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

📍 7450 Kingston Rd (south) / 55 Twyn Rivers Dr (north), Scarborough

It's a national park. In Scarborough. Most people don't even know it exists, which is honestly the best part — it's never packed. The Vista Trail (1.5 km) is the easy intro with a two-level lookout over the valley. The Mast Trail (5 km) follows a 200-year-old logging route through forest that looks like it belongs 3 hours north. Link them up for a proper 9.3 km loop. Your dog will pass out in the car on the way home. Heads up: Twyn Rivers Drive access is closed for construction right now. Use the Kingston Road trailheads. And check for ticks after — the ravine is tick central.

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

You park behind a Loblaws and then somehow end up in a forest. 52 hectares of old-growth maple and oak in the middle of the Don Valley. Steep sections, dirt trails, zero cell service in spots. Your dog will think you drove to cottage country. Watch for mountain bikers on the narrower paths — they come fast and your dog will try to chase them. About 10 km of trails total. The shade is incredible in summer.

📍 13 Crosby Ave (Etienne Brule Park), Old Mill / Etobicoke

Twenty kilometres of paved riverside trail from the lake to Steeles. You will never walk the whole thing in one shot. You don't need to — just pick a section and go. The sweet spot is Etienne Brule Park to Home Smith Park (about 5 km). Flat, shaded, river access, water fountains. If your dog is older or not great on rough terrain, this is the trail. Paved the whole way, easy on arthritic paws. Get off at Old Mill station if you don't want to drive.

📍 1873 Bloor St W, High Park

Already covered High Park in our parks article, but it deserves a spot here too for the trails. The off-leash area isn't a sad fenced rectangle — it's 8.5 acres of actual woodland trails where your dog runs free through the trees. That's rare. On weekends they close the roads to cars, which turns the whole park into one giant walk. Parking is a nightmare on Saturdays — take the subway.

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

It used to be a railway in the 1890s. Now it's a 9 km paved trail through some of Toronto's leafiest neighbourhoods. Flat, wide, smooth — the kind of walk where you can zone out and listen to a podcast while your dog trots along. The real move: walk the Beltline east until it drops into Moore Park Ravine. Suddenly you're on dirt trails in a forest connected to the Don Valley system. Total vibe shift. No parking lot though — TTC or street park.

📍 Bluffers Park, foot of Brimley Rd, Scarborough

90-metre cliffs dropping straight into Lake Ontario. It looks like you photoshopped yourself into a coastal hike. The trail along the bottom is about 5 km out-and-back and the views are absurd the entire time. Your dog cannot go on the beach from April to October (it's supervised). November through March, beach is fair game. The trail itself is always open. Get there early on summer weekends or you're not parking.

📍 4169 Bathurst St, North York

If you live above Eglinton, this is your spot. Fenced off-leash area that's actually good (not just a patch of gravel), plus ravine trails that connect to the Don River. 127 acres total. It's way more park than it looks from Bathurst Street. About 3 km of trails with some hills. Free parking. Your North York dog doesn't have to commute downtown for a decent park.

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

Worth the 50-minute drive. The lake is one of the rarest in the world — the water layers literally don't mix, which has preserved 600 years of ecological history. Cool? Very. Can your dog swim in it? Absolutely not. The boardwalk loop (1.9 km) is an easy walk. The Nassagaweya Canyon Trail (6 km) is the real hike — Niagara Escarpment terrain, connects to the Bruce Trail. There's also a reconstructed 600-year-old longhouse village, because this place just keeps going. $10.50 online, $12 at the gate.

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

An hour from Toronto and it looks like you drove to Algonquin. The Credit River gorge, a 13-metre waterfall, fall colours that will make you emotional — this is the hike you put on your story. About 10 km of trails with real hills. Dogs on-leash, max 2 metres, no swimming areas. Book ahead in October — this place gets absolutely swamped during peak leaf season. Day-use permit is $12–21 depending on the day.