London is a genuinely good city to own a dog in, and autumn is the best season to use it. The ground is soft, the crowds have thinned, and the parks look better in late October than at any other point in the year.

But autumn also changes the rules. Two of the most famous dog-friendly London parks are the ones you should be walking away from this month, there are things on the ground in October that will put a dog in a veterinary hospital, and the clocks go back on Sunday 25 October 2026, which turns the after-work walk into a night walk overnight.

Here is where to go, where not to, and what changes between now and December.

Start with the two parks to avoid right now

Richmond Park and Bushy Park are the two best-known green spaces in London for dog walking. From roughly September to November, they are the two you should skip.

This is the deer rut. Around 600 red and fallow deer roam free in Richmond Park, and the stags spend autumn competing, bellowing and charging. The Royal Parks’ own advice is not simply to take more care — it is to walk your dog outside Richmond and Bushy Parks during these times.

That is a stronger instruction than most owners realise, and the reasoning is specific: deer feel threatened by dogs even at a distance, and even when the dog is behaving perfectly. Your dog does not have to do anything wrong to trigger a charge from an animal that weighs as much as you do.

If you go anyway, the official guidance is to keep the dog on a lead at all times, stay at least 50 metres from any deer — up to 100 metres if they are active — and follow a route along the park wall so you are never far from an exit gate. If a deer does charge during the rut, back away slowly; do not run, because running invites a chase.

One thing worth knowing because it sounds contradictory: in a genuine charge, guidance is to let the dog off the lead so it can escape. A dog tethered to you cannot get away, and it drags the deer towards you. Keep it on the lead to prevent the encounter; release it if the encounter happens anyway.

Both parks are back to normal from December, and the compulsory lead period is a separate thing in late spring — 1 May to 31 July, for the birthing season.

The best dog-friendly London parks, by area

North London

Hampstead Heath is the best large off-lead walk in the city and it is at its best in autumn. The City of London Corporation permits off-lead walking across most of the Heath provided the dog is genuinely under control and comes back when called. That last clause is doing real work: you can be fined if your dog disturbs other users or damages the Heath.

Watch for grazing notices in autumn. The Heath puts sheep out on some sections, and those areas require a lead or avoidance entirely. Signs go up and move, so read them rather than relying on last month’s route.

Highgate Wood is the better choice on a wet week — it is ancient woodland, the paths drain well, and it is small enough that a dog with imperfect recall is not a crisis. Alexandra Palace gives you the best view in North London and wide open grass, though it is exposed when the wind picks up.

East London

Victoria Park in Hackney is the most practical big-park walk in the east: flat, well lit, properly surfaced, with a dedicated dog-free zone around the playgrounds that keeps everyone honest. The lighting matters more than it sounds once the clocks change.

Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park is underrated for dogs. The paths are wide, the surfacing is excellent in wet weather, and there is enough space that reactive dogs can be given room.

Epping Forest is the real prize if you can get to it — nearly 6,000 acres, free, and spectacular in late October. It is also where you most need a reliable recall, because it is genuinely easy to lose sight of a dog in there.

South London

Brockwell Park, Dulwich Park and Peckham Rye form a good cluster: all three have the mature tree cover that makes autumn worth it, all three are manageable in an hour. Dulwich is the flattest if you have an older dog.

Crystal Palace Park is worth a special trip for the Victorian dinosaurs alone, and the slopes give a fit dog a proper workout. Wimbledon Common is the southern equivalent of the Heath — 1,100 acres of woodland and heath, and the closest you get in London to walking in actual countryside.

Clapham Common is busy and open, which makes it a poor choice for a nervous dog and a decent one for a sociable one.

Central and West London

Battersea Park is the most pleasant central walk: riverside, well kept, and with enough structure that it does not feel like a field. Holland Park is small but beautiful in autumn, with the caveat that parts are off limits to dogs.

Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens give you scale in zone 1, and Primrose Hill gives you the skyline. All three are busy, so they suit dogs who are comfortable around crowds, pushchairs and cyclists rather than dogs who are not.

Where you cannot take a dog at all

Worth knowing before you drive there: Kew Gardens does not admit dogs. Only recognised assistance dogs are permitted, as Kew’s accessibility guidance sets out. People turn up every autumn assuming a botanic garden is a park. It is not.

What autumn puts on the ground

This is the part that sends London dogs to the vet in October and November.

Conkers. Horse chestnuts contain aesculin, which is released when the conker is chewed. Signs include vomiting, diarrhoea, stomach pain, restlessness, swelling around the eyes and mouth, and difficulty moving. They are also exactly the wrong size and hardness for a dog’s gut, so obstruction is a real risk alongside the poisoning. London parks are full of horse chestnut trees.

Acorns. Different toxin — tannins rather than aesculin — and a different pattern. Stomach upset is common, kidney damage is rare but serious, and blockages are a particular risk in smaller dogs.

For both: symptoms usually appear within one to six hours but can be delayed by a couple of days. If you think your dog has chewed or swallowed either, phone your vet the same day even if the dog seems fine, and tell them roughly how many and when. Do not wait for symptoms to decide.

Practically, the fix is a lead under the chestnut trees and a decent “leave it”. Taking a toy helps more than telling the dog off does.

Fungi. Autumn is peak mushroom season and identification is genuinely difficult. Treat all of them as off limits.

Leaf piles. They hide broken glass, bones and sharp litter, and London parks generate an enormous amount of both.

The dark, and the fireworks

The clocks go back on Sunday 25 October 2026. The evening walk becomes a night walk with no transition, so get a lit collar or a clip-on light and a reflective lead before that weekend rather than after it.

Then there is the bigger autumn problem. Bonfire Night falls on Thursday 5 November 2026, and in London fireworks run for a fortnight either side rather than one evening. Walk earlier in the day through that period, keep the dog on a lead near open ground after dark, and make sure the microchip details are current — firework season is when dogs bolt and when being chipped to an old address becomes an expensive mistake.

Recall is the whole thing

Every recommendation above comes down to the same question: will your dog come back? Off-lead access on the Heath, in Epping Forest or on Wimbledon Common is conditional on it, and so is your dog’s safety around deer, conkers and traffic in the dark.

If the honest answer is “usually”, treat that as a no and work on it over the winter. Our guide The Walk covers rebuilding a recall from nothing, the long line, and why most recalls are overdrawn in the first place.

The short version

1. Avoid Richmond and Bushy Parks until December. That is the Royal Parks’ own advice during the rut, not caution on our part.
2. Hampstead Heath, Epping Forest and Wimbledon Common are the best large walks, and all three assume working recall.
3. Victoria Park and the Olympic Park are the most practical once it is wet and dark.
4. Kew Gardens does not admit dogs. Assistance dogs only.
5. Conkers and acorns are an urgent vet call, not a wait-and-see.
6. Clocks back 25 October, Bonfire Night 5 November. Buy the lights before the first, check the microchip before the second.

Sources

• The Royal Parks. Deer safety advice. royalparks.org.uk
• City of London Corporation. Dog walking at Hampstead Heath. cityoflondon.gov.uk
• Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Accessibility at Kew Gardens. kew.org
• Dogs Trust. Seasonal hazards: conkers and acorns. dogstrust.org.uk
• PDSA. Poisons and your dog. pdsa.org.uk

General information for UK dog owners and not veterinary advice. Park rules, grazing notices and lead requirements change through the year and between boroughs — check posted signs and the managing authority’s website before you travel. If you believe your dog has eaten conkers, acorns or fungi, contact your vet immediately rather than waiting for symptoms.