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Best places to take your dog hiking
Since I don’t have a dog I don’t bring a lot of first-hand expertise to the question of where to take one. Some insist the best place for a pooch is at home. I’m not going there.
Let’s just say for the sake of argument that it’s OK to take your dog hiking. If so, where do you prefer? Also, on-leash or off-leash? Which places to avoid?
Let ‘er rip in the comments, folks.
Updates (I got unlazy and did some googling).
Jane his this covered in some detail at bahiker.com)
Here’s a dog trainer’s page of off-leash parks in Silicon Valley.
Many great dog-related links at this page, peppered with info on a few local parks.
More general Bay Area dog-related info, centered more on San Francisco.
Maria Goodavage has penned The Dog Lover’s Companion to the Bay Area. Pick up a copy from Hicklebees in San Jose. Another book: Thom Gabrukiewicz’s Best Hikes with Dogs Bay Area. Check it out at powells.com
April 8th, 2008 at 11:21 am
MROSD has a nice page for dog owners:
http://openspace.org/activities/ideas_for_dogs.asp
Thanks for the pointers. Our family will be getting a service dog for my son from Canine Companions for Independence (www.cci.org), so I’m collecting dog/hiking info.
April 8th, 2008 at 1:23 pm
Everyone thinks their dog is friendly. And most are friendly. I have had problems with dogs in the past.
I have found that if I stop using my poles as a dog approaches it will be more friendly. Also removing sunglasses helps. Dogs are protective of their owners. Bearded people beating large sticks into the ground with covered eyes rapidly approaching its owner can and usually will make dogs aggressive.
Walter service dogs are allowed in all parks. Even parks with dog restrictions.
April 8th, 2008 at 1:47 pm
Chef: funny you should mention that… I’ve had the same experience w/shades/poles and dogs.
April 9th, 2008 at 8:29 am
I swear on a stack of bibles that Burley is the most friendly dog you will encounter on the trail - even to bearded hikers with sunglasses and hiking poles. I wouldn’t bring him otherwise. He does think it’s a state law that everyone has to stop to pet him. Sometimes when someone uses a stick instead of hiking pole, he thinks a game of fetch is about to break out.
I do leash him when we break for lunch to keep him from bothering other people.
I recognize not everyone loves dogs as much as I do. But he has a decent sense of who they are. And I do my best to keep him away from them.
And he barely notices wildlife. He’s the only lab mix that doesn’t chase squirrels. I pretty much ruined his hunting instincts. I’m kind of worried about him running into moose. But I think their size will scare the bejeebus out of him. He doesn’t like to get near horses.
It’s a positive experience for all when Burley hikes with me. He loves the mountains. And most hikers love him. He doesn’t harass or scare the others.
April 9th, 2008 at 12:49 pm
Shenandoah National Park is a great place to take dogs hiking. It’s one of the most pet friendly parks in the nation. There’s several really good places dogs are allowed along the AT also.
April 10th, 2008 at 11:43 pm
Here in Montana I take my dog almost every place that I go and that includes hiking.
I carry her leash but don’t keep her on it.
I’ve trained my dog to ignore game animals and farm animals, as chasing them is not only bad manners but your dog can be legally shot for doing it (I support this).
She likes everyone but doesn’t force herself on people.
Her only bad habit on the trail, and one that I haven’t been able to break her of, is that she wants to meet any other dog she might find.
She’ll ignore my commands until she greets the other dog.
Unfortunately here in the Bitterroot Mountains this might also get her killed.
We have wolves.
Wolves aren’t only killing sheep, calves, and llama around here.
They also actively stalk and kill any dogs they might come across.
The wolves do this as they see dogs as competition.
They are coming into people’s yards to do this.
Almost everywhere that I normally go to hike or even just to walk has had a dog killed nearby.
I DON’T LIKE WOLVES.
We didn’t need to spend 5 million tax dollars to import them her.
They aren’t needed to balance the ecosystem.
Their reintroduction was and is a badly thought out plan, implemented and supported by people it didn’t effect.
Sorry for rant.
June 30th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
There are two really good books about hiking with your dogs published by Mountaineers Books I use sometimes when hiking with my dog Duffy. Lots of great trails, & lots of tips on etiquette for the various regions. Worth taking a look at I think,
-BEST HIKES W/ DOGS: Bay Area
http://www.mountaineersbooks.org/productdetails.cfm?PC=612
-BEST HIKES W/ DOGS: Central CA http://www.mountaineersbooks.org/productdetails.cfm?PC=837
August 17th, 2008 at 8:08 am
As a dog owner, I am always looking for trails to run with my dog– when I’m writing up trails on my blog, I make a point of covering the trail’s “dog friendliness” (i.e., is it possible? leashes? etc.)
October 3rd, 2008 at 9:47 am
I am very frustrated with all these dog hiking website’s including this one that states (best places to hike with your dog) well everytime I go into the site all people do is take about there dogs. I want to find places where to take a dog not about other peopels dogs. I’m not trying to sound mean or be a pain but this wesite said the same thing. So can anyone tell me where in San Mateo County can you take a dog on a really good long hike? with out telling me about your dog. That would be great.