The 9 Best Dog-Friendly Hiking Trails In & Near Toronto

Best for: Serious sniff sessions ten minutes from Leaside

📍 14 Redway Rd (Loblaws trailhead), Don Valley / Leaside

You park behind a Loblaws and then somehow end up in a forest. 52 hectares of mature maple and oak in the middle of the Don Valley, with about 10 km of trails. Steep in sections, dirt underfoot, patchy cell service. The shade in July is the best argument for it. Watch for mountain bikers on the narrow paths. This is a designated cycling area and they come fast around blind corners. If your dog chases wheels, keep them short-leashed here. Leaf litter and brush the whole way, which is the habitat ticks want.

Best for: Podcast walks, the surprise ravine at the end

📍 Allen Rd to Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Midtown / Forest Hill / Moore Park

A failed 1890s commuter railway, now 9 km of flat paved path through Forest Hill and Moore Park. Walk it east until it drops into Moore Park Ravine and the surface turns to dirt and the trail joins the Don Valley system. The transition is abrupt and it's the reason to do this walk rather than any other paved one. No parking lot. TTC or street parking.

Best for: Cliffs that don't look like they belong in Toronto

📍 Bluffers Park, foot of Brimley Rd, Scarborough

90-metre cliffs dropping into Lake Ontario, with about 5 km of out-and-back trail along the base. Dogs are banned from the beach April 1 to October 31 while it's a supervised swimming beach. November through March they're allowed, on-leash. The trail itself is open year-round. (Full beach rules here.) Summer weekend parking fills by mid-morning.

Best for: North York dogs who deserve better

📍 4169 Bathurst St, North York

127 acres with a fenced off-leash area that's decent, plus about 3 km of ravine trails with some hills connecting down toward the Don. Free parking. If you're north of Eglinton, there's no reason to drive downtown for this.

Best for: Worth the drive, escarpment hiking

📍 3115 Conservation Rd, Milton, Milton (50 min from Toronto)

Crawford Lake is meromictic. The water layers don't mix, so sediment settles undisturbed and preserves a readable record going back centuries. Scientists have used it to date Indigenous settlement in the area. Your dog cannot swim in it. The boardwalk loop around the lake is 1.9 km and easy. The Nassagaweya Canyon Trail is about 6 km through Niagara Escarpment terrain and connects to the Bruce Trail, so you can make the day as long as you want. There's also a reconstructed 15th-century Wendat longhouse village on site. $10.50 online, $12 at the gate.

Best for: Fall colours that will make you emotional

📍 17760 McLaren Rd, Caledon, Caledon (1 hr from Toronto)

The Credit River gorge, a 13-metre waterfall, and about 10 km of trails with real elevation. An hour from Toronto and it looks like you drove to Algonquin. Dogs on-leash, maximum 2 metres, no swimming areas. Reserve ahead in October. Peak leaf season here is oversubscribed and the lot fills. Day-use permit runs $12 to $21 depending on the day.