Pet-friendly Beacon Hill Park in Victoria, British Columbia, isn’t actually a dog park, but it sure radiates dog park vibes – especially early morning.

While Vancouver, B.C., proudly boasts Stanley Park, Victoria – the provincial capital across the bay – quietly celebrates Beacon Hill Park, home to manicured gardens, Victorian waterfalls, First Nations totem poles, and a dog-friendly urban farm-themed petting zoo. Beacon Hill Park is the go-to leashed dog walking locale in the city.

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The Ultimate Urban Dog Walk

Visit the park early morning, as I did while staying at the dog-friendly Parkside Hotel blocks away, and you’ll meet a few residents waking up and many, many dog walkers. Having a dog (or two) appears to be mandatory in Victoria. It isn’t, of course, but it sure feels that way.

“When I lived in Victoria 50 years ago, we were one of the few in our neighbourhood to have a dog,” one woman sitting on a bench with her small black dog tells me. “Now, almost everyone in Victoria has a dog, and they’re all in the park, especially in the morning.”  Victoria, B.C., is a dog-friendly city, and Beacon Hill Park is a crown jewel. Emily Carr (whose statue greets visitors in front of the Fairmont Empress Hotel downtown) captured the park on canvas (affiliate link).

Beacon Hill Park History

The area was originally part of the traditional territory of the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations, who lived primarily at the base of the hill where they fished and cultivated camas, a starchy food source, for an estimated one thousand years.

Beacon Hill Park didn’t become a park until 1885 when Governor James Douglas designated the land for public use, which makes the park one of the oldest urban parks in Western Canada. The name came after a beacon was placed on the hill to help guide ships into Victoria’s harbour.

The landscaped gardens, winding pathways, and ornamental features were added in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, reflecting the Victorian-era love of curated nature. I admit, this cultivated landscape is my favourite feature, making it easy to find photographic backdrops – flower gardens and waterfalls – perfect for social media shareable pet portraits.

Yet the park still has its wilder edges—open meadows, dense forest, and eventually stony coastal bluffs that define it. There’s no shortage of sniff spots. It’s possible to walk from the Parkside Hotel to the shoreline through the park, but it’s a long haul. Most drive to the dog run.

Off-leash Dog Run

Today, the area along the harbour at the edge of the park is also popular with dogwalkers – especially the off-leash area south of Dallas Road between Douglas Street and Clover Point. This ocean-side off-leash run follows the water along a rugged beach filled with tree trunk-sized driftwood, creating an obstacle course for pups and their people. It’s also ideal for sniffing out and rolling in dead stuff. (My pup’s favourite activity).

Or you can walk or run your dog along the paved path, clearly marked and cordoned off with a rustic criss-cross fence along the roadway. Note, however, this entire walk is not fully fenced, and dogs can easily bolt into traffic if they aren’t practiced walking the route or if recall is shaky.

Also, on a good day with light wind, parasails will be swooping above your heads, bobbing like helium balloons overhead. However, this park is a long walk from the park entrance nearest downtown Victoria. Yes, you can slowly drive through Beacon Hill Park, and there is parking at the end of Dallas Road.

No doubt, dogs will find the freedom of being leash-free and the smells of the ocean’s edge the best parts of a meandering walk in the Beacon Hill Park area. But my vote for best activity goes to the zoo: the Beacon Hill Children’s Farm, designed to introduce city kids to a snippet of rural living in a compact area. You can see the back fence from the front gate, making this area easily walkable with a stroller.

Dog-friendly Zoo in Victoria, B.C.

And the Beacon Hill Children’s Farm is dog-friendly, presuming your pup is on-leash, well-behaved, and doesn’t interfere with the animals, including the peacocks. If you see a peacock (or more) roaming in Beacon Hill Park, that’s normal. The birds do what they want and go where they want. But mostly, they wander the small, charming petting zoo of less than a dozen wooden fence enclosures.

Operated since 1985 by the Koenders family in conjunction with the Beacon Hill Farm Society, the Beacon Hill Children’s Farm is home to pigs, alpacas, guinea pigs, chickens, and goats. The goats can be petted, and if you get here by 10 am when the zoo opens, you’ll get to witness the Running of the Goats – the cutest parade of big and baby goats. The entire herd runs from their night barn to their day enclosure, where they’re ready to meet the public until 5 pm. (Get your own pet goat collection here – affiliate link)

The petting zoo is open every day and is entirely dependent on fundraising – admission is by donation. Be sure to watch for resident dog, Lulu, and working farm cat, Elsie.

Overall…

Spend a spring morning in Beacon Hill Park (100 Cook Street, Victoria), and hopefully you’ll discover what I did: this isn’t just a beautiful place to visit, it reflects a way of life in Victoria that’s shaped by fresh air, green spaces, and an obvious love of all things canine. The best time to visit Victoria with your dog is just as the spring flowers are blooming.

Dogs must be on leash throughout Beacon Hill Park, except for the designated run along the shoreline. Dogs are not permitted in the children’s play area or in the heron nesting grounds. And, of course, poop pickup is mandatory. Note also that free concerts and performances take place from June to September at the park’s central Camereron Bandshell, which pups and their people can attend.

Writer bio: Sherri Telenko has been a professional writer for decades and a travel writer for the last two. She’s a member of TMAC (Travel Media Association of Canada) and Dog Writers Association of America and travels almost weekly with her canine companion, Victoria.Contact Sherri at dogtrotting.net here. All written content is original, written by a person, and based on experience and research. Please subscribe!