Pasco County’s own park rules ban dogs from beaches and swim areas, and none of its pages lists a dog beach. What the county does offer is a short list of fenced dog parks and several large preserves where a leashed dog can walk. Everything below was checked against county and city pages on Oct. 24, 2026.
The rules that apply in every county park
The county’s park rules page says these apply to all dogs, regardless of size or breed:
- A leash no longer than six feet, held by the owner at all times.
- A license and tag, with current vaccinations. Under county code, dogs and cats four months or older need an annual license, which requires a copy of the current rabies vaccination.
- Owners must pick up and remove waste. The county’s pet waste ordinance, section 90-2, applies in all unincorporated areas.
- No dogs in buildings, playgrounds, athletic fields, basketball courts, skate parks, shelters and pavilions, piers, swim areas or beaches. Only service dogs are allowed inside facilities.
- Aggressive dogs are not allowed in any park.
Dogs are also banned outright at three places: Sunwest Park in Hudson, Pasco Palms Preserve and Jumping Gully Preserve. Cities set their own rules, so what’s below for Zephyrhills is the city’s, not the county’s.
Fenced dog parks
Anclote Gulf Park Dog Park, Holiday
2305 Baillies Bluff Road. The fenced dog park has a partition between small and large dogs, fire hydrants, tunnels, a few covered benches and a dog water fountain, though the county suggests bringing your own bowl. Hours are dawn to dusk, seven days a week, per the county’s rules page. The 23-acre park also has a fishing pier, canoe access, and a boardwalk that connects to Key Vista Nature Park next door. The dog park was renovated in 2016 with a ,000 donation from a local funeral director, Thomas B. Dobies, in memory of his dog, Lucy, according to a Patch report from that year. We covered it with the county’s other dog park in Best dog parks in Pasco County, Florida.
Land O’ Lakes Recreation Complex Dog Park
3032 Collier Parkway. Same setup as Anclote: fenced, with a small and large dog partition and a waste station. The county’s own pages disagree on hours. The rules page says dawn to dusk and the park’s detail page says 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., so check the posted sign. The complex is 79 acres, with ball fields, a skate park and a pool.
Gunner Paw Park, Zephyrhills
39536 Alston Ave. It’s run by the City of Zephyrhills, not the county, and it has the most detailed posted rules of any of these. Dogs must be six months or older. Small dogs under 25 pounds go in the small-dog area and large dogs over 26 pounds go in the large one. The limit is two dogs per handler, choke-chain collars are prohibited, and children under 5 aren’t allowed in the fenced off-leash areas. Dogs must be leashed entering and leaving. The 5.66-acre park also has a playground, a restroom, and a trail with wooded areas and benches. City parks open at 6 a.m. and close at 10 p.m. unless posted otherwise.
Leashed dogs: the big parks
These are county parks where dogs are allowed on the six-foot leash. They aren’t off-leash.
- Jay B. Starkey Wilderness Park, New Port Richey (10500 Wilderness Park Blvd.). More than 8,300 acres, run jointly by the Southwest Florida Water Management District and the county. Dogs are allowed in the day-use area and on the hiking trails and paved bike trail, but not in the camping area or on the equestrian trail. The paved trail runs 7.3 miles and connects to the 42-mile Suncoast Trail.
- Crews Lake Wilderness Park, Spring Hill (16739 Crews Lake Dr.). 113 acres with nature trails, a paved bike path and an observation tower. Dogs are allowed “in designated areas,” so obey the signs.
- Withlacoochee River Park, Dade City (12449 Withlacoochee Blvd.). 406 acres with a 3.5-mile perimeter nature trail. Same “designated areas” wording as Crews Lake, and the county’s camping rules say no pets in camping areas.
- Veterans Memorial Park, Hudson (14333 Hicks Rd.). Dogs are allowed on the 5,428-foot fitness trail, leashed, with pickup required. Hours are 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.
- Key Vista Nature Park, Holiday (2700 Baillies Bluff Rd.). The county page says nothing about dogs either way, so only the general leash rule applies. It connects by boardwalk to Anclote Gulf Park.
For more park picks beyond the dog angle, see 4 Pasco County Parks Worth the Drive.
Where dogs are not allowed
The county’s beach parks are Anclote River Park in Holiday, Robert J. Strickland Memorial Park (Hudson Beach), and Robert K. Rees Memorial Park in New Port Richey. Under the county rules, dogs can’t go on the beaches or in the swim areas at any of them. Sunwest Park, built around a former limestone mine known locally as SunWest Mines, is closed to dogs entirely. We couldn’t read the state’s page for Werner-Boyce Salt Springs State Park, so its dog rules are not covered here.
Good to know: The county pages don’t state an entry fee for any of these dog parks, so don’t assume they’re free until you see a posted sign. Dog parks reported in New Port Richey, Port Richey and Starkey Ranch, and a posted dog area at the I-75 southbound rest area, are not listed as confirmed, because the cities’ and communities’ own pages couldn’t be read or the information was dated. Hours and rules are as of Oct. 24, 2026.
Photo: DanTD, CC0 1.0, via Wikimedia Commons. The dog area at the I-75 southbound rest area in Wesley Chapel, May 2024. It’s a state rest area, not a county park, and we haven’t confirmed it is still open.