Carmel Beach

Carmel Beach

Ocean Ave. and Scenic Rd.
Carmel By The Sea, California 93921
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While DogTrekker regularly updates off-leash rules, it is important to check to be sure that this area still allows voice control prior to removing your dog’s leash.

Dog-friendly Carmel Beach is walking distance from the village of Carmel-by-the-Sea and one of few off-leash strands in this part of the state. Also popular for sunsets and weddings.

The mile-long beach sits just below the ninth hole at Pebble Beach Golf Links and is walking distance from the village of Carmel-by-the-Sea. DogTrekkers come from around the country to share the privileges afforded here.

Please pick up after your dog and make sure he or she responds without fail to voice commands before allowing off-leash fun.

Help us keep this beach beautiful and dog-friendly:
• Always follow the posted rules
• Respect natural marine life and habitats
• Be aware of tides and currents
• Pack in and pack out, leaving only paw prints

dogtrekker.com, dog friendly, beach, off-leash, carmel, monterey

Get Wet at a Monterey County Splash Spot
Carmel City Beach - Photo Credit: @roux.the.blue
Carmel City Beach - Photo Credit: @roux.the.blue
For many visitors with dogs, the primary reason to visit the Monterey Peninsula is to share your dog’s joy in running free on Carmel City Beach, a powdery, mile-long strand that is perhaps the best known leash-free beach in the country. It’s a short drive from Cannery Row and walking distance from stylish Carmel-by-the-Sea with its wealth of dog-friendly lodging and places to eat. Come in early morning to meet the locals, at dusk to enjoy the sunset. more »
Carmel City Beach, Monterey County
Photo Credit: Robert Robles
Photo Credit: Robert Robles
• Carmel City Beach, Monterey County. Blue-ribbon honors go to city-owned Carmel Beach, a powdery, mile-long strand that is perhaps the best-known leash-free dog beach in the country. A plus: it’s walking distance from fashionable Carmel-by-the-Sea, with its wealth of dog-friendly lodging and places to eat. more »
Monterey County Parks
Cooling off, Garland Ranch Regional Park <br/> Photo Credit: @denmother94
Cooling off, Garland Ranch Regional Park
Photo Credit: @denmother94
Dog-lovers from around the world know leash-free Carmel Beach as a primo place to visit with dogs. But that’s hardly the only place in Monterey County where your untethered dog can have as much fun and freedom as you do. A number of county parks, as well as several within the Monterey Peninsula Regional Park District, allow dogs to accompany you off-leash away from developed areas so long as they stay within sight, respond immediately to voice commands and don’t get in the way of horses, cyclists or other hikers. more »
Leash-free Sand and Sea
Playing catch
Playing catch
The hands-down, No. 1 place to play in waves and sand in California is Carmel Beach, a powder-white, city-managed, mile-long strand on the outskirts of Carmel-by-the Sea, the chic vacation village on the Monterey Peninsula. DogTrekkers come from around the country to share their good fortune here. A trio of tips: more »
Chasing Waves With Your Pup
Splash! Photo Credit: @Sweetd67
Splash! Photo Credit: @Sweetd67
For water-loving canines, nothing beats fetching a bright yellow tennis ball from the surf and romping full speed ahead on a sandy beach. But while there’s plenty of sand to share with your leashed pup along California’s 840 miles of coastline, you should know before you go where dogs are and aren’t allowed to get their ya-yas out. Here are a few of our favorite off-leash strands: more »
Run and Play
Dogs chasing on Carmel Beach
Dogs on Carmel Beach. Photo Credit: Jen
For probably nine out of 10 DogTrekkers, the No. 1 attraction in Carmel is mile-long, leash-free, powder-white Carmel Beach, where you and yours can run, play and splash to your hearts’ content right below the ninth hole of the famed Pebble Beach Golf Links. more »
Scenic Coasting in Monterey County
Max in Monterey COunty
Max at Carmel Beach
Monterey County boasts one of the most beautiful coastlines in the world, from Watsonville in the north to famous Big Sur in the south. On the north side of the Monterey Peninsula,  several beaches run together to form Monterey State Beach, popular with guests at adjacent hotels. Make sure your canine companion is leashed when walking here, and don’t stray out of the area between Wharf No. 2 and the Seaside portion of the strand, where dogs are not allowed. more »
Best Ocean Beaches
Dogs playing on beach
When it comes to blue-ribbon beaches, DogTrekker.com gives top honors to strands where dogs under voice control can legally romp leash-free. There aren’t many in Northern California, but these three will definitely set your pup’s tail a-waggin’.    more »
Holy Grail of Dogdom
Dogs frolick on Carmel BeachThis is it, the holy grail of DogTrekking accommodations. Visitors arrive in Carmel-by-the-Sea from all points of the country and beyond to enjoy a stay at the Cypress Inn, where film star and animal lover Doris Day pioneered the concept of catering to pets. more »
The Waves Have It
sam enjoying Carmel by the Sea
Sam enjoying Carmel-by-the-Sea. Photo Credit: Maria Pasiuk
When it comes to sheer beauty along the California coast, it’s hard to top the misty, magical Monterey Peninsula, where crashing waves serve as background music to the myriad experiences available to you and your four-legged companion. Top-dog honors go to Carmel-by-the-Sea, where a glorious, mile-long, leash-free beach takes center stage in a community so accepting of canines that people and pets travel from all over the country to vacation here. more »
Carmel Beach
Carmel beach dogIn early morning, canines of every make and model can be seen romping happily on the sugar-soft sand that graces a beach set just below the ninth hole at world renowned Pebble Beach Golf Links. Carmel Beach is one of few beaches in this part of the state where it’s legal for your dog to run free, and DogTrekkers come from all over the country to take advantage of the privilege. more »
Center of the Universe
Maybe its something in the air, or some mysterious substance in the water. More likely, that mile-long, powder-white beach is what set Carmel-by-the-Sea on course to become the undisputed center of the dog-friendly universe in California. more »
Carmel Sweet Spots
Dog Pound Menu at Forge in the Forest Carmel. Used by permission, Forge in the Forest.It's no secret that Carmel-by-the-Sea is nirvana for dogs and the people who love them. But if your time is short and your schedule crammed, it doesn't hurt to have a few dog-friendly restaurants programmed into your itinerary. more »
Canines by the Sea
It’s easy for dogs and their people to fall in love with Carmel-by-the-Sea, which landed the No. 2 spot on the Dog Fancy list. Top attraction is mile-long, powder-white Carmel Beach, one of few legally leash-free strands in California and a glorious place for Rover to romp. But what makes this charming-yet-quirky resort community “heaven for dogs” is that canines aren’t just tolerated; they’re embraced. Many Carmel shop and gallery owners beckon pooches and their people inside with water bowls and treats. Dogs are allowed to bed down in 17 of Carmel’s 62 lodging establishments, (including the famous Cypress Inn), and to lounge tableside on the patios at Basil and more than a dozen other restaurants. Dog-loving Mayor Sue McCloud has even been known to bring Rob, her dandie dinmont terrier, to city council meetings. Meet you at the Fountain of Woof! more »
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