Rathmines Reserve Dog Off Leash Area

Rathmines Reserve on Rathmines Road in Hawthorn East is two large sporting ovals ringed by residential streets and a steep stone-walled bank on the east side, used as an off-leash area for local dogs outside of match times. It is an unfenced neighbourhood ground, so the social calendar of the cricket and AFL clubs shapes when you can use it.

The dog setup

Dogs stay on lead until you are inside the designated off-leash section, and go straight back on lead whenever organised sport or training is using the ovals, so timing visits around club bookings matters here. Boroondara rules cap it at two dogs per person, require current council registration, and ban dogs from playgrounds with a 10-metre on-lead buffer around the perimeter.

Bring your own waste bags; council-supplied dispensers are not reliable. There is limited seating, and the trees around the oval edges give some shade on hot days.

Max: check whether training is on before you unclip. Two ovals and a whistle-happy coach on one of them is not a good recall environment.

Worth knowing

The stone wall on the eastern boundary makes a useful natural edge that stops most balls and most dogs, but the rest of the reserve runs open to the street, so recall needs to be solid. The ground is open grass with no water point, so carry a bowl in warm weather.

Getting there and parking

It is a 15 to 20 minute walk from Auburn station on the Lilydale and Belgrave lines, with tram routes near Auburn Road also within walking distance. Driving in, use Rathmines Road or the surrounding streets off Fairview Avenue and Auburn Road for street parking.

Close by with the dogs

For a bushier alternative, Fritsch Holzer Park is the other main off-leash space in Hawthorn East, and Anderson Park is a smaller option. Auburn Road and Camberwell Junction, both a short walk away, hold the area's dog-friendly cafes.

Sunday afternoons and Tuesday mornings tend to be busiest with the local crowd; weekday middays are quieter and safer if your dog is not confident meeting lots of others on open ground. More on the Victoria parks guide and the Hawthorn East destination page.