National Arboretum Canberra

The National Arboretum spreads across the hills west of Canberra, 95 forests of rare and symbolic trees threaded with more than 20 kilometres of walking and cycling track. Dogs are welcome on lead across the whole site. The catch worth knowing before you leave home: there are no bins and no bag dispensers anywhere on the grounds, so whatever your dog produces, you carry out.

The walk. The full perimeter loop logs about 11.3 kilometres and rates moderate, close to three hours with hills in it. Most people do not walk the lot. The Arboretum's own pick for dog walkers is the Explorer Track, 7.2 kilometres return through the southern forests and graded easy, taking in trees extinct in the wild alongside habitat and research plantings. Shorter options branch off the Village Centre: the Himalayan Cedar Track is 2.1 kilometres return past the Wide Brown Land sculpture to a picnic deck under the cedars, Dairy Farmers Hill Track is 2.3 kilometres return to the Nest III sculpture and the view everyone photographs, the STEP Track is a flat kilometre return, and the Cork Oak Trail runs 1.9 kilometres return from the Cork Oaks car park into a stand of cork oaks nearly a century old. Central Valley Path is 1.5 kilometres one way with a gradient and surface that suit prams and assisted wheelchairs. Mountain View Track, 3.3 kilometres one way, is the one that will make your legs complain.

The rules. Leads on at all times, across every track and forest. Dogs are not permitted inside any building or in the Pod Playground, service dogs excepted. Carry your own bags: the ACT Government provides no disposal bins or dispensers here, consistent with its policy across Canberra's urban parks and open space, so plan for a full pocket on the way back to the car.

Hazards. These are shared, multi-purpose tracks, and the traffic mix is unusual. Horses are permitted on the unsealed fire trails and in the cleared alleys between forests, and walkers, joggers and cyclists are all required to give way to them. Cyclists share every path with you, with a 10km/h limit on tracks and trails and 40km/h on the sealed roads. The site is high, open and almost entirely unshaded, which cuts both ways: brutal in a January afternoon, bitter in a Canberra westerly.

Getting there. The Arboretum sits off the Tuggeranong Parkway, about fifteen minutes from the city centre, with generous parking at the Village Centre and satellite car parks at the Cork Oaks, the Himalayan Cedars and Dairy Farmers Hill. Driving is the practical option: dogs on ACT public transport face restrictions that make a big dog awkward. The ACT Centenary Trail and the Bicentennial National Trail both run through the site, connecting it on foot to Stromlo Forest Park and Black Mountain.

Nearby with the dogs. Mount Painter Nature Reserve is the closest bush walk, in the same suburb. Down the hill, Weston Park and the Lake Burley Griffin Loop give you flat lakeside kilometres, and the Molonglo River and Lake Burley Griffin Loop Track extends that further. For an actual off-leash run afterwards, try Yarralumla Dog Park or Weston Creek Dog Park. The Handlebar at Stromlo and Little Billy's at Weston are both nearby, and Ovolo Canberra takes dogs.

When to go. Weekday mornings, or late afternoon in autumn when the exotic forests turn and the light comes in sideways across the hills. Avoid still, hot summer afternoons entirely. Good for big runners who need real distance, and for anyone whose dog is fine with horses.

Sources

• Tracks and trails - National Arboretum Canberra · www.nationalarboretum.act.gov.au
• Public use policy - National Arboretum Canberra · www.nationalarboretum.act.gov.au
• National Arboretum Canberra Loop - AllTrails · www.alltrails.com

Compiled from public sources and verified listings. Always confirm current rules with the venue or council before you travel.