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British Columbia Heritage
Rivers System
Parks and Pets
At BC Parks, we love dogs! We just love all of the other animals too! To ensure all our visitors have an enjoyable stay and the unique cultural and natural resources that make up these special places are protected, we ask that you follow a couple guidelines when bringing your pet to a park. These guidelines help us balance our ability to provide recreation experiences for our furry friends, while maintaining enough undisturbed space for all our other feathered, furry, hairy, scaly and slimy friends.
Check the park webpage to determine whether pets are permitted where you intend to visit.
Frontcountry & Day-Use
On-leash
Most of our frontcountry provincial parks allow dogs/pets as long as they always remain on a leash. Leashing your dog keeps you, them and other wildlife safe. Triple win! Be considerate of other campers – ensure your dog doesn’t bark excessively. Pets are not allowed in public buildings, e.g. washrooms/showers, or in playgrounds and beach/picnic areas. Pick up after your pet and dispose of their waste in the garbage.Off-leash
The below listed provincial parks offer special designated off-leash or swimming areas for your dog. Click on the park name and look under the "Pets on Leash" symbol to learn more about where the special pet area is located. Be responsible when your dog is off-leash, make sure you keep them under control, and always pick up and properly dispose of their waste.
Parks that have a dedicated off-leash area Region Beatton Provincial Park Peace Blanket Creek Provincial Park Kootenay Cultus Lake Provincial Park Lower Mainland Ellison Provincial Park Okanagan Fintry Provincial Park Okanagan Golden Ears Provincial Park Lower Mainland sẁiẁs Provincial Park (Haynes Point) Okanagan Herald Provincial Park Thompson Kalamalka Lake Provincial Park Okanagan Kokanee Creek Provincial Park Kootenay Mabel Lake Provincial Park Okanagan Moberly Lake Provincial Park Peace Norbury Provincial Park Kootenay Premier Lake Provincial Park Kootenay Sasquatch Provincial Park Lower Mainland Shuswap Lake Provincial Park Thompson Sun-Oka Provincial Park Okanagan Syringa Provincial Park Kootenay Wasa Provincial Park Kootenay
Backcountry
Taking pets into the backcountry, especially dogs, is not recommended, and in some parks is not permitted. Here is good example to help understand why dogs are not recommended in the backcountry: A dog is disturbed if a stranger comes into their home, and wildlife who call our parks home can be disturbed when dogs comes into their home. Limiting domestic dogs in the backcountry helps ensure we can continue to conserve some of British Columbia’s rarest and most sensitive species.
While pets are part of our families, they can disturb other campers, foul trails and impact sensitive natural areas and wildlife. Dogs and bears mix like water and oil and when this happens it puts the dog owner at the greatest risk for human-wildlife conflict. Dogs can get hurt or stuck in technical terrain and even swept away in fast moving water, creating a stressful and dangerous situation for the dog owner and the dog. Park visitors have had to be rescued because of their dogs.
Dogs and other domestic animals are not permitted in the backcountry in:
- Bowron Lake Park Canoe Circuit
- Bugaboo Park
- Cathedral Park
- Garibaldi Park
- Joffre Lakes Park
- Kokanee Glacier Park
- Monashee Park
Portions of the backcountry in other parks may also be restricted to dogs. Check the park webpage before heading out.
