The Best Dog Friendly Walks in Yarra Valley

Spring is a great time for exploring the Yarra Valley with your dog as we have so many wonderful dog friendly trails and walks, and after all those rainy cold winter days, we all want to be outside with our four-legged friends.

But before start the countdown, let’s have a look where to stay with your dog while in the Yarra Valley

By: Helen Collier @ Pooches and Pinot

Dog Friendly Accommodation in Yarra Valley

Dog Friendly Cottage | Badger Creek

Sleeps 2 | Bedrooms 1 | Bathrooms 1

Beautiful 1 bedroom dog friendly cottage with a queen size bed and a light and bright living area. A sofa bed in the living space can accommodate extra guests. Check out the many cafes and restaurants in Healesville for breakfast, lunch and dinner or alternatively enjoy your own food back at the property. The facilities include; tea/coffee, bar fridge, toaster and kettle with all cutlery, crockery and glassware provided. The standout feature is the fireplace.

Dog Friendly Walks in Yarra Valley

1. Donnelly’s Weir

If you’re staying in Healesville, and looking for a lovely dog friendly walk, put Donnelly’s Weir into google maps and as soon as you hit dirt roads, park by the side of the road and walk the country lane with your pup towards the weir. It’s just magic. The river runs alongside the road and babbles away and you have views on one side of you, trees and State Forest on the other.  When you get to where the water crosses the road, let your pup explore off lead, have a refreshing dip, throw a stick for them and let them enjoy a sniff. It’s a proper country walk and so beautiful.

2. Wirra Willa Rainforest Walk

For the more adventurous, put Wirra Willa Rainforest Walk into your maps and head up to Toolangi – it’s a stunning winding drive up Mt St Leonards (take those bends carefully, incase there are cyclists or locals) and when you come out of the trees at the top of the mountain, you’ll turn right, and drive off road for a few kms up to the Wirra Willa Rainforest Walk carpark.  You’re now in Toolangi State Forest and you’ll find a timber boardwalk that takes you through the most pristine temperate rainforest with ancient myrtles covered in moss, tree ferns, giant Mountain Ash, incredible fungi and the freshest mountain water below your feet as Sylvia Creek chuckles and weaves away.  It’s a little piece of heaven and no-one knows about it.  And your dog will have the absolute time of its life.  

3. Tanglefoot Track

For those who want to hike with your pup, Tanglefoot Track starts from the same carpark and goes for 10.8 kms.  It’s a loop, so brings you back to your car and takes approx. 2.5 hours.  It’s a bit up and down hill in parts, but only Grade 3, and can be muddy as small streams flow down the trails if it’s been raining. It’s staggeringly beautiful and you’ll be so glad you walked it.

4. Don Road Sporting Complex

If your dog prefers to tear around a bit with other dogs, head to Don Road sporting complex, a 5 minute drive from the centre of Healesville where you’re bound to find some other four-legged friends to chase around with and it’s legal to be off lead here too!  There’s a dam to walk around, with resident coots and ducks, and an amazing backdrop of mountains – so take a ball or throw a stick and have some fun with other local dogs.

5. Lilydale Lake

For a longer walk around a lake, Lilydale Lake is a favourite with local dog owners, and is always busy whatever time of day you go. With off lead areas and plenty of other dogs going for their daily walk, you’re bound to have fun. There are safe places for your pupster to swim too and if yours is anything like ours, it doesn’t need to be a hot day for a swim to be popular!!  

6. Margaret Lewis Reserve

Margaret Lewis Reserve is a very special dog-friendly park (left in Margaret’s will for this purpose). You’ll find it just outside Coldstream and it’s so well set up for dogs, with poo bag dispensers as you enter, plenty of bins for you to dispose of them, water bowls at various points, even benches named after special dogs and their owners.  It’s off lead too so go and have fun and let off some steam.  And dog friendly Helen’s Hill Winery is over the road, so it would be rude not to stop in for a wine tasting afterwards 🐶

If you like the idea of wine tasting with your dog and being shown all the best dog-friendly places in the Yarra Valley, Pooches & Pinot Wine Tours can tailor-make an itinerary just for you based on what you’d like to experience and can include some of the above suggestions in your day – because as you can see from these suggestions, we know the area like the back of our hand.  As locals who are also dog owners, we’re well known at all the places we take you to, so you’ll be warmly received wherever you go – it’s VIP all the way.  Be a rock star for a day on a Pooches & Pinot wine tour. ☺