Dog Walks in Taunton With a Pub at the End

Taunton doesn't get talked about as a dog-walking destination the way Bath or Cheddar do, and that's a shame, because it has a genuinely good spread of options within a few miles of the town centre. A flat meadow with a landmark you won't find anywhere else in Somerset, a Victorian park, a canal towpath that goes as far as you fancy, and a historic garden that hands your dog a treat at the gate.

One honest note before we start. Bath and Cheddar's guides can point you to pubs we've verified in person, dogs inside confirmed, water bowls confirmed, the whole checklist. Taunton isn't there yet on The Pub Hound, so the pubs below are well-placed picks near each walk rather than verified guarantees. We say so at each one.

Quick answer: Taunton has four good dog walks. Longrun Meadow (2.3 miles, flat, free, muddy in winter), Vivary Park (0.9 miles, town centre, free), the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal towpath (flat, any distance you like, free), and Hestercombe Gardens (40 acres, dogs on leads, free dog treat on arrival, from £15.30 entry). Each one finishes near a Taunton pub, though none of Taunton's pubs are verified on The Pub Hound yet.

Which Taunton dog walk should I do?

Walk	Distance	Difficulty	Lead required	Best for	Entry cost
Longrun Meadow	2.3 miles	Easy	Yes	Flat walks, wildlife	Free
Vivary Park	0.9 miles	Easy	Yes	Quick town walk	Free
Canal towpath	Flexible	Easy	Mostly optional	Long walks, all ages	Free
Hestercombe Gardens	40 acres	Moderate	Yes (short lead)	Special occasions	From £15.30

Longrun Meadow

The flattest walk on this list, and the one with the strangest landmark.

Longrun Meadow sits off Longrun Lane (TA1 5AT), a 2.3-mile circular route that takes about 53 minutes at a steady pace. It's a mix of hard-standing paths and grassy meadow track, with the River Tone running alongside for most of the loop.

The genuine oddity here is the Willow Cathedral, a living structure grown and woven from willow trees rather than built. It's the kind of thing that makes a fairly ordinary meadow walk worth a special trip, and it changes shape and colour with the seasons since it's actually still growing.

Dogs need to be on lead throughout, confirmed by Emma at Dogs and Fairy Tails, a local dog walker with a degree in animal behaviour. Kingfishers and water voles are reported regularly along the river stretch, so it's worth keeping your dog close and your eyes on the water.

One practical warning: this is Somerset clay, and the meadow gets genuinely muddy from October to March. Boots are not optional in winter here, whatever the forecast says.

Park for free at Silk Mills Park and Ride. The walk connects directly to Vivary Park, so if you want a longer combined route, carry straight on to the next walk on this list rather than doubling back.

Vivary Park

The quick, central option, and the one to pick if you're short on time.

Vivary Park is 7.5 hectares right on the edge of the town centre, minutes from the high street. The Wilton Lands and Vivary Park loop is 0.9 miles, about 21 minutes at an easy pace, and free to enter with no booking required.

It's a proper Victorian park, with gates dating to the 1870s, an old bandstand, and a lake that draws mallards, moorhens, kingfishers, and even Chinese geese. Keep your dog on lead near the water, since the birds are used to visitors but not always used to dogs.

Dogs are welcome throughout the park but must stay on a lead. It's a good choice for older dogs, quick walks between errands, or any weather, since the paths are paved and well maintained.

The pub, honestly: The Vivary Arms sits on Wilton Street right by the park it's named after, which makes it the obvious pick to finish here. We haven't verified it in person yet, so we can't confirm dogs inside or water bowls the way we can in Bath or Cheddar. It's a solid starting point, and if you've been, help us verify it so the next dog owner doesn't have to guess.

Bridgwater and Taunton Canal

The one to pick if your dog needs proper distance, not a loop.

The canal towpath runs 14.5 miles in total, connecting Taunton all the way to Bridgwater, but for a straightforward walk-and-pub trip, the stretch south from Canal Road towards Creech St Michael is the practical choice. Park near the basin, close to the town centre end of the canal.

The surface is hard-standing towpath the whole way, which means it works year-round rather than turning to mud like the meadow does. Dogs can be off lead in places where it's appropriate, and on lead near cyclists and other towpath users.

Creech St Michael sits at roughly 3 miles, a natural turnaround point for a 6-mile there-and-back. Go further if your dog has the legs for it, or turn back sooner if they don't.

If you fancy walking the towpath in the other direction entirely, it carries on all the way to Bridgwater. Our Bridgwater dog owner's day out guide covers that end of the same canal, including the pub right on the water at Huntworth.

The pub, honestly: The Coal Orchard on Bridge Street sits by the river in the town centre, close to where the canal walk starts. As with the others on this list, it's unverified in our data rather than confirmed, so treat it as a good bet rather than a guarantee.

Hestercombe Gardens

The special-occasion walk, and the only one that costs anything.

Let's deal with the cost first, since it's the one thing on this list that isn't free. Adult entry to Hestercombe is from £15.30 without a Gift Aid donation, with children at £7.65 and family savers available. Book online before you go, since it isn't a turn-up-and-pay gate.

For that, you get 40 acres of historic landscape spanning three centuries of garden design: a Georgian landscape garden, a Victorian terrace, and an Edwardian formal garden laid out by Sir Edwin Lutyens and Gertrude Jekyll. There's a Great Cascade waterfall, woodland walks, and lakeside views throughout.

Hestercombe's own policy, quoted directly from their website, is that dogs are "very welcome on a short lead throughout the gardens, plant centre, bookshop and Hestercombe House itself." A free dog treat is given on arrival, which is a genuinely nice touch and one reviewers mention often.

The gardens are open Wednesday to Sunday, 10am to 5pm, closed on Christmas Day and Boxing Day. Some of the woodland sections have steeper paths, so it isn't the best pick for a dog with mobility issues.

Hestercombe is at Cheddon Fitzpaine, TA2 8LG, about 4 miles north of Taunton town centre. Full current prices and opening times are on hestercombe.com.

The pub, honestly: on the way back into town, The Bathpool Inn on Bridgwater Road sits roughly on the route between Hestercombe and the centre. Again, unverified rather than confirmed in our data, so it's worth a call ahead if dogs-inside is essential to your plans.

Before you go

Parking: Silk Mills Park and Ride is free and works well for Longrun Meadow. Vivary Park and the canal basin are both close enough to town-centre car parks. Hestercombe has its own car park included with entry.

Mud: Longrun Meadow's Somerset clay gets properly muddy from October to March. The canal towpath stays hard-standing and walkable year-round, which makes it the better winter choice if your dog (or your patience) has had enough of mud.

Booking: Hestercombe is the only one of the four that needs planning ahead. Book tickets online rather than assuming you can pay on arrival.

Pubs near these walks

As we've said throughout, Taunton's pubs are not yet verified on The Pub Hound the way Bath, Cheddar or Bristol's are. We've picked four well-placed ones near the routes above, The Vivary Arms, The Coal Orchard, The Bathpool Inn, and The Cricketers on the High Street for anyone finishing in the town centre, rather than four we can vouch for personally.

If you've walked one of these routes and stopped for a pint with your dog, tell us what you found. It's the fastest way we get a town from unverified to verified, and the next dog owner searching for a Taunton walk will thank you for it.

See every pub we've logged in Taunton →