Seattle

About eight and a half acres of grass, gravel and scrub running down to the Lake Washington shoreline at 7400 Sand Point Way NE. It is the only off-leash area in Seattle with water access, and therefore the only place in the city where a dog can legally swim, with a separate pen for small and shy dogs just south of the entrance kiosk. Open daily from 4:00 to 23:30, with bicycles and running not allowed inside.

Forty acres of King County meadow, gravel paths and trees in Redmond, with access to the Sammamish River: the largest off-leash area in the region by a wide margin. Since the Downtown Redmond light rail extension opened, Marymoor Village Station sits within walking distance at the north-east corner of the park. Outside the marked boundary the leash goes back on, and professional dog walkers need a county permit.

The free outdoor extension of the Seattle Art Museum, built on a reclaimed industrial site that zigzags down from Belltown to the shore of Elliott Bay, with monumental works by Calder, Serra and Oldenburg. Leashed pets are explicitly welcome throughout the grounds, with a lead of no more than six feet and clean-up required; only service animals may enter the Pavilion and the Amphitheater.

The oldest continuously operating farmers market in the country, open since 1907 above Elliott Bay, with its flower stalls, fishmongers and warren of lanes. Treat it as an outdoor visit only: the Market prohibits dogs, cats and other pets in its buildings, the Main Arcade included, and admits only trained service animals inside. The streets and sidewalks stay open to pets, so come before 9:00 while the crowds still allow it.

The rusted cracking towers of a former coal gasification plant, left standing in the middle of a public park on a spit facing the skyline across Lake Union. Kite Hill gives the best free view in the city and the Burke-Gilman Trail runs along the back of the park. Leashed dogs are welcome and the park is open from 6:00 to 22:00, but entering the water is prohibited: the lake sediment contains hazardous substances.

Seattle's largest park, 534 acres of former military land on the Magnolia bluff, with forest paths, open meadows and views across Puget Sound to the Olympic Mountains. Leashed dogs are welcome on the trails, but there is no off-leash area at all and the beach below the bluff, along with the West Point lighthouse shoreline, is closed to them entirely.