Cook Park Trail

The Cook Park Trail is a flat, sealed foreshore path along Botany Bay, running roughly 16 km from Kyeemagh south past Brighton-Le-Sands and Ramsgate toward Sans Souci behind Lady Robinsons Beach. Nobody walks the whole thing in one go, and you do not need to: the Kyeemagh end has the one thing that matters for dog owners, a marked off-leash beach section right beside an otherwise on-lead path.

Leash status

Bayside Council keeps dogs on lead along the Cook Park reserve and the shared path itself, throughout. The lead comes off in exactly one place: the signposted off-leash dog area on the sand at Kyeemagh. Read the boundary signs on the beach rather than assuming the sand is one zone.

The practical rhythm is a lead walk on the path with a swim break inside the marked beach section, then back on lead for the return leg.

The walk

The full length runs about 16 km end to end, flat the whole way, sealed and wide enough that walkers, prams and bikes share it without much trouble. AllTrails logs three and a half to four hours for the complete distance, and treated as an out and back from the Kyeemagh car park it becomes whatever length suits the dog.

The water views run the whole way, kite surfers work the bay on a nor'easter, and planes from the parallel runway pass overhead on approach, which some dogs find novel the first time. BBQs and picnic shelters sit along the park reserve behind the path.

Water and hazards

Water for dogs is limited along the open stretch, so carry a bottle. The path is fully exposed, so summer mornings beat afternoons, and the shared cycling traffic is the main hazard: hold the left side and keep the dog on the beach side of the path rather than the road side.

When to go

Weekday mornings are calm and the low sun over the bay is the best light of the day. Weekend middays are the busiest combination of cyclists, prams and beach crowds, and evening brings sunset walkers plus the flight path at its steady peak.

Getting there and parking

The trailhead car park sits off The Grand Parade at Kyeemagh, next to the boat ramp, with the off-leash beach a short walk from it. The 303 and 420 buses run along the Grand Parade, and the path also connects inland to the Cooks River cycleway for a second circuit option.

While you're out there

Kyeemagh Off Leash Dog Area is the beach section this walk turns on, and the Brighton Le Sands and Sans Souci foreshore paths continue it south. Billy Boy Cafe & Bistro covers the end-of-walk coffee, and Bona Park adds a second off-leash stop further down the bay. More routes are on our NSW dog walks page and the Kyeemagh guide.