Blaise Castle Estate is one of the dog-friendly parks in Bristol where you can walk your dog off the lead, and is generally recognised as one of the best dog walks in Bristol. The UK government listed it in their recent press release as one of the “brilliant stop offs close to highways England roads”. They describe it as “an enormous outdoor space, with a mixture of woodlands, meadows and limestone gorge spread over 650 acres. Signed trails lead from the car park in all directions.” (Want to go on a road trip with your dog? – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)).
It has something for the whole family including a castle, open space for four-legged running, a forest and gentle running water. If it’s wet remember your wellies!
The hill fort itself has historic relevance dating back to roman times. The site has a mansion, a castle (which are often open to the public) and a hamlet of pretty little houses. The ‘castle’ is actually a summer house built in 1766 by Robert Mylne, commissioned by Thomas Farr who soon after became bankrupt. Your pooch will have to stay outside but they will love exploring the vast grounds.
The estate has two official car parks: Kings Weston Road and The Dingle. You should use these car parks, but if full you can usually find somewhere to park on residential streets nearby. The site opens at 7:30am each day and close at different times throughout the year. Make sure that you check this page before going to have the latest advise.
Most people just turn up and wander. You can choose to follow a more structured route such as this 5.3 mile route that includes the estate and some of the surrounding village. See their map here or the PDF print out here.
How to quickly find the castle
You can find the castle by walking straight up and into the woods but it’s hard to describe. So, follow these steps if you want to quickly find the castle before exploring the rest of the estate:
- Use the car park on Kings Weston Road and walk past the café and kids play area towards the mansion house
- Follow the path round to the right and down into the woods
- After a few minutes you will see a path that splits up steps to the right (see the picture below of Sash with her head through the bars), follow this path all the way up to the top and then walk up the long winding step path (see image below) all the way to the top
- Cross the footpath and continue up the next flight.
- You will see a little stump with an image of a castle (see picture below), follow this path round to the top and you will find the castle.
From here you can enjoy the castle and take any of the paths to continue exploring.
Dog-friendly things to do near Blaise Castle
- You can find more places to take your dog in and around Bristol here
Dog-friendly places to eat near Blaise Castle
- The Blaise Inn
- Or you can venture into Bristol and try one of these places
Relevant dog walks
- Bristol Walk Fest and Go Jauntly have mapped out a few walks in and around Blaise Castle Estate
I’d love to take a rainy day walk here, it looks magical. You’re so lucky to be able to visit castles in the UK ♥️ I can’t wait to go one day once travel is normal again.
Thank you, we do love them
Sash is the PERFECT model for that castle. And what are those yellow flowers? Any time we see yellow flowers like that, it means dandelions but some of those look like giant buttercups. I’m with the Big Dog: you are so lucky!
Haha, Sash is getting more used to being a model 😊.
They are just normal buttercups but close to the camera – unfortunately nothing special. We are very lucky to have evidence of such a rich history open for us to explore.
What an amazing castle! Sash looks so poised, relaxed, and professional. What a pretty girl!
Thank you. She absolutely hates photographs and refuses to look at the camera most of the time. All about opportunity!
Sash is a beautiful dog.
Ooo this place sounds great! I feel sure I’ve heard of it before so I’d love to day a little day trip there one day. I suppose I’m not really all that far away being further up in Gloucestershire. It’s good to know about the parking too and the reassurance that if car parks are full then there are some residential streets available as well. Really helpful post and I love the photos!
Caz xx
Thank you for reading Caz. Glad that you found it useful. It’s a great place to visit as there’s so much to do and interest adults, children adb dogs – maybe even teenagers but who knows! 😊