Dog Friendly City Guide: Los Angeles, USA

Los Angeles is a city of hills, and for a dog that is the whole point. The Santa Monica Mountains run right through it, so a canyon trail is never far from a hotel lobby: Runyon Canyon climbs out of Hollywood with an off-leash stretch behind its gate, Griffith Park spreads over more than 4,000 acres, and on the Westside the old ranch of Will Rogers looks out over the Pacific. The weather lets you eat outside most of the year, and the city's brewery patios treat a dog under the table as part of the crowd. The one thing Los Angeles will not give you is the open beach.

Getting There With a Dog

Arriving from abroad, your dog has to meet the rules of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and they turn on where it has been in the six months before it lands. A dog that has been only in dog rabies-free or low-risk countries faces the simplest requirements. A dog that has spent any of that time in a high-risk country for dog rabies faces stricter ones, and one from a high-risk country that has not been vaccinated against rabies will not be allowed in at all, so read the CDC's dog importation pages well before you book.

LAX has pet relief stations both before and after security. In Terminal 1 there is one outside between Terminals 1 and 2 on the baggage claim level, and another after security in a room near Gate 13 on the departures level. Most long-haul arrivals come through the Tom Bradley International Terminal, which has two after security on Level 4, one near the Great Hall and one in the West Gates near Gate 205.

Where to Stay

You can compare every hotel we have inspected across the city on our ranked dog friendly hotels in Los Angeles, and the best of them are below.

Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows is the one to book. It sits at the ocean end of Wilshire Boulevard in Santa Monica, a house of 297 rooms, and it holds an A+. Your dog can come with you into the bar, the restaurant and the lounge and out onto the terrace, and there is a garden it may use. A bed and bowls are waiting in the room, there are free treats, dog food for sale and poo bags, and the hotel can arrange walking, sitting and grooming. Two dogs of any size may share a room, the fee is $125 for the stay, and there is no deposit. Cats are welcome too.

Fairmont Century Plaza on the Avenue of the Stars in Century City holds an A, and dogs stay free. Most of its 378 rooms take them, two to a room, with no weight limit, and there is a dedicated dog space, a garden, a terrace and a dog wash for muddy paws. In the room you will find a bed, bowls, treats and toys, and the hotel can arrange walking, sitting and grooming and keeps an emergency vet to call on. A refundable authorisation of $150 a day is held against damage.

The London West Hollywood at Beverly Hills on San Vicente Boulevard also holds an A, and it lets a dog into more of the house than most: the bar, the restaurant and the lounge. A bed, bowls, treats and toys come with the room, staff will point you to the walks, and dog walking and grooming can be arranged. West Hollywood Park is a few blocks away.

Others hold a B. The Beverly Hills Hotel welcomes dogs on its terrace and in its garden and sells dog food on site. Hotel Bel-Air, in its canyon off Stone Canyon Road, has a garden, a terrace and a lounge your dog may share. In Santa Monica, Santa Monica Proper takes dogs into its bar, restaurant and lounge and has a dedicated dog space. Downtown, InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown hands out an amenity bag with a bowl, a treat and a toy and lets dogs into the bar, the lounge and the seventh floor patio, and Downtown Los Angeles Proper on Broadway welcomes them in its bar and restaurant. Out in Pasadena, The Langham Huntington has a garden and green space on the doorstep and can arrange a dog sitter.

Eat and Drink

In Los Angeles your dog eats out on the patio, and the breweries do it best.

Highland Park Brewery in Chinatown says on its own page that friendly, well-behaved dogs are welcome on its spacious outdoor patio. Tables are first come, first served, and its dine-in guidelines ask that your dog stays on a leash by your side and out of the indoor seating. Across the river in Atwater Village, Golden Road Brewing pours its beer from an indoor bar and a side lawn bar, and the large patio out front is dog friendly, with yard games and, now and then, live music.

On the Westside, Santa Monica Brew Works on Colorado Avenue welcomes well-behaved pets outside; inside is a working production floor, so only service animals go in. Near the airport, Three Weavers in Inglewood calls itself a dog friendly brewery, and its tasting room has an exterior patio deck for your dog's comfort. A dog is welcome there as long as it is friendly to people and other dogs, kept on a leash and watched at all times.

Up in Pasadena, the Stone Brewing tap room on South Raymond Avenue welcomes leashed pets in its outdoor areas, and among the glassware and T-shirts it sells dog treats, so your dog can leave with something too.

Walks and Parks

Runyon Canyon is the walk Los Angeles is known for, and the LA County trails guide puts it first among the best urban trails for dogs. Its 160 acres rise from the end of Fuller Avenue in Hollywood on a loop of about three miles, past viewpoints called Clouds Rest and Inspiration Point that look over the city to the San Gabriel Mountains and Santa Monica Bay. A short way in, a gate marks the off-leash area, and leashes are required again at the north end of the park.

The same County guide sends you into Griffith Park from the Merry-Go-Round car park on the Mineral Wells Trail, past the granite enclosures of the old Griffith Park Zoo and up a steep fire road to Amir's Garden, five acres of native planting with views of the San Gabriel Valley and a water bowl for dogs at the top. Dogs stay on the leash in Griffith Park, except in a 1.6 acre off-leash area at its north end.

On the Westside, Will Rogers State Historic Park in Pacific Palisades welcomes dogs in its historic zone and on the Inspiration Loop up to Inspiration Point. The ranch house and stable burned in the Palisades Fire of January 2025, and the park has since reopened. Dogs must be on a leash of no more than six feet, and they are not allowed on the Backbone, Temescal or Rustic Canyon trails.

For a longer leg stretch, the County guide's Upper and Lower Canyonback trail, off Mulholland Drive near Encino Hills Drive, is a rare stretch of off-leash hiking along a ridge with views of the Getty, the mountains and the ocean. To the east, it routes a gentle loop from Ernest E. Debs Regional Park, past Debs Lake on the Wild Mustard Loop, to the dog park at Hermon Park in the Arroyo Seco. Keep your dog out of the Audubon Center's section of Debs Park.

And for the sea, drive south to Rosie's Dog Beach in Belmont Shore, Long Beach: just over four acres of sand on Ocean Boulevard between Granada and Roycroft avenues, open daily from six in the morning to eight at night, where the County's trails guide notes that dogs may play off the leash.

A Day Out

Start early in Runyon Canyon, before the sun is on the slopes, and let your dog run once you are through the off-leash gate. Lunch on the Golden Road patio in Atwater Village, then walk the Mineral Wells Trail in Griffith Park up to Amir's Garden, and end the day on the Highland Park Brewery patio in Chinatown. On a second day, go west: the Inspiration Loop at Will Rogers, a beer at Santa Monica Brew Works, and a late run at Rosie's Dog Beach.

Good to Know

The beach is the rule that catches visitors out. Los Angeles County's beach rules allow no animals on its beaches, dogs included, which is why Rosie's in Long Beach is the place to go. On the trails, read the signs: the off-leash ground at Runyon Canyon and Canyonback is the exception, and elsewhere your dog stays on the leash. Summers are hot and the canyons dry and exposed, so walk early or late and carry water for both of you. When you eat out, plan on the patio rather than indoors.