Dogs at Swampscott beaches: October 1 to May 20, off leash on the wet sand

The dog section of Article V of Swampscott's general bylaws, printed on the town's dog license page, allows dogs on public beaches for exercise and play only between October 1 and May 20. The owner or a keeper must be with the dog throughout. The dog is leashed to and from the high water mark, and from that mark to the water's edge it may be off the leash, under the owner's direct control and supervision. The Board of Health's 2020 regulation repeats the season in its appendix: off-leash dog friendly between October 1 and May 20 only.

The bylaw adds conditions that are easy to miss. The pooper-scooper rule runs all the way to the water's edge, so a mess on the wet sand is still yours to pick up. Harassing wildlife is forbidden. The owner answers for the dog's behavior, and a dog the Animal Control Officer judges a nuisance or a safety or health hazard can be barred from every public beach in town; bringing a barred dog back brings a fine. Seeing eye and hearing assist dogs are exempt from the beach rule.

Swampscott's 2026 beach parking page says no sticker is needed to park on Humphrey Street, which serves King's and Fisherman's beaches. Everywhere else, beach parking is sticker parking: Preston on the northbound side of Atlantic Avenue to the Marblehead line, Phillips' on the ocean side of Ocean Avenue between the signs, Whales, Eisman's and New Ocean House in the lot beside Phillips Park, and the lot next to the Fish House at Fisherman's. Residents buy stickers in person at Town Hall, $25, or $10 for seniors over 65.

Parking fines are $75 a violation. The sticker page does not say whether the sticker rules run through the colder months when dogs are allowed, so read the signs where you park; the beaches page adds that the Fisherman's lot needs a sticker from 5 AM to 3 PM. One more point for dog owners: the Board of Health lists the whole Phillips Park complex on Humphrey Street among the places dogs may never go, so if you use the lot beside it, ask Animal Control how to reach the Puritan Road trail with a dog.

Swampscott's beaches and Gloucester's open to dogs on the same date, October 1, and both close again in spring: May 20 in Swampscott, April 1 at Good Harbor and May 1 at Wingaersheek. A winter of beach mornings leaves salt and sand in the coat, and a bath and brush at Dogtown, priced by size from $55 for a dog up to 25 pounds to $95 for an extra-large long coat, takes them out. Book the groom online or in the Dogtown app; dogs coming in only for grooming skip the evaluation.

When the beaches close to dogs on May 20, a daycare day fills the gap: playgroups of 7 to 10 dogs matched by size and temperament, splash pools on the turf yard, $42 for a full day after a free weekday evaluation. Swampscott falls outside the four towns the Pup Van serves for $10 each way, so ask us about pick-up. We do not take dogs to Swampscott's beaches.