Dog Walks in Farnham

Farnham is one of Surrey's most handsome towns — Georgian brick facades, a proper working market, a hilltop castle and a brewing heritage that goes back centuries. For dog owners, it's also the gateway to some of the best lowland heath walking in the South East, with the sandy commons of the Surrey Hills AONB spreading out to the south of the town in every direction.

The town itself has a very relaxed pace. The high street is wide and dog-tolerant, with several independent cafes that welcome dogs on their terraces. Castle Street climbs gently up to the keep, and the riverside walks along the Wey are a pleasant warm-up before heading further afield. What most visitors come for, though, is the Devil's Jumps and Frensham Ponds area a few miles south — a genuinely unusual landscape of heath, pine, three small volcanic hills and two spring-fed lakes that look more like Scandinavia than Surrey.

Best Dog Walks in Farnham

The Frensham Ponds and the Devil's Jumps (4 to 6 miles, moderate) is the route to do and genuinely one of the most interesting heath walks in southern England. It starts at the Frensham Great Pond car park, tracks the shoreline before heading inland across the common, and climbs the three wooded cones of the Devil's Jumps — small but steep hills of hard rock that poke through the surrounding sand. The views from the top are surprisingly big for somewhere so low-lying, and the woodland descent brings you back onto the heath for a final loop along the pond. The terrain is mostly sandy underfoot, which is brilliant for dogs that hate mud, and in summer the ponds offer safe, shallow swimming for confident water dogs.

Planning Your Visit

Park at Frensham Great Pond or Frensham Little Pond — both have National Trust-managed car parks and toilets. The main swimming beach has seasonal restrictions for dogs between May and September, but there are plenty of other shoreline access points away from the beach zone. Ground-nesting birds use the heath in spring, so stick to the main tracks and keep leads handy between March and August. Ticks are present on the heath, so a post-walk check is sensible. Paws Play Daycare in Farnham is useful if you need to leave your dog for part of a visit, and the town has several dog-friendly Farnham cafes around Castle Street for a post-walk coffee. Dog walks in Farnham are best in late summer when the heather is in full bloom.