Curl Curl dog park

The Curl Curl off-leash dog area is not a single fenced park but a network: the grassy reserves and lagoon foreshore at the northern end of Curl Curl Beach, taking in Flora and Ritchie Roberts Reserve and Adam Street Reserve around Curl Curl Lagoon. It runs 24 hours a day, with open grass to run on and a calm, shallow lagoon edge for a swim.

The dog setup

Off-lead applies to the reserve grass and lagoon foreshore only. Dogs are not allowed on the Curl Curl Beach sand or in the flagged surf zones, and they must be on lead on the walkways and in the car parks leading in. The reserves are not fully fenced, so voice control is the real containment, particularly near roads and the lagoon birdlife. Council rules add a limit of four dogs per person, aggressive dogs must be leashed and removed straight away, and picking up is mandatory, with bag dispensers and bins across the reserve.

Pepsi: four dogs per person is the rule here, so leave the second-worst behaved dog at home.

The water and terrain

The lagoon swims best at high tide, when the calm shallows give nervous swimmers a proper paddle. At low tide the water drops back and exposes mudflats, which dogs still enjoy but owners less so. The terrain is open grass and sandy lagoon edges rather than bush track, and shared pedestrian and cycle paths cut through the reserve, so eyes up around walkers and riders.

Getting there and parking

Access is from the lagoon car park at the end of Adam Street, North Curl Curl, with additional street parking around Carrington Parade. It fills fast on sunny weekends. Buses along the Pittwater Road corridor get you close, with a short walk down to the reserve. Toilets, water taps with dog bowls and outdoor showers are all on site, so a salty, muddy dog is an easy fix.

Worth knowing

Weekend mornings and late afternoons are the busy, social peak; weekdays suit a quieter or more nervous dog. A coffee van often parks at the lagoon car park. Adam Street Reserve is the other half of this off-leash network if the main grass is packed, and DY Local in Dee Why does good coffee for the drive home. More options sit on the New South Wales parks list and the Curl Curl destination page.

Browse more dog friendly parks across New South Wales at pawscapes.com.au/parks/state/nsw, and everything nearby at pawscapes.com.au/destinations/curl-curl.