Days Park Loop
Hamilton · Waikato
This walk was suggested by the community and checked against the authority quoted above before it was published. The route line comes from official track data. Hamilton City Council’s own wording: “Hamilton City Council designates Days Park an off-lead dog exercise area at all times. The council’s own dog map layer records this park as “Off lead dog exercise area” with a designated time of “All times”, and its note reads: “Dogs can be off lead at all times in the green area. Dogs must always be supervised and remain under control (have good immediate recall).” The council’s dog exercise areas page adds the standing condition for every off-lead area: “Are designated dog exercise areas and are shared spaces for all users. Dogs (excluding female dogs in season) can be off lead but must remain under control.” Two limits worth knowing, both the council’s words. Off lead applies inside the designated area only: HCC says dogs “are also welcome on city streets, river pathways and most other public places” but that there they “must always be on lead”, and the designated boundary stops short of Swarbrick Landing to the north, so the river path down from that carpark is a leash walk until you reach the park. And the council excludes dogs from within 10 metres of all playgrounds and skateparks anywhere in the city. Read 31 August 2026”. Evidence: the rule-setter’s own published wording. How we check dog rules.
Good to know
Dogs are allowed here. Watch for ground-nesting birds and stock, and read the signs at the gate.
About Days Park Loop
This short walk follows 1.0 km, near Hamilton in Waikato.
An easy circuit on the flat through Hamilton’s Days Park, a big unfenced off-lead reserve on a bend of the Waikato River at Beerescourt. We make it 1.0 km, and it takes in both of the things that make the park worth the drive: the mown loop around the open grass, and the dirt track that drops down and runs along the river under the trees. It finishes about 160 metres from where it starts, so a short cut across the grass closes it off. Caitlin and Tina put it in, and called it the best place to take your dog in Hamilton. Hamilton City Council designates the whole park an off-lead dog exercise area, at all times, and that is the council’s own record rather than anyone’s say-so. What it asks in return is that your dog stays supervised and comes back when called, because this is a shared space and it is not fenced. The off-lead ground covers about 8.5 hectares, which is most of what you can see from the grass, but it does have an edge. If you park at Swarbrick Landing at the northern end, the river path from there down to the park sits outside the designated area, so keep the lead on until you are in the park proper. The council also keeps dogs 10 metres clear of any playground or skatepark. The grass is the point of the place: big open fields with enough room for a dog to properly run, plenty of shade from mature trees around the edges, and easy access to the water where the bank shelves gently for a swim. Caitlin notes two council bins, emptied daily. The river track is narrower and rougher underfoot than the mown loop, dirt rather than gravel, and it is the nicer half on a hot afternoon. There is parking at the southern end off the residential streets, closest to the grass, and more at the landing to the north. The Waikato moves quickly here even where it looks calm, so it is worth knowing your dog’s swimming before letting them follow a stick out into the current.
Expect easy going, with around 10 m of climb, and takes about 13 min to walk.
Dogs are welcome here. This walk is on the map because Caitlin & Tina suggested it, and we checked it against the source above.
