Hastings · off-leash
Off-leash dog areas in Hastings
Hastings District Council publishes 29 mapped zones covering 26 named places where a dog may be off the lead, and this is all of them. Underneath sits the honest version of the question everyone actually asks, which is whether any of it is fenced.
Where these zones come from. Every area listed here is a named off-leash zone in Hastings District Council's own dog control data, which we hold as 29 mapped polygons. Last refreshed 2026-08-18. Nobody has reviewed or endorsed this page: we read the published data and cite it. Dog park fencing comes from each council's own dog park pages, with additional locations from OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
Full attribution
- Dog exercise & prohibited areas © Hastings District Council
A zone boundary is not a blessing. Off-leash means the bylaw allows it, not that it is a sensible idea beside a road, through stock, or across nesting birds. Playgrounds and sports fields are usually carved back out of these areas even where the rest of the park is off the lead, and a sign at the gate beats anything on this page.
4 zones around Hastings change with the date. Hastings District Council also publishes seasonal areas where the rule flips over summer, usually on the coast and usually through the middle of the day. Those are not in the list below, because the list below is the year-round off-leash set. The beaches and seasons guide carries every window we hold, resolved against today.
Every named area
The 26 off-leash places Hastings District Council names
Alphabetical, exactly as the council names them. Most of these carry one line of council wording, “Dogs permitted Off Lead”, and where a zone carries something different we print it underneath that zone.
- Arataki Link Reserve
- Clifton Domain
- Clifton Road Reserve
- Duke Street Reserve
- Eskdale ParkDogs permitted Off Lead along the southern or right-hand side of, and to the end of the park driveway
- Flaxmere Green BeltDogs permitted Off Lead on the Flaxmere Green Belt to the west of Tarbet Street, Arklow Place and Frobisher Street between Kirkwood Road and Flaxmere Avenue
- Haumoana Coastal Beach Front
- Hikanui Reserve
- James Cook Street Reserve
- Karamu Road South, Road ReserveDogs permitted Off Lead at Karamu Road South, from Pattison Road south to Murdoch Road
- Karamu Stream BanksDogs permitted Off Lead on the banks of the Karamu Stream, from a point adjacent to the southern most edge of Anderson Park, Havelock North to the vehicle over bridge on Havelock Road
- Keirunga GardensDogs permitted Off Lead at the southern boundary walkway of Keirunga Gardens Havelock North, along the extent of the western boundary walkway accessed from Tanner Street, and including the open grass areas at the southern and northern ends of the Park.
- Kingsgate ReserveDogs permitted Off Lead at Kingsgate Reserve from Te Mata Road to Reeve Drive, Ritchie Place, Fulford Place and Durham Drive
- Ocean BeachDogs permitted Off Lead at Ocean Beach north of the surf life saving club to 100m south of the predator proof fence
- Pakowhai Country Park
- Palmbrook Reserve
- Portsmouth Road ReserveDogs permitted Off Lead at Portsmouth Road, from Wilson Road, west to the end of Portsmouth Road
- Southern Boundary Walkway, Keirunga GardensDogs permitted Off Lead at the southern boundary walkway of Keirunga Gardens on Tanner Street, Havelock North
- Tainui Reserve
- Tanner Street Reserve
- Tauroa Road Reserve
- Te Awanga Beachfront
- Te Awanga Domain
- Te Mata Peak
- Waimarama BeachDogs permitted Off Lead at Waimarama Beach north of the Puhokio Stream river mouth to Pututaranui Point at any time
- Whirinaki ReserveDogs permitted Off Lead at the North Shore and Whirinaki to Tangoio Beach road reserve
Fenced dog parks
20 dog parks near Hastings
A council off-leash zone tells you where a dog may run, not whether anything is fenced, and we hold no fencing data on the zones at all. A dog park is where that question can be answered, and it is the one that matters when the recall is still a work in progress. These are the dog park records we hold within 35 km of the Hastings zones, sorted by what the evidence actually supports. District lines and dog parks do not agree, so a few of these sit in the next district over: each one carries the nearest town we map.
Fenced, in the source's own words (0)
Each of these comes off a council page that classes the area as fenced, quoted below with a link to the page it came from.
None of the dog parks near here carry a published fencing statement.
Part fenced, or a fence mapped but not proven (1)
Either the source describes a fence around part of the area, or a fence line is drawn in OpenStreetMap without anything confirming it encloses the dog area. Walk in on a lead and look before you unclip.
| Dog park | Where | What the source says | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Taradale Dog Park | near Napier, Hawke's Bay | DOWNGRADE from 'fully' to 'partial'. Four Napier City Council sources opened directly. 1. Taradale Dog Park page (https://www.napier.govt.n | napier.govt.nz |
Fencing not confirmed (19)
We hold no fencing statement at all for these, so treat them as open ground. Not confirmed is not the same as not fenced, and we are not going to guess which one it is.
| Dog park | Where | What the source says | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| James Cook Street Reserve | near Havelock North, Hawke's Bay | HDC dog exercise areas page, "Dog off-lead areas" > "Havelock North": "James Cook Street Reserve". Bylaw Schedule A: "James Cook Street Rese | hastingsdc.govt.nz |
| Duke Street Reserve | near Hastings, Hawke's Bay | HDC dog exercise areas page, "Dog off-lead areas" > "Hastings": "Duke Street Reserve." Bylaw Schedule A: "Duke Street Reserve." No fencing w | hastingsdc.govt.nz |
| Eskdale Park (southern / right-hand side to the end of the park driveway) | near Napier, Hawke's Bay | HDC dog exercise areas page, "Whirinaki and Eskdale": "Eskdale Park along the southern (right-hand side) to the end of the park driveway." B | hastingsdc.govt.nz |
| Keirunga Gardens (southern and western boundary walkways and open grass areas) | near Havelock North, Hawke's Bay | HDC dog exercise areas page: "The southern boundary walkway of Keirunga Gardens Havelock North, along the extent of the western boundary wal | hastingsdc.govt.nz |
| Palmbrook Reserve | near Havelock North, Hawke's Bay | HDC dog exercise areas page, "Dog off-lead areas" > "Havelock North": "Palmbrook Reserve". Bylaw Schedule A: "Palmbrook Reserve". Council st | hastingsdc.govt.nz |
| Tainui, Tanner and Hikanui Reserves | near Havelock North, Hawke's Bay | HDC dog exercise areas page, under heading "Dog off-lead areas" > "Havelock North": "Tainui, Tanner and Hikanui reserves". Corroborated verb | hastingsdc.govt.nz |
| Kingsgate Reserve (Te Mata Road to Reeve Drive, Ritchie Place, Fulford Place and Durham Drive) | near Havelock North, Hawke's Bay | HDC dog exercise areas page: "Kingsgate Reserve from Te Mata Road to Reeve Drive, Ritchie Place, Fulford Place and Durham Drive". Bylaw Sche | hastingsdc.govt.nz |
| Te Mata Peak Park | near Havelock North, Hawke's Bay | HDC dog exercise areas page, "Dog off-lead areas" > "Havelock North": "Te Mata Peak Park". Bylaw Schedule A: "Te Mata Peak Park". Council ma | hastingsdc.govt.nz |
| Ebbett Park | near Hastings, Hawke's Bay | HDC dog exercise areas page, "Dog off-lead areas" > "Hastings": "Ebbett Park from 5.00pm to 8:00am". Bylaw Schedule A: "Ebbett Park from 5.0 | hastingsdc.govt.nz |
| Ocean Beach settlement beachfront (north to the surf club) | near Havelock North, Hawke's Bay | HDC dog exercise areas page, "Waimarama and Ocean Beach": "The beachfront of the Ocean Beach settlement north to the surf club during daylig | hastingsdc.govt.nz |
| Waimarama Beach (south of the Puhokio Stream river mouth) | near Havelock North, Hawke's Bay | HDC dog exercise areas page, "Waimarama and Ocean Beach": "Waimarama Beach north to the Puhokio Stream river mouth during daylight saving be | hastingsdc.govt.nz |
| Riverside Park | near Napier, Hawke's Bay | Listed verbatim as "Riverside Park behind the Pettigrew Green Arena." under "You can walk your dog off-lead at the following designated dog | napier.govt.nz |
| Dolbel Reserve | near Napier, Hawke's Bay | Dog Exercise Areas page, under "You can walk your dog off-lead at the following designated dog exercise areas:" lists "Dolbel Reserve, Tarad | napier.govt.nz |
| Anderson Park | near Napier, Hawke's Bay | Listed verbatim as "The area in Anderson Park on the northern side of the ponds and waterways bounded by York Avenue and Freyberg Avenue, in | napier.govt.nz |
| Waipatiki Beach Settlement beachfront (coastwards of the reserve) | near Napier, Hawke's Bay | HDC dog exercise areas page, "Waipatiki Beach": "The beach front of Waipatiki Beach Settlement, coastwards of the reserve, during daylight s | hastingsdc.govt.nz |
| Te Awa Park | near Napier, Hawke's Bay | Named in the off-lead list: "The continuation of the Taradale/Kennedy Road greenbelt between Latham Street, Nash Street and Willowbank Avenu | napier.govt.nz |
| Park Island Dog Agility Track | near Napier, Hawke's Bay | Council page makes NO fencing or enclosure statement whatsoever (verified by regex over the full page body: zero occurrences of 'fenc' or 'e | napier.govt.nz |
| Alexander Park | near Napier, Hawke's Bay | Listed verbatim as "Alexander Park from Taradale Road to Te Awa Park." under "You can walk your dog off-lead at the following designated dog | napier.govt.nz |
| Karetoki Whare (Sturms Gully) | near Napier, Hawke's Bay | Listed as "Karetoki Whare (Sturms Gully), Napier Hill" under "You can walk your dog off-lead at the following designated dog exercise areas: | napier.govt.nz |
Keep going
All Hawke's Bay walks
OpenOff-lead walks, nationwide
OpenEvery district we hold
OpenDog rules in New Zealand
OpenHow we check dog rules
OpenWalks in the same patch
Towns we map around Hastings
Every one of these carries its own dog-friendly walk list, with the dog rule on each track.