Top Five Dog Walks in Leicestershire and Rutland
If you're a dog owner in Leicestershire or Rutland, aren’t we lucky? We have some of the most scenic and varied dog walks in the UK. Whether you're working on training your dog, simply looking for a spot where you can get away from it all or socialise your dog with others, these dog walks provide the perfect setting for it all. Here are my top five (better known) dog walks in Leicestershire and Rutland.
Bradgate Park
Bradgate Park is the perfect place for training, walking, meeting friends or just getting away from it all. It has everything for every kind of walk; from woodland areas to open fields and streams to paddle in, through to flat accessible paths or hilly climbs, all within an 830 acre deer park. There are on-lead only dog areas, as well as a huge expanse of country park where your dog can be off lead and you can get away from the hustle and bustle of the lower paths. This means that you can vary the kind of walk you have here accordingly, depending on you and your dog’s needs.
The opportunities to train your dog are endless here, from off-lead work such as recall training to on-lead work such as loose lead walking, dog reactivity or perhaps café training. You can work your dog around other dogs who are off lead or stick to the on-lead only areas, safe in the knowledge that other dogs won’t be bothering yours.
This is a deer park and it is full of wildlife, so making sure that your dog is never upsetting or bothering wildlife is absolutely vital. This does, however, make it a brilliant place to train your dog at a distance around other animals. Please be particularly careful around deer rutting season and when it is birthing season and always try and keep a distance of 30 metres from the deer, minimum.
Bradgate Park is a complete all-rounder for every need, 365 days of the year. It will get busy at the weekends and during holiday seasons, so pick your time carefully if you want peace and quiet. You will probably find the Newtown Linford car park the busiest and the Hunts Hill car park least busy, although this largely depends on the day, time and time of year. The challenge of walking up to the Old John Tower is always fun, it will certainly get your legs working! Your dog will love it here.
There’s a good amount of dog poo bins in the park too which is always a bonus!
Rutland Water
Rutland Water is one of the largest artificial lakes in Europe and offers miles of walking routes. The paths around the reservoir are generally flat which make for easy walking and there is a strict policy of dogs being on-lead only here, except for two designated small woodland areas at Barsndale and Sykes Lane where they are allowed off lead. I love Rutland Water for the ease of your dog walk, knowing that other dogs won’t be able to approach yours. You do need to watch out for cyclists and there is plenty of wildlife around to be mindful of, although these are always great opportunities to train your dog around. The water is often reported for high levels of blue-green algae which is potentially lethal for your dog, so you must keep them out of the water.
Some people aren’t so keen on the strict on-lead only policy of Rutland Water or the fact that some areas don’t allow the dogs in at all (Egleton, Lyndon or the beach), however this makes your walk really quite predictable and simple. From a training point of view (particularly for behavioural issues) or if you have an elderly dog or dog who is on restricted exercise, the fact that other dogs can’t charge over to yours makes this an ideal place to take your dog for a walk. It’s very pretty too! It does get busy mind you, so pick your timing carefully. If you want peace and quiet, late summer evenings are stunning here. If you want hustle and bustle, any weekend will work for you!
Beacon Hill Country Park
Open heathland, woodland trails, spots to eat and drink, play areas, a secret rhododendron labyrinth and views across the entire county, what’s not to love about Beacon Hill Country Park?
Accessibility wise, Beacon Hill is great with gravel and tarmac paths surrounding the entire perimeter and no styles to climb over with your dog. It’s a lovely place to walk if you have children and a dog(s) because it really does offer something for everyone. If you can make it up to the trig point at the top, the views are so worth the effort.
They do have cattle grazing the heathland and meadows at certain times of the year and you do need to be careful with your dog around them. Your dog will love it for the option to have a good run, sniff in the woods and climb on and explore all kinds of fascinating rocks and spaces. Other dogs will be off lead here though, so if you are wanting to avoid other dogs, this might not be the place for you.
Mid-week tends to be quietest and late summer evenings are especially peaceful times to walk and train your dog here. It will get busy during holiday seasons and at weekends. There is a little stream at one end of the site but no water elsewhere, so cooling-off spots aren’t in abundance on this walk in warmer weather.
The views and the variety of different environments make this such a place lovely to walk with your dog.
Swithland Woods
Who doesn’t want to wander around an ancient woodland pretending to be Robin Hood? Swithland Woods is a stunning, well managed woodland in the heart of the Charnwood Forest. It has plenty of well maintained paths, thick undergrowth in places, a number of open clearings and a fantastic stream running the width of it at one end.
Your dog will adore walking here for all of the scent it has to offer and the opportunities to play. From a training point of view, it’s fantastic for every kind of skill, particularly for working on scentwork. Thick dense ground often means that your dog will be totally immersed in sniffing what’s right under their feet and so you find this kind of environment perfect to train recall and build up the confidence to let them off lead as it means that they tend not to stray quite as far as they might do in more open spaces.
Swithland Woods is one of my favourite places to take my dog on a hot day. The mix of constant shade and water makes it incredible for keeping them cool. Mid-week tends not to be so busy, but weekends will be.
The site is an SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest); please do keep your dogs under control so as not to disturb wildlife or any of the special flora and fauna here. For any history buffs out there, you’re walking among history with geology and fossils dating back over half a billion years.
There are a variety of different coloured routes to follow around the woods, depending on how far you want to go. It really is a very special place.
Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Centre
Fancy pretending to be a knight?
You certainly can at Bosworth Battlefield. This is an on-lead only walk for your dog on the site but they can go off lead if you head down past the railway to the canal or venture across the surrounding countryside footpaths. Again, this is a great place for accessibility, entertaining the kids and dog(s) and to let your dog explore a whole variety of landscapes, including open fields, woodland paths, canal towpaths and the steam train! There are audio and visual information points dotted all around the site which provide information about the battle and the landscape.
I like the fact that dogs are on lead on the main site, this makes it a great place to train your dog. Whilst dogs aren’t allowed in the main buildings, there is some indoor space for them at the café, as well as lots of outdoor spaces to eat and drink (they do great sausage rolls too!).
Of course, you have to have your photo taken in one of the photo stand-ins…or, your dog does, at least!
Leicestershire and Rutland offer such a wealth of dog-friendly walks that cater to every training and every walking need. Whilst all of the above are relatively well known walks, you can find very quiet times to walk at each one, depending on when you choose to go. At the same time, if you go for busier times, you have amazing opportunities to socialise your dog and train around distractions!
Happy walking everyone and thanks for reading xx
