From September 16 through March 31, Kennebunkport lets dogs run off leash on its beaches if they are under voice and sight control. The exception is noon to 6:00 p.m., when they have to be leashed. On paper, that leaves two off-leash windows each day, one in the morning and one in the evening. This Sunday, November 1, daylight saving time ends at 2:00 a.m. By November 5, the sun sets in Kennebunkport at 4:28 p.m. That puts the start of the evening off-leash window an hour and a half after dark.
So from the first week of November through the shortest days of the year, mornings are the only daylight time when a dog can legally run off leash on Kennebunkport's beaches. The rest of this post covers how much daylight that leaves, which beaches it applies to, and what the town code counts as "under control."
The rule covers three beaches
The town's Goose Rocks Beach visitor page posts the seasonal dog schedule for Goose Rocks Beach. The off-season line reads "Dogs must be leashed Noon – 6 PM / unleashed other times if under voice control."
The ordinance reaches further than that page. Chapter 16 of the Kennebunkport town code defines "beach" as three places: Goose Rocks Beach, Colony Beach and Cleaves Cove. The same September-to-March schedule applies to all three. The off-season clause reads:
"From September 16 through March 31, if under voice and sight control, dogs may be off leash on the beach, except for the hours of 12:00 noon to 6:00 p.m. when they must remain on leash."
The rest of the year is stricter. From April 1 to September 15, dogs must be leashed at all times. From June 15 through Labor Day, dogs are not allowed on the beach from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., with an exception for service dogs working for a person with a disability. The off-leash season is the six and a half months from mid-September to the end of March. The clock change on November 1 cuts its usable daylight through the darkest part of that stretch.
The daylight math, week by week
Here are three dates from the timeanddate.com tables for Kennebunkport:
- November 5, 2026. Sunrise 6:22 a.m., sunset 4:28 p.m. That leaves 5 hours and 38 minutes of daylight off-leash time before noon. The evening window opens 1 hour and 32 minutes after sunset.
- November 25, 2026. Sunrise 6:47 a.m., sunset 4:09 p.m. The morning window shrinks to 5 hours and 13 minutes, and the evening window opens 1 hour and 51 minutes after sunset.
- December 25, 2026. Sunrise 7:12 a.m., sunset 4:11 p.m. The morning window is down to 4 hours and 48 minutes.
Between November 25 and December 25, sunset hardly moves while sunrise gets 25 minutes later. In late fall, the morning window is the part that keeps shrinking.
The evening hours are still legal, but the code expects the dog to stay within sight. On all three dates, sunset falls inside the noon-to-6:00 p.m. leash period, so the afternoon daylight that is left belongs to leashed walks.
What "under voice and sight control" means in the code
The off-leash permission depends on a definition, and the town code spells it out. Under §16-3:
- Voice control. The dog "returns immediately to and remains by the side of the responsible party" when called.
- Sight control. The dog is always within sight of the responsible party and able to respond to voice control.
- The 10-foot line. A dog that approaches or stays within 10 feet of another person is not under voice control unless that person has said or signaled it's fine.
- Barking. "A dog barking repeatedly is not considered under voice and sight control."
The code also covers what the handler has to do:
- Carry a leash for any dog that is off leash.
- Use a leash 15 feet or shorter.
- Leash the dog on roads and sidewalks. This covers the walk from a parked car to the sand.
- Leash the dog on any of the three beaches when an Animal Control Officer or law enforcement officer says to.
- Pick up waste right away and put it in a proper receptacle. The town says Goose Rocks Beach has dog-waste bag dispensers at its access points.
- Keep the dog's rabies tag on its collar.
The 10-foot rule matters more in winter. Morning off-leash hours mean more dogs and walkers on the same stretch of sand at the same time of day.
Three beaches, three kinds of morning
Goose Rocks Beach runs from the Batson River to the Little River. Marked rights-of-way lead to it from Kings Highway. Parking is allowed only in posted spaces on Kings Highway, Dyke Road and New Biddeford Road. Permits are required only from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., so a November morning needs no permit. Other parking rules still apply. From December 1 to April 15, parking on public ways is banned from midnight to 6:00 a.m. Sunrise on December 25 is 7:12 a.m., so a walk timed to daylight starts after that ban lifts. Up at the Dyke Road end, the Goose Rocks Beach General Store gift shop on the second floor of 3 Dyke Road is posted "closed for the season." Its summer hours run Memorial Day to Labor Day.
Colony Beach sits just east of the breakwater at the mouth of the Kennebunk River. It's about 200 yards long, with ledge outcroppings. The town places it across Ocean Avenue from The Colony Hotel and notes limited parking with no pass required. At 200 yards, it's a short loop.
Cleaves Cove is a small rocky beach reached by a pedestrian right-of-way off Ocean Avenue. The town's 2012 comprehensive plan called it a winter seal-viewing spot. If seals are there, the code's rule against letting a dog "disturb or harass any person, other dogs or wildlife" applies, whether the dog is leashed or not.
On all three beaches, the tide decides how much sand there is to walk. NOAA posts tide predictions for station 8418911, Kennebunkport, Kennebunk River and for station 8418772, Cape Porpoise, which NOAA lists as a subordinate station. In winter, a morning walk means checking two clocks: noon and the tide.
Why the window closes on April 1
The schedule is built around shorebirds. The town describes Goose Rocks Beach as one of Maine's essential habitats for endangered plovers and terns. Dogs must stay at least 200 feet from posted nesting areas. The town's schedule calls the September 15 change the "end of nesting plover season."
The 2026 nesting season was a big one. The Local News reported on June 8 that Goose Rocks Beach had 22 piping plover pairs as of June 5, up from 14 the year before. That figure came from a Maine Audubon seasonal outreach coordinator. Statewide, Maine Audubon's season recap reported 191 breeding pairs, 352 fledged chicks and 1.84 chicks per pair for 2026. The town's Spring 2026 Town Review also lists dune work at Goose Rocks Beach: dune restoration funded by a Maine DEP grant, monitoring of dune-grass plantings, and drone mapping of the dunes.
Starting April 1, leashes are required all day. That makes November and December mornings a large share of the year's daylight off-leash time on these beaches.
The license window opens at the same time
Dog licensing runs on a fall schedule too. The renewal period runs from October 15 to December 31. According to the Kennebunkport Town Clerk's dog license page, the fee is $6.00 for a dog that has been spayed or neutered and $11.00 for a dog capable of producing young. A license issued after January 31 adds a $25.00 late fee per dog, which state law requires and the town can't waive. The town code says no dog may be kept in Kennebunkport without a license under Maine law.
This post is general information about town rules and isn't legal advice. The town code and the Town Clerk have the final word, so check your own situation with them.
Questions about the beaches, the town calendar, or how a property sits relative to Kings Highway or Ocean Avenue are a regular part of my conversations with clients. If you'd like to talk through any of it, Shanna Jadooram is glad to help. Let's Connect.
