Dog Friendly City Guide: Cleveland, Ohio

Cleveland is a city built on water. Lake Erie runs along its northern edge and the Cuyahoga River reaches the lake below downtown, and for anyone travelling with a dog that is the whole point. Cleveland Metroparks, the park district that runs the city's lakefront and its reservations, keeps a stretch of lakefront beach for dogs, and its trails run from the lakeshore to the towpath of the old Ohio and Erie Canal. In town, two breweries by the river, an Irish pub on East 4th Street, a west side public house and cafés in Ohio City and Tremont all say plainly on their own pages that dogs are welcome on the patio. This guide is built from our own venue and walk data and the Cleveland hotels we have assessed and ranked, with every park rule taken from the page of the authority that sets it.

Getting There With a Dog

Arriving from abroad, the rules that matter are set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and they depend on where your dog has been in the six months before you travel. For a dog that has spent that time only in rabies free or low risk countries, the CDC says the only document needed is its Dog Import Form. The dog must be at least six months old, carry a microchip that a universal scanner can read and look healthy on arrival, and it can come in through any airport, seaport or land border crossing. You can fill in the form on the day you travel, and the receipt is valid for six months. If your dog has been in a country on the CDC's list of places at high risk for dog rabies, stricter rules apply, so start with the CDC's dog importation page, which also reminds you that USDA rules and the rules of your US destination have to be met too. Our guide to taking your dog abroad puts the paperwork in the order it has to be done.

Where to Stay

The hotel to know is Kimpton Schofield Hotel, ranked A and the best dog friendly hotel we have ranked in Cleveland. It sits inside a historic landmark building on East Ninth Street, and by its own account the brick facade has been restored to the way it looked around 1902, with a bright lobby, cosy rooms and Betts as its restaurant. It is a short walk from East 4th Street and from Progressive Field, which makes it an easy base for a weekend on foot. Dogs stay free, there is no weight limit, and most of the rooms take dogs. What sets it apart is how much of the building a dog can share with you: our assessment found dogs welcome in the bar, the restaurant, the lounge and on the terrace. A dog bed, bowls and poop bags are laid on, the staff will point you to good walks, and a settled dog can be left in the room while you go out for the evening.

Across downtown on Superior Avenue, Hyatt Regency Cleveland at The Arcade, ranked D, is a simpler stay. Most of its rooms are open to dogs, bowls are waiting when you arrive, there are parks nearby and the staff can suggest walking routes. It suits an owner with a smaller dog who mainly wants a central bed downtown.

Eat and Drink

Cleveland's brewery patios are the easiest place to start. Forest City Brewery on Columbus Road calls itself a neighbourhood brewery, and its Atlantic Beer Biergarten is the reason to go: camping chairs, fire pits and century old trees that the brewery says make it feel like a shaded backyard. Its own page says dog friendly in as many words, asks you to bring your dog on a lead, and promises hydration stations. Inside, a forty seat tasting room built from reclaimed materials pours seven or eight European style beers at a time, with free live music on Sundays. A little further along the river, BrewDog's Cleveland outpost on Carter Road has 28 taps of its own and local beer and a patio with river views, fire pits and outdoor games, and its page says simply that dogs are always welcome there.

For a pub, Flannery's has been Cleveland's Irish pub on East 4th Street since Denis Flannery opened it in 1997, a short walk from Rocket Arena and Progressive Field, with fish and chips, Irish stew and Guinness on draught. Its answer to whether it is dog friendly is yes, for well behaved dogs on the outdoor patio. On the west side, All Saints Public House on West 76th Street has been voted best patio by Cleveland Magazine, pours craft drinks, runs free pub trivia on Tuesday nights, and says on its front page that dogs are welcome if leashed.

Mornings belong to the cafés. Lucky's Cafe is in a renovated house in historic Tremont, bakes its own bread and pastry with produce from Ohio farmers, and won Cleveland Scene's Silver Spoon award for best brunch. Its own FAQ answers the question directly: dogs are allowed on the patio. In Ohio City, Rising Star Coffee Roasters has a café in the old Ohio City Firehouse on West 29th Street, serving fresh roasted coffee with pastries from Blackbird Baking Company, and the roaster says pets are welcome in the outdoor seating there.

Walks and Parks

The walk to make first is Edgewater Park, 147 acres at the western end of the Metroparks' Lakefront Reservation with 9,000 feet of shoreline, a fishing pier, a swim beach and a dog beach. Edgewater Beach itself runs for 2,400 feet below the park, and the westernmost part of it is the dog friendly stretch, so a dog that likes water can paddle in Lake Erie with downtown Cleveland on the horizon. The park district's own description promises panoramic views of the city and a sunset worth staying for, and the beach is open until dusk all year round.

The Ohio and Erie Canal Reservation follows part of the historic 309 mile canal south of the city, with 7.2 miles of all purpose Towpath Trail for walking alongside the old waterway. Our walk data includes the stretch from Harvard Avenue to Clark Park and a loop from the CanalWay Center in Cuyahoga Heights, which tells the story of the area's nature and history and has a bird viewing room.

Brookside Reservation was one of the City of Cleveland's oldest neighbourhood parks before the Metroparks took it on in 1993; the land was bought in 1894. Its 132 acres are a refuge for wildlife in the middle of the city, and the All Purpose Trail that walkers and cyclists use through it connects to Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. In Garfield Heights, Garfield Park Reservation is what the park district calls a treasured urban oasis, with varied landscapes, a surprising range of wildlife and an all purpose trail that appears in our walk data. All of these are in the Metroparks system, so one set of rules covers the lot, set out below.

Good to Know

Across the Cleveland Metroparks, dogs must be on a lead no longer than eight feet and you clean up after them, as the park district's own rules put it. At Edgewater Beach, pets are not allowed on the sand or in the water outside the designated dog area, so keep to the western end. Forest City Brewery admits guests aged 16 and over and keeps dogs outside only, and Lucky's Cafe, Rising Star and Flannery's keep dogs to their patios and outdoor seating; Lucky's closes on Tuesdays. Kimpton Schofield takes a $100 incidental hold per night for a dog. At Hyatt Regency Cleveland at The Arcade there is a $100 non-refundable dog fee, a 50 lb weight limit and one dog per room, the bar, restaurant, terrace and lounge are kept for people, and dogs may not be left alone in the room. Tell every hotel you are bringing a dog when you book.