Great spot for hiking, especially with dogs. Small body of water for dogs to swim. Avoid stagnant water. Not good for dogs.

Ah, Mill Pond. Just lovely Area to visit with a dog. There's one area along the trails where a small beach is identified as specifically for dog and horse wading. My pooch loved it read more

pretty nice place for a walk. kinda torn between 3 and 4 stars but leaning more towards 3. pretty popular spot for dogs. nice views of the water. read more

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This place is truly a hidden treasure to bring your dog. A 3-minute walk from parking, there is a lake beach to allow your dog or horse to play at. It is shallow and clean. About another 5 minutes of walking, there is a huge grass meadow that is intermittently mowed. I believe you're supposed to have your dog on leash, but often the locals have their dogs off leash. Great secret place to bring your dog. read more

Mill Pond Recreation Area - Dog and horse beach - Parks Near Me - West Newbury, Massachusetts

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Mill Pond Recreation Area is a subset of the West Newbury Open Space, located off Route 113 eastbound just past the Page School. The Mill Pond Recreation area is loaded with open space trails populated with dogs and horses, and skating in the winter on the pond. The West Newbury Open Space website claims that there are trail maps available, however, there were none. This open space wasn't badly maintained. They have volunteers who work here from time to time. Some of the trails did have feces and manure directly on the foot trails and small bags of feces along the sides of the trails, as well as in the wading area. I am not sure why the pet owners did not pick up their pets bags and why they were left behind polluting. The trails were covered in Poison Ivy, which made it difficult and most often impossible to walk on the trails. I have been told the upper parking lot is the place to go during the summer, as the trails are not covered in Poison Ivy. Also, by the Fall, the Poison Ivy should die off. Dogs were off leash in areas where they should have been leashed. We came here on a Saturday with our two well-behaved and well-trained Labrador retrievers, leashed at all times. Upon parking near the Rec building, we began to walk toward the trails when a small dog came running up to us, clearly unleashed and no owner to be found. Eventually the owner appeared on the dock recalling his dog. We walked through and around the feces and horse manure on the trail stopping at the wading area. Had no interest to let the dogs jump in because of the feces on the ground. Continued up and to the right past the wading area only to see a dog owner with his dog in the water. To avoid any incidents, we turned back and tried walking up one trail. However had to turn back because the trail was covered with Poison Ivy or Poison Ivy very close to the trail making it very difficult to walk past the Poison Ivy. We eventually turned back off these three trails and began to walk back to the parking area. Then, a very large dog came charging up from behind us, off leash. Our dogs reacted by barking and the dog came at us in an attempt to jump up on us. Not knowing what the dog's intentions were, we quickly turned away from it but it kept attacking. The owner was in the distance recalling his dog but failed to capture the attention of his disturbed dog. We eventually were able to get away from this horrible dog and tell the owner he should have his dog on a leash if it behaves like that. In summary, the visit was not very pleasant; perhaps it will be better in the Fall. Expect dog owners to allow their dogs to approach you without an invitation, so potentially attack you without warning. Expect feces and horse manure on and around the trails. Expect Poison Ivy on or near the trails. Do not go in with sneakers and shorts. Beautiful scenery but not a safe place unfortunately. read more

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A great place to let your dog be a dog. Hike off leash, swim off leash, play off leash with other off leash dogs. There's also plenty of free, three leafed, organic toilet paper for the snooty on leash only owners along trail. read more

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We went primarily for the dog wading area. It was a nice and clean area with a picnic table to sit and enjoy the view while your dog plays. There was sand in the water for the bottom and a couple grassy areas nearby so your dog doesn't have to lie on grass or rocks. I have to agree with the other reviewer, however. We went early so we had about 30 minutes to ourselves. Then many unleashed dogs (albeit seemingly friendly) with their owners appeared and their dogs repeatedly approached us and our leashed dog so we had to leave because it was too disruptive. 3 stars overall. I'd say 5 if people leashed their dogs or at least had them on a long lead so they had control over what they were doing. read more

This was a nice place for a hike...EXCEPT for the huge amount of dog poop. It was so gross and right on the trails. Really ruined a beautiful place. read more

Really pretty place tucked away just off Main St. We brought our preschooler and walked around. There were families who brought dogs, and we interacted with some of them. Not a lot of parking down by the lake, but a little dock and some nice trails. I could see someone who is really not a dog person potentially getting overwhelmed by the proportion of guests who bring dogs. It's a big enough place that it didn't feel crowded, to us, but I think of the six or seven families visiting that we were probably the only ones without a dog. We visited on a weekend afternoon, so could also be prime dog time. They were some very happy dogs, so we actually loved watching them enjoy themselves there. read more

I love spending an hour or two with my granddaughter at this hidden gem. We no longer have dogs or horses of our own but she enjoys interacting with them and the owners are inevitably friendly. While most places charge an entrance or parking fee the use of the stunning Mill Pond Recreational Area is free. Rather rare in this day and age ! read more