, that zone governs.
On conservation land, the DOC page for that track, hut or campsite.
DOC's and the Outdoor Access Commission's own track records, where neither of those speaks.
Then the rule is unknown, and an unknown walk is not listed.
A sign at the gate, a closure notice or a ranger beats this site every time. How we check
Beach rules change with the season, and half the internet guesses. So we built the map we wanted: every walk has a straight answer, and where the evidence isn't there the page says so. A wrong “dogs welcome” ruins someone's day two hours from home.
Banks tests the climbs, the swim spots and the sausage rolls. He has never read a bylaw, which is the point.
The first 200 members carry a founding star beside their dog's name, for good. The Founding Pack
No. Every page and the map are open. An account is for logging the walks you and your dog have done: a record, region progress and a place on the leaderboard. It takes an email address.
Yes. Our iPhone app is on the App Store in New Zealand, and you can try new versions first in early access on TestFlight. On Android, Hiking Dogs installs from your browser: open hikingdogs.co.nz in Chrome, tap the menu, then Add to Home Screen. From Facebook or Instagram, open the page in your browser first.
You earn points by logging a walk you've done, not by reading one. The first dog proven on a track with a photo earns the pioneer ribbon. Your region progress fills in across the 15 regions as you go.
Easy suits any fitness, on formed track with little climbing. Moderate adds climbing or rougher ground. Hard wants good fitness and a good part of the day. Expert is long or technical. The grade is for the human, so read it with the profile.
I live in Christchurch with Banks, half Border Collie, half Golden Retriever. Hiking Dogs exists because finding a straight answer on where he was allowed to go meant DOC pages, council bylaws and beach signs.
Every walk on the site is checked against the rule's own source. Members send in walks, photos and corrections, and the leaderboard only counts walks that are proven.
- James
Latest correction
All 1,079Corrected to Permit
The page said "Not confirmed yet" while Rotorua Lakes Council’s general rule was held for a land check.
Source: Kaingaroa Tipu, Trespass Notice Information (November 2025); CNI Iwi Holdings, Land access page Corrected 25 Oct 2026
3,705 council dog zones from 32 councils, plus 168 DOC areas closed to dogs. No council, and not DOC, has endorsed this site. We read their published rules and cite them.
Walked it? Log it and keep the record.
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