WagOn · Places

NY

Tifft Nature Preserve

No — dogs are not allowed No dogs at Tifft Nature Preserve. The preserve's own visitor rules are explicit in both directions: "Leave pets at home" and, under Please Do Not, "Bring dogs or any other animals." That covers all 264 acres — the trails, the boardwalks and the Lake Kirsty shoreline alike — with no seasonal or leashed-dog exception. It is a managed wildlife habitat run by the Buffalo Museum of Science, and the ban is the point. The published rules don't spell out a service-animal exception, so if you use a service dog, phone the preserve on 716-825-6397 before you go. Note the Education Center is closed Mondays and Tuesdays.

Where dogs ARE allowed

Nowhere on the preserve. The prohibition is written twice on the operator's own visitor-rules page — once as an instruction ("Leave pets at home") and once as a prohibition ("Bring dogs or any other animals") — and it is not qualified by area, trail, boardwalk or season. One honest gap: the published rules do not state a service-animal exception. The ADA would normally require a service animal to be admitted to a place of public accommodation, but Tifft has not published that in writing, so anyone travelling with a service dog should call ahead (716-825-6397) rather than rely on our page.

Managed by Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences / Buffalo Museum of Science (Tifft became a department of the Museum in 1982; the land was originally purchased by the City of Buffalo). Official pet policy. Checked against that page in August 2026.

We publish this because finding out at the trailhead is worse than finding out here. Rules change — check before a long drive.

Other places with dog restrictions