Dog Friendly Walks & Beaches in West Sussex

A National Trust sand dune spit at the entrance to Chichester Harbour with year-round access and outstanding natural beauty.

A dog friendly West Sussex circular through one of Europe's finest yew forests, climbing through Kingley Vale National Nature Reserve to Bronze Age burial mounds with sweeping South Downs views.

A sheltered sandy beach facing Chichester Harbour with year-round dog access in the dune and harbour sections, and some seasonal restrictions on the main beach.

A punchy climb to a distinctive hilltop beech ring with atmospheric views, short enough for an evening walk but feels properly remote.

A climb to the highest point in south-east England with a Victorian tower and sweeping views over the Surrey Hills.

A dog friendly easy circular from Midhurst's old town along the River Rother through National Trust Woolbeding parkland and back across riverside meadows.

A dog friendly flat circular around the RSPB Pagham Harbour reserve, with salt marsh, mudflat birdlife, the wader-rich Sidlesham Quay and views across the harbour to the sea.

A dog friendly South Downs Way short stretch from the chalk village of Amberley over the Arun crossing to the watercress beds at Houghton, returning along the river or by train.

A wide sandy West Sussex beach at the mouth of the Arun with good facilities and a year-round dog-friendly eastern stretch.

A dog-friendly shingle nature reserve spit with year-round access, notable birdlife, a Scheduled Ancient Monument fort, and a quiet, open character away from the main resort beaches.

A dog friendly West Sussex circular linking the Weald & Downland Living Museum's open-air historic village with the beech woodland of Charlton Forest on the South Downs.

A traditional resort beach with good facilities and seasonal restrictions, best suited to off-season visiting for dogs.

A quiet, unpretentious West Sussex shingle beach with no seasonal dog restrictions, sitting between the larger resort beaches of Shoreham and Worthing; reliable and uncrowded.

A dog-friendly West Sussex shingle beach next to Shoreham Harbour with year-round access, a seafront cafe, and a relaxed local character; a reliable alternative to the busier Brighton beaches.

A long, flat East Sussex resort beach with seasonal restrictions on the central section in summer; good year-round dog access at the quieter eastern and western ends of the seafront.

A wild, rural West Sussex beach with no seasonal dog restrictions, minimal development and long open shingle walks; note that storm damage has removed the original facilities and the beach can contain debris.

A chalk escarpment descent into extraordinary Arun Valley fenland — the Wild Brooks carry one of the most distinctive wetland smells in Sussex, with big birds, raised paths, and seasonal floods.

The largest Iron Age hillfort in Sussex — a massive chalk plateau above Worthing with 8.2 km of escarpment and valley walking, and a rabbit-rich interior that most dogs find irresistible.

Capability Brown's finest deer park preserved in its 18th-century form with ancient oaks and a fallow deer herd — leads required throughout, but a remarkable landscape even from a lead.

A ridge-to-valley-to-pub circuit from the dramatic dry valley of Devil's Dyke, with big Weald views on the way out and the Shepherd and Dog in Fulking on the way back.

Ancient High Weald woodland east of Horsham with iron-industry hammer ponds and heavy clay soil — a quiet, atmospheric forest walk at its best in dry conditions.