Lynn Woods Reservation with your dog: leash rules, trails and parking

The City of Lynn's Park Rules Manual, linked from the Parks and Recreation rules page, states that the city ordinance for restraining dogs is in effect throughout Lynn Woods. The city's animal control page spells that ordinance out: no owner may let a dog run at large at any time, and a dog must be kept indoors, inside a safely enclosed yard or on a leash. A forest trail is neither a house nor a fenced yard, so in practice the rule is a leash from the moment the car door opens until it closes again.

The manual adds rules written for this forest. Owners must remove dog waste from trails, roads and parking lots. Pets are prohibited from entering in or upon the reservoirs, because Walden's Pond, Breeds Pond and Birch Pond supply Lynn's drinking water and sit under the Water and Sewer Commission; people may not swim, boat or fish in them either. Neither the manual nor the Lynn Woods page names an off-leash area inside the reservation. The animal control page lists the city's dog park separately, on Parkland Avenue near Richardson Road.

The city lists two main entrances with parking, Pennybrook Road and Great Woods Road. The park ranger works from the Lynn Woods Park Headquarters at the Pennybrook Road entrance, and the manual gives the ranger's number as (781) 844-0363 and tells groups to check with the ranger for seasonal updates and closures. Events, tours and programs are posted on the bulletin boards at both entrances. None of the city pages we checked mention a parking fee.

The reservation closes at night, so a late-afternoon walk in November has far less daylight in it than the same walk in June. The woods are also used heavily for team and individual races, mostly on the dirt roads and trails, and each event needs Park Commission approval. A dog that is unsettled by a crowd of runners will have an easier first visit on a weekday morning, once you have read the board at the gate.

Dogtown is at 210 Eastern Ave in Gloucester, a short way along Eastern Avenue from the end of Route 128. Lynn is outside the four Pup Van towns of Rockport, Gloucester, Essex and Manchester-by-the-Sea, so ask us about pick-up. Daycare is $42 for a full day and $33 for a half day, in playgroups of 7 to 10 dogs matched by size and temperament, and from Lynn a full day usually makes better use of the drive than a half.

Every daycare, Academy, overnight-stay and walking client starts with a free evaluation on a weekday between 6:30 and 9:30 AM, with Rabies, DHPP and Bordetella records and a current city dog license on file. Lynn licenses renew on April 1 each year through the City Clerk at City Hall, Room 201. Our Lynn page in the service areas section covers the rest of the trip, from the drive up to the first playgroup.