Stebbings Valley Dam Walk
Wellington
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. Wellington City Council’s own wording: “Wellington City Council designates Stebbings Dam as an inland off-leash exercise area, but restricts the track that links the two roads. The Dog Policy 2024 entry reads: "Stebbings Dam, open grass banks above and below the dam. Access by No. 98 Westchester Drive, Churton Park. Dogs must be on leash on the track from Rochdale Drive through to Westchester Drive." So the open grass at the dam is off-leash under control of the owner, and the bush track either side of it is on-leash. Everywhere else the city default applies: "The general rule in Wellington City is that dogs should be on a leash at all times unless otherwise specified." No part of Stebbings Valley is a prohibited area. Every one of the 13 dog-prohibited areas in Wellington City is a coastal beach, a dune system or a marina, so the bush here is on-leash rather than no dogs”. Evidence: the rule-setter’s own published wording. How we check dog rules.
Good to know
Dogs are allowed here. Keep them on the lead, watch for ground-nesting birds and stock, and read the signs at the gate.
About Stebbings Valley Dam Walk
Stebbings Valley Dam Walk covers 0.9 km, in Wellington.
Stebbings Valley runs north off Churton Park into a bush gully with a small dam at the bottom of it, and the whole thing is short enough to fit in before work. Start on the north side of Westchester Drive, where the track leaves the road between No. 93 and No. 97. Within about 200 metres the bush opens out at Stebbings Dam, and the open grass banks above and below the dam wall are the part the council has set aside as an off-leash exercise area. A circuit of the banks takes a few minutes and is the reason most people come up here. North of the dam the track narrows back into bush, crosses Stebbings Stream twice on small footbridges and climbs steadily up the valley for another 600 metres or so before coming out on Rochdale Drive at the top. That through-track is on-leash by the council's own wording, so leads go back on the moment you step off the grass. The traced line is about 950 metres one way, so roughly 1.9 kilometres if you return the way you came. Firm underfoot near the road, softer and slower through the bush after rain. Both ends sit on quiet suburban streets with kerbside parking. If you want to stretch it out there is a second path heading southeast from a junction just above Westchester Drive, following the old Stebbings Road line toward Glenside Reserve. That leg sits outside the exercise area, so it stays on-leash the whole way.
Expect easy going, with around 17 m of climb, and takes about 11 min to walk.
Dogs are allowed here, on the lead. This walk is on the map because Caitlin & Fettucine suggested it, and we checked it against the source above.