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Dogs on California beaches
Can you bring a dog to a California beach? At 58% of the 168 beaches we have verified, yes, and 82% of those require a leash. These figures come from each beach's official dog rules, as of November 1, 2026.
Key findings
- 97 of 168 California beaches (58%) allow dogs. 70 (42%) do not.
- Where dogs are allowed, 80 of 97 beaches (82%) require a leash and 16 (16%) let dogs off leash in at least some areas, seasons or hours. The other 1 vary by area or do not state a leash rule.
- California State Parks: 41 of 63 beach units (65%) allow dogs, none of them off leash.
- All other beaches: 56 of 105 (53%) allow dogs, 16 of them off leash in some areas or hours.
Beach lists: Where can dogs go off leash on California beaches? · Which California state beaches allow dogs? · Which California state beaches do not allow dogs?
Leash rules where dogs are allowed
| Leash rule | Beaches | Share of beaches that allow dogs |
|---|---|---|
| Required | 80 | 82% |
| Off leash allowed under voice control | 11 | 11% |
| Off leash allowed | 2 | 2% |
| Off leash allowed at certain times or seasons | 3 | 3% |
| Not stated by the source | 1 | 1% |
By managing agency
| Managing agency | Beaches | Allow dogs | Leash required | Off leash | Leash rule varies or not stated | Do not allow dogs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| California State Parks | 63 | 41 (65%) | 41 | 0 | 0 | 22 |
| National Park Service (Golden Gate National Recreation Area) | 14 | 6 (43%) | 0 | 6 | 0 | 8 |
| Los Angeles County Department of Beaches and Harbors | 12 | 0 (0%) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| U.S. Forest Service, Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit | 5 | 1 (20%) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| City of Solana Beach | 4 | 2 (50%) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| National Park Service, Whiskeytown National Recreation Area | 4 | 0 (0%) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| OC Parks | 4 | 3 (75%) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Sonoma County Regional Parks | 4 | 4 (100%) | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Not recorded | 4 | 3 (75%) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| City of Half Moon Bay | 3 | 3 (100%) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| City of Monterey | 3 | 3 (100%) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| City of Santa Cruz | 3 | 1 (33%) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| National Park Service | 3 | 3 (100%) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| National Park Service, Redwood National and State Parks | 3 | 3 (100%) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| City of Carpinteria | 2 | 0 (0%) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| City of Del Mar | 2 | 2 (100%) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| City of Huntington Beach | 2 | 2 (100%) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| City of Laguna Beach | 2 | 1 (50%) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| City of Pacifica | 2 | 2 (100%) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| City of Santa Barbara | 2 | 1 (50%) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Santa Cruz County Parks | 2 | 0 (0%) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| U.S. Forest Service, Inyo National Forest | 2 | 2 (100%) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| U.S. Forest Service, Lassen National Forest | 2 | 0 (0%) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| City of Capitola | 1 | 0 (0%) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| City of Carmel-by-the-Sea | 1 | 1 (100%) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| City of Coronado | 1 | 1 (100%) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| City of Imperial Beach | 1 | 1 (100%) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| City of Lodi Parks and Recreation | 1 | 0 (0%) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| City of Long Beach | 1 | 1 (100%) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| City of Malibu | 1 | 0 (0%) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| City of Morro Bay | 1 | 1 (100%) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| City of Newport Beach | 1 | 1 (100%) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| City of Pismo Beach | 1 | 1 (100%) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| City of Port Hueneme | 1 | 1 (100%) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| City of San Clemente | 1 | 0 (0%) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| City of San Diego | 1 | 1 (100%) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| City of South Lake Tahoe | 1 | 1 (100%) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Mendocino Land Trust | 1 | 1 (100%) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Santa Barbara County Parks | 1 | 1 (100%) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Truckee-Donner Recreation and Park District | 1 | 0 (0%) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| U.S. Forest Service, Los Padres National Forest | 1 | 1 (100%) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| U.S. Forest Service, Sequoia National Forest | 1 | 0 (0%) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| U.S. Forest Service, Shasta-Trinity National Forest | 1 | 0 (0%) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| U.S. Forest Service, Stanislaus National Forest | 1 | 1 (100%) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Share of beaches that allow dogs, by county
Table view
| County | Beaches | Allow dogs | Leash required | Off leash | Leash rule varies or not stated | Do not allow dogs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mendocino County | 5 | 5 (100%) | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Humboldt County | 4 | 4 (100%) | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Del Norte County | 2 | 2 (100%) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mono County | 2 | 2 (100%) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Alameda County | 1 | 1 (100%) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tuolumne County | 1 | 1 (100%) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Orange County | 15 | 12 (80%) | 12 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| San Luis Obispo County | 5 | 4 (80%) | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Sonoma County | 5 | 4 (80%) | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Ventura County | 5 | 4 (80%) | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Placer County | 4 | 3 (75%) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| San Diego County | 18 | 12 (67%) | 8 | 4 | 0 | 6 |
| Santa Barbara County | 9 | 6 (67%) | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| San Mateo County | 14 | 9 (64%) | 8 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| Monterey County | 12 | 7 (58%) | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| Santa Cruz County | 14 | 8 (57%) | 7 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
| Marin County | 9 | 5 (56%) | 3 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| San Francisco County | 8 | 4 (50%) | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| El Dorado County | 5 | 2 (40%) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Los Angeles County | 20 | 2 (10%) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 18 |
| Shasta County | 4 | 0 (0%) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Kern County | 1 | 0 (0%) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Lassen County | 1 | 0 (0%) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Nevada County | 1 | 0 (0%) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Plumas County | 1 | 0 (0%) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| San Joaquin County | 1 | 0 (0%) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Trinity County | 1 | 0 (0%) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
How current the readings are
166 of 168 beach records (99%) have a complete, current reading: checked within their review window, with the leash rule stated wherever dogs are allowed. The rest: 0 past the re-check date and 2 with no leash rule stated; a record can be both. The next re-check is due November 25, 2026.
Method
The report counts every California beach record in DogPolicies once: 63 California State Parks units with “Beach” in the official name, from the department's official dog rules table, and 105 beaches whose rules come from official agency pages and regulations. A record that covers several beaches under one rule, such as a city's beaches, counts once. Lake and bay beaches count with ocean beaches. The figures describe these records, not every beach in California.
“Allow dogs” means the record answers yes, with or without restrictions on where or when. “Off leash” means the agency's rules let dogs off leash in at least some areas, seasons or hours; “off leash allowed” means the rule does not mention voice control. Statewide, California State Parks requires a leash no longer than 6 feet wherever it allows dogs. A reading is current when the record was checked within its review window: 30 days when every source is a government agency, 90 days otherwise. It is complete when the leash rule is stated rather than listed as not stated by the source; a beach that does not allow dogs needs no leash rule. Agencies and counties are as recorded for each beach. Percentages are rounded.
State Parks beach units also appear in the State Parks report, with every other unit the department runs. Rule changes appear on the rule changes page.
Cite this report
DogPolicies, "Dogs on California Beaches," November 1, 2026, https://dogpolicies.com/reports/california-dog-beaches/. Based on official rules from California State Parks and other managing agencies.
Data is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 with a link to this page. Machine-readable: /api/v1/places.json; the report counts the records with "type": "beach" and "state": "CA".