Brandy Brow Forest in Haverhill with your dog: 450 acres on a leash

Brandy Brow is one of the conservation areas named in Article IV of Chapter 193, the city ordinance on playgrounds, parks and recreation areas, and one set of dog rules covers all of them. Dogs remain under the control of the owner and restrained on leashes. All dog solid waste is collected immediately and removed from the site, not left in a bag at the trailhead. Dogs and horses may not go into the water bodies of a conservation area or onto their ice.

The hours are city-wide: open from half an hour before sunrise to half an hour after sunset, with no charge to enter. The ordinance lets horses use existing trails and allows Class 1, 2 and 3 pedal-assist e-bikes, while motorized vehicles of every kind are banned. Fines run $50 for a first offense, $100 for a second and $300 after that, and each day counts as a new offense, enforceable by police, animal control, environmental police and the city's conservation officer.

This is the gap to know about. Haverhill's own Brandy Brow Forest page has headings for location, area and parking with nothing filled in beneath them. The ordinance places the forest north of Route 110; Greenbelt's May 2026 hike met at 26 Myron's Road, the trailhead the city built after the 2025 purchase; and the 2011 stewardship plan named Brandy Brow Road in Merrimac as the best access to the land it covered. None of those is a published parking rule.

So park only where it is plainly allowed, never across a gate or a driveway, and if you want a firm answer before a first visit, call the city's Conservation Department at 978-374-2334, the office number printed on the city's 2026 Winnekenni trail kiosk. Load a map on your phone before you leave, carry water and bags, and expect no facilities: neither the city nor Greenbelt mentions restrooms here.

We do not take dogs to Brandy Brow. Where we can help is the fall calendar. Saturdays are open to hunters in Massachusetts and are also a Dogtown daycare day, 8 AM to 6 PM, so a dog that would otherwise walk these woods in shotgun season can spend the day in a matched playgroup of 7 to 10 in Gloucester instead. Haverhill lies beyond the four Pup Van towns, so ask the front desk about pick-up, and book the free evaluation first, held on weekdays from 6:30 to 9:30 AM.

Muddy trails and gravel-pit sand make for a dirty dog even on a leash. A bath and brush at 210 Eastern Ave runs $55 to $95 by size, dematting is $15 per 20 minutes for a coat full of burrs, and grooming needs no evaluation, so it books online or in the Dogtown app. Book the next groom at pick-up and that one costs $5 less; the only fee to watch is $10 for a grooming appointment cancelled without notice.