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West Gloucester
Ravenswood Park with your dog: Trustees trails in West Gloucester
Ravenswood is the woods walk our West Gloucester and Magnolia customers use most, and the one that sends the muddiest dogs through our tub in March and April. Here is what the property asks of a dog, and how a bath from $55 fits at the end of it.
The place
Trustees land in West Gloucester where dogs are welcome
Ravenswood belongs to The Trustees of Reservations, and dogs are welcome there at the time of writing. Two rules are stated plainly: pick up after your dog, and keep it leashed in the parking area. The rest of what the Trustees expect is in their dog-walker guidelines, which apply on every Trustees property that admits dogs, and the Ravenswood page carries the current hours, parking and closures. We link to both below and do not paraphrase the hours, because they are the Trustees' to set.
What you get is woodland: a network of trails through pine and hardwood, granite ledge underfoot in places, and low ground that stays wet long after the snow has gone. It is a quieter walk than Dogtown Common, with better-marked trails and a proper lot, which makes it the better first woods walk for a dog that is new to trails or new to you.
- Dogs welcome on the trails at the time of writing; confirm on the Trustees page
- Leash on in the parking area, and carry out what your dog leaves behind
- The Trustees dog-walker guidelines cover everything those two rules do not
- Hours and parking are the Trustees' to publish, so read theirs, not ours
What it asks
Leash manners at the lot, a recall in the woods, a tick check at the end
The parking area is where the leash rule is explicit, so a dog that explodes out of the car and drags you across the lot is already on the wrong side of it. Practice a calm exit: door opens, dog waits, leash clips, then out. Past the lot the Trustees guidelines govern, and whatever they allow on the day, a dog that will not come back through a wall of squirrel scent should stay on a long line. Polite passing on a narrow path is a skill in itself.
Then there is the ground. Ravenswood in spring is mud to the elbow for a low dog, and the granite ledges are slick when wet. Ticks are active from April to November, and a dog that has waded through wet brush needs the full check before it gets back in the car. Porcupines and coyotes use these woods too, and the last hour before dark is their hour, not yours.
- A calm car exit and a leash on before your feet touch the lot
- A long line until the recall is proven past squirrels and deer
- The full tick check at the car from April to November
- Out of the woods before dusk, when porcupines and coyotes move
From trail to tub
How a muddy Ravenswood loop ends, in six steps
The loop is the easy part. The half hour after it is where mud ends up in your car, ticks end up on your sofa and a wet dog ends up cold. This is the routine our own walkers use on the wet weeks, and it takes the guesswork out of March and April. Keep it in the glovebox until it is habit.
The nails deserve a mention of their own. Wet granite softens them and roots catch them, so a dog that comes off a Ravenswood loop with a split nail is a dog we see most weeks in spring. Ask for the nail clipping at the same visit as the bath, or book it on its own for $16 whenever the coat is dry.
- 01
Read the Trustees page for Ravenswood the morning you go, for hours and closures
- 02
Pack a towel, a jug of water and bags for the waste before you leave the house
- 03
Leash on in the lot, and keep it on until the guidelines and your dog's recall both allow otherwise
- 04
Walk the loop, and expect the low ground to be wet through May
- 05
At the car, towel off, then check ears, armpits, groin, tail base and between the toes
- 06
Drive to 210 Eastern Ave for the bath if the dog is more mud than dog
How Dogtown fits
The bath from $55, and walks from home when the woods are not on
A bath only in our grooming studio is priced by size: $55 up to 25 pounds, $65 from 26 to 50 pounds, $75 from 51 to 90 pounds, $85 over 90 pounds and $95 for an extra-large dog with long hair, with the warm bath, blow-dry and brush-out included. Add dematting at $15 per 20 minutes if the burrs have taken hold, or the antiseptic shampoo for $8 after a swamp-water day. No evaluation is needed for grooming, and the final price is confirmed at check-in once our groomer sees the coat.
When the mud or the dark makes Ravenswood a bad idea, our team can walk your dog from home instead: 20 minutes for $25, 30 for $35, 60 for $55, always solo, with a photo and a short note afterward. Coverage depends on where you live and on the season, so ask us whether we reach your street. A daycare day at $42 is the other answer, with the Pup Van at $10 each way in Gloucester, Rockport, Essex and Manchester-by-the-Sea. Walks and daycare both start with the free weekday-morning evaluation.
Nearby
Dogtown Common, Goose Cove and the pages for the season
Dogtown Common is the bigger, wilder cousin across the cape: no lot, no marked loops to speak of, and a recall test on every visit. Goose Cove Reservation is the small walk on the Annisquam side, and the Greenbelt trails page rounds up the rest of the short ones. Stage Fort Park is the leashed lawn option when the woods are frozen solid.
For the season, our mud season page sets out the March and April bath schedule, the ticks and Lyme page covers prevention and the daycare policy, and the seals, plovers and porcupines page explains what to do when your dog meets a porcupine. The Gloucester service-area page has the rest of what we offer on this side of the bridge.
At Dogtown
After Ravenswood
A bath priced by size, nails and dematting on the same visit, and solo walks from home for the days the trail is out.
Asked and answered
Questions people ask about this
Short, complete answers you can act on today. More in the full FAQ.
Do dogs have to be leashed at Ravenswood Park?
Is there a fee or a closing time at Ravenswood?
Why does my dog come home so muddy from Ravenswood?
Is Ravenswood a good first trail for a puppy?
More questions? Read the full FAQ
Sources
Rules and dates change. We re-check every beach, licensing and ordinance page each spring and fall; the source above is the current word.
Keep reading
Next step
Mud to the elbow? Book the bath.
Grooming needs no evaluation: book a bath by size online or in the Dogtown app. Walks and daycare start with the free evaluation on a weekday morning.
- 01Free evaluationWeekdays 6:30 – 9:30 AM
- 02Book a dayOnline, in the app or by phone
- 03Play, rest, repeatReport card at pick-up
