Dog Friendly City Guide: Portland, Maine

Portland is a small city on a peninsula in Casco Bay, and almost everything a dog could want is within a short walk of the water. A stone dust loop runs round the tidal basin of Back Cove, the Eastern Promenade drops down a grassy hill to the city's only public beach, and a wooded preserve inside the city lets dogs off the lead at the quiet ends of the day. The city writes its dog rules down clearly and names the places where a dog may run under voice control. The drinking side of the city lives on brewery patios, two of them side by side on Industrial Way, and the best of them set out water and treats before you have ordered.

Getting There With a Dog

A dog arriving in the United States from abroad must meet the rules of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the first question is where it has spent the past six months. If that has been only in countries the CDC treats as rabies-free or low risk, the dog needs to be microchipped, at least six months old, and travelling with a receipt for the CDC Dog Import Form, which you complete online before you fly. Time in any country on the CDC's high-risk list for dog rabies brings extra paperwork and stricter checks, so read the CDC's guidance on bringing a dog into the United States before you book anything. Portland has its own airport, the Portland International Jetport, but many visitors arrive by car, and a car is worth having here, because the finest headland walk of all is just over the city line in Cape Elizabeth.

Where to Stay

The Press Hotel on Exchange Street is the city's inspected and ranked hotel. It holds a D and was last certified in July 2025. The building has a story worth staying for: it was once the Gannett Building, the headquarters of the Portland Press Herald, the state's largest newspaper, and the hotel keeps the memory alive with typewriters at every turn and nods to typesetting through the rooms and halls. The lobby is the heart of the place, with Scrabble by the hearth in the morning and cocktails from the Inkwell lounge in the evening, and there is a permanent gallery of local art on the lower level. For a dog, the welcome covers the basics. Up to two dogs can share a room, dogs up to 75 lb are accepted, and the room comes with a dog bed and food and water bowls, so you can travel lighter. A settled dog may be left alone in the room while you go out to dinner, and the hotel supports pet charities. The location helps too, with green spaces and parks close by.

Eat and Drink

Portland's breweries are where a dog is most at home, and the ones below say so on their own pages.

Allagash Brewing on Industrial Way is the city's best known name, and its own pages say plainly that friendly, well behaved dogs are always welcome, as long as they are leashed and under your control at all times. Food comes from Bite Into Maine, the lobster roll truck that parks at the brewery, so you can make a long afternoon of it.

Just along the same road, Foundation Brewing and Pizza answers the question directly on its visit page: yes, puppers welcome. Dogs are allowed on the outside patio, on a leash and at your table, and the patio stays open in every season the weather allows, under a large tent from spring to autumn. Pizza is made on site, which makes it the obvious place for supper after a walk.

In East Bayside, Rising Tide Brewing on Fox Street is dog friendly for outdoor service. It asks for well behaved dogs kept leashed at your own table and not mixing with the dogs at the next one, and in return it keeps fresh water, treats and its own toys for visiting dogs. The Galley serves comfort food alongside the beer.

A few blocks away on Anderson Street, Goodfire Brewing allows dogs outside on its patio. The Portland taproom serves beer, wine and bar snacks rather than a full kitchen, and it keeps seasonal hours, so check before you set out.

On Westfield Street, Bunker Brewing has plenty of patio seating and says that well behaved dogs are allowed on the patio, which makes it a good stop for a quiet pint after the trails.

For seafood on the waterfront, Portland Lobster Company on Commercial Street describes its own patio as the setting for dog friendly live music evenings. A lobster feast outside with your dog beside you and a band playing is about as Portland as an evening gets.

Walks and Parks

The city keeps a clear list of where dogs may go and how, set out on its leashed areas page. On all streets and public property a dog must be on a leash of no more than eight feet, and the page then names the parks where a longer lead or voice control is allowed.

The Back Cove Trail is the city's favourite walk, a loop of about 3.6 miles round a tidal basin on a stone dust path, with benches, scenic views and seasonal water fountains along the way. Dogs must be leashed at all times. The state's coastal access guide notes that the path is lit along Baxter Boulevard, so it stays in use after dark with the city skyline across the water, and that it joins the Eastern Promenade Trail at Tukey's Bridge.

The Eastern Promenade is the walk with a view. According to the Friends of the Eastern Promenade, dogs may run off leash under voice control on East End Beach and the northwest shore, on the grassy hill between Cutter Street and the lower sidewalk, and on the mid slope nature path. From the day after Labor Day until Memorial Day that is allowed at any time during park hours, from 5am to 10pm, while in summer it is limited to before 9am and after 5pm. You must keep a leash in hand, stay within 50 feet of your dog, and bring no more than three.

Baxter Woods is a 30 acre preserve of tall pines owned by the city, with a wide, flat main trail of crushed gravel running from Stevens Avenue to Forest Avenue. From 1 August to 31 March dogs may go under voice control from 5am to 9am and from 3pm to 10pm, and must be on an eight foot leash in between; from April to the end of July they stay leashed all day, and the Northern Carriage Path is always a leash walk.

For something wilder, the Fore River Sanctuary covers 85 acres on the west side of the city. The state guide describes a route along the old canal towpath, across a wetland and up a hilly loop to Jewell Falls, Portland's only natural waterfall. It is open from dawn to dusk and leashed dogs are allowed. When a dog simply needs to run, the city lists Quarry Run Dog Park and Valley Street Park among the places where dogs may be off the leash under voice command.

A Day Out

Start early on the Back Cove loop while the light is low over the water, then drive out to Fort Williams Park in Cape Elizabeth. The park is home to Portland Head Light, and dogs must be leashed there except in the designated off leash area, which is marked on a map on the park's visit page. There are no bins in the park, so carry your bags out with you.

Come back into town for a late lunch at Allagash or Foundation, which sit almost side by side, and let your dog doze under the table. In the late afternoon, once the summer restrictions lift at five, take a turn on the Eastern Promenade above the bay, then finish at Rising Tide, where a water bowl and a treat will be waiting, or on the patio at Portland Lobster Company.

Good to Know

Portland's leash rule is simple: an eight foot maximum leash everywhere in public unless a park is named as an exception, and dogs are not allowed on any playfields, schoolyards or playgrounds in the city. The Friends of the Eastern Promenade note that breaking the leash law brings a minimum fine of $75 and leaving waste behind a minimum of $250. The voice control windows change with the seasons, and the city's own list gives East End Beach as a voice control area only out of season, so in summer keep to the hill if in doubt and check the city page before you let your dog off. Brewery patios are seasonal and weather dependent, and every place here keeps dogs outside, so plan on the patio rather than the bar. At The Press Hotel there is a $75 dog fee per stay, plus tax, and no deposit; dogs stay in the bedroom rather than the hotel's public spaces, and you bring your own treats, toys and waste bags.