Dog Walking at Horseshoe Lake Reserve
Entrances from Lake Terrace Road, Horseshoe Lake Road, Broomfield Terrace or off New Brighton Road, opposite the beginning of the red zone.
The Horseshoe Lake Reserve Dog Park is a small fenced park with lots of trees, grass and a dog agility course.
Although Horseshoe Lake has suffered significant earthquake damage that has yet to be repaired, there are still plenty of red zone adventures to be enjoyed in the area. I’ve taken many an excited doggy on a meandering adventure along an overgrown track on the New Brighton Road side, only to have it end abruptly by a large fallen tree, or redirected stream, or 6 ft blackberry bush, so we’ve had to turn around and find another track to explore. For these escapades I usually take the Queensbury Street entrance and park at the cordon, then explore from there.
The Horseshoe Lake side has some damage but still has a nice walk to follow though some fields through to the dog park. Unfortunately the bridge where you used to cross to the track is broken and the track completely overgrown so that’s no longer an option, but there is still the river to follow and some picnic tables to stop at. The bridge on the car park side is on a serious angle and is a sight to behold, I recommend visiting just to see that.
While the earthquake damage has reduced access to the are it is a still a beautiful place to explore with human and furry children, feed ducks, geese and swans, picnic and wile away a lazy Sunday.
