Mackenzie · off-leash

Off-leash dog areas in Mackenzie

Mackenzie District Council publishes 19 mapped zones covering 10 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 Mackenzie District Council's own dog control data, which we hold as 19 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 control areas © Mackenzie District Council · 2022 snapshot of the Dog Control Policy 2021, check signs
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.
Beaches are the ones that move. Some of the areas below are coast, and beach dog rules are what councils most often switch over summer. We hold no dated seasonal window from Mackenzie District Council, so we are not going to imply the list is stable through January. Read the sign at the top of the track, and the beaches and seasons guide for how these windows usually run.
Every named area

The 10 off-leash places Mackenzie District Council names

Alphabetical, exactly as the council names them. Where the council attaches a condition to a particular zone we carry its wording underneath that zone.

  • Areas along SH8 and Glen Lyon Road, Twizel
  • Land at back of Tekapo Drive, Twizel
  • McLean Park, Fairlie
  • Mt Cook Road Green Area, Fairlie
  • North West Arch Green Areas, Twizel
  • Pioneer Drive to Pines Picnic Area, Tekapo
  • Road reserve Grey Street, Fairlie
  • Ruataniwha Recreation Land, Twizel
  • Strathconan Park, Fairlie
  • The Pines Picnic Area dog exercise area, Tekapo
Fenced dog parks

10 dog parks near Mackenzie

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 Mackenzie 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 (1)

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.

Dog parks and what the source says about fencing
Dog parkWhereWhat the source saysSource
Lake Tekapo Dog Parknear Lake Tekapo, CanterburyMapped in OpenStreetMap as a closed fence line around the whole parkOpenStreetMap

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 parks and what the source says about fencing
Dog parkWhereWhat the source saysSource
Fairlie Dog Parknear Fairlie, CanterburyEXISTENCE + LOCATION (council news page, 19 January 2023): "The new Fairlie Dog Park is now open and available for use. You can find it nextmackenzie.govt.nz

Fencing not confirmed (8)

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 parks and what the source says about fencing
Dog parkWhereWhat the source saysSource
The Pines Picnic Area Dog Exercise Areanear Lake Tekapo, CanterburyMackenzie District Council Dog Control Policy 2021, Schedule 3 "Dog Exercise Areas" (https://www.mackenzie.govt.nz/__data/assets/pdf_file/00mackenzie.govt.nz
Tekapo Drive / Jollie Road / Wairepo Road Rear Boundary Dog Exercise Areanear Twizel, CanterburyDog Control Policy 2021, Schedule 3 (https://www.mackenzie.govt.nz/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/589822/Dog-Control-Policy-2021.pdf): "Twizelmackenzie.govt.nz
North West Arch Green Areas / Glen Lyon Road Dog Exercise Areanear Twizel, CanterburyDog Control Policy 2021, Schedule 3 (https://www.mackenzie.govt.nz/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/589822/Dog-Control-Policy-2021.pdf): "The folmackenzie.govt.nz
Lake Ruataniwha / Max Smith Drive Dog Exercise Areanear Twizel, CanterburyDog Control Policy 2021, Schedule 3 (https://www.mackenzie.govt.nz/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/589822/Dog-Control-Policy-2021.pdf): "Twizelmackenzie.govt.nz
Omarama Recreation Reserve (eastern end)near Ōtematatā, CanterburyWaitaki Dog Control Policy 2024, s4.2.1.2: "the following areas are provided for as designated off-lead dog exercise areas at all times: ...waitaki.govt.nz
Pleasant Point River areas (river bed, shingle, stream and berm areas)near Opihi River Stop Banks, CanterburyOFF-LEASH (exact council wording): "You can exercise your dog off the leash in the following areas: Pleasant Point, River areas (the rivertimaru.govt.nz
Pleasant Point Domain (Fire Brigade practice area)near Opihi River Stop Banks, CanterburyOFF-LEASH, CONDITIONAL (exact council wording): "You can exercise your dog off the leash in the following areas: Pleasant Point, Pleasant Ptimaru.govt.nz
Todd Parknear Geraldine, CanterburyOFF-LEASH: "You can exercise your dog off the leash in the following areas: Geraldine, Todd Park" (dog-exercise-areas page); Dog Control Bytimaru.govt.nz

Log it with your dog and keep the record

Join the pack: log walks, earn XP, get your dog drawn, and help keep every dog rule in New Zealand honest.

Join the pack