Traveling to National Parks out west with dogs? Advice please!

[Wayne&Sam]

Originally Posted by CarolynSteve

Canada..We have checked. They are very specific about crossing into Canada with a dog.

Your pups shots have to be up to date and you need a very recent vet verification, note giving the dog a clean bill of health.

l

Lost count of how many times we've crossed the Canadian/US border with a dog. We always have vaccination records but have never been asked to show them in either direction.

Crossing the board with an avocado is entirely different.

[Aerowood]

I rarely go to National Parks anymore just too many people there. Its like camping in downtown Denver. I really don't camp to often in campgrounds either. I prefer to boondock camp in National Forests with dispersed camping areas.

[VT Wanderer]

I guess we are on the opposite side of the fence from most of the others. On our journeys out west to the National Parks (we're from VT) we leave our 165 lb. Newfoundland home. We have never put any of our dogs in a kennel either. We have always hired friends or family members to live at our house and care of them. We are major hikers, and leaving our dog in the Airstream would not be best for the dog's health - mentally or physically, and it would limit our personal enjoyment with all the restrictions. When we come home our guy has been loved and well cared for and happy. I believe that you would have to limit a lot of your adventures when you have to care for your dog. (I speak this way as the smallest dog we have ever had, has been over 130 lbs.)

[streaminwild]

Bring your dog along and adjust to the conditions. You will not regret it. Other than this forum, my Izzy is the only true friend I have. There's a reason for the phrase...a person's best friend... trying to be gender proper.

[BessieB]

For starters, I would wait until about September and so forth to travel to the parks. It is cooler and less crowded. And since I was traveling with my Belgian Malinois, I love having her with me on any hikes. National monuments are dog friendly also. Kodachrome was dog friendly. My mistake was heading for the showers at 5am and went out the door. Puppy dog took off chasing something. It was dark and wondered what the heck she was after. Thankfully she showed up at the shower. So I should have had her on a leash.

[Ray Eklund]

Western National Parks may be difficult for Homo sapiens, without your dog. Not that dogs cannot handle the hiking... the crowded conditions are not great for dogs that may become aggressive in 'guided' mob scenes.

Ladders to climb at Mesa Verde.

Zion with a dog pushing its way along the narrow Angel's Landing could lose a few patrons in the process.

Yellowstone... whew... hot brewing mud spewing sulfur and a fast moving Yellowstone River could be too tempting.

Grand Canyon trails, even on the North Rim, are bad enough for people to care for themselves going down to the Colorado River and discovering you must also hike BACK to the parking lot... uphill this time.

We spare our two Blue Heelers the crowds. The crowded campgrounds. The traffic. The noise of humanity using four wheels, two wheels and... generators. Great sound systems... next to your campsite until 9PM.

Skirt the National Park boundaries for great camping that you and your dog(s) will enjoy.

The National Park rangers complain of the crowded conditions, yet the Park Service advertises for everyone to come and 'enjoy the outdoors'... Well, my vision of enjoying the outdoors is not the same as most. Try Wyoming... for an example. Most of Wyoming could become a National Park, as well as Utah, Nevada, New Mexico and Western Montana.

If you insist going to Moab, Utah... the kennels are Air Conditioned. You will also wish you stayed in the kennel and let the dogs run loose.

You have an Airstream. A home on wheels. If you go on vacations for a socializing experience... you will love the National Park atmosphere.

If you want some Peace and Quiet, alone time, open space for miles for you and your dog(s), explore sites that are too remote to be a National Park or Monument... get a State Atlas and understand what a vacation should be... discovering those special places with no name, other than ahhhh.... peace and tranquility.

Otherwise get a cat. They despise you if they come along on a trip, or not.

[SSquared]

FYI, the rule at Petrified Forest National Park is dogs can go anywhere people can except in the buildings. Leashes are required. And there is great off-trail hiking. But no campground.

[n2916s]

Yellowstone is best avoided from the 4th of July to mid-August. The crowds spook the critters off the roads, every restaurant, shop, campground and lodge is packed, Ranger hikes look like a Titanic conga-line, the popular areas , like Midway Geyser Basin, may actually run out of parking spaces.

June is good, September great and, oddly enough, the week before Labor Day is pretty quiet.

[Lab lover]

We love traveling and especially hiking with our lab (hence our username). Unfortunately national parks are notoriously dog un-friendly. No dogs on trails, can only be tied up at your campsite, etc. But we have discovered that western STATE parks are very dog friendly, so we generally try to stay at those. And quite frankly, we have the state parks to be much nicer and usually have hookups, unlike many national parks. And there are almost always state parks near national parks. On our recent journey through Utah, we stayed at Dead Horse Point state Park, only 15 miles or so outside Canyonlands and 25 miles from Arches. Both easy day drives with dog sleeping the day in the trailer. We stayed at Goblin Valley State Park within driving distance to Capitol Reef. And Kodachrome Basin is only 20 miles or so from Bryce Canyon. Of course, this worked well in the cool spring months, but taking this approach in the summer may be more challenging with reliance on the A/C. One drawback is that state parks are very popular for obvious reasons, and tend to book up far in advance. Oregon state parks are wonderful, but I'm not sure about California state parks.
Anyway, this approached worked for us....

[USAtraveler]

My county parks (Sonoma Co.) allow dogs on leash in campgrounds and many parks with hiking trails. Many Calif. state parks do too, but not all. Check ahead, especially in Summer. Any I can think of will require a reservation for camping. Same is true of Forest Service campgrounds in Calif....at least where there are actual forests still standing. I suspect many other western states have similar rules.

[mrcolin2u]

We take our two cockers all the time , but it is not relaxing leaving them alone in the van.
Last week we went to zion n.p. and had the a/c blowing to keep them cool but it was warm outside and i couldn't relax worrying if the a/c stopped for some reason .
Did Yosemite last year and had a cool shady site but still didn't like being away too long. we even got a warning off the ranger/helper whatever he was not to leave the dogs unattended.
We love to hike but I think my next big trip, probably Yellowstone in the fall will be without dogs.
They'll still be with us for all our short week/weekend trips to the San Elijo and Morro Bay !

[McDave]

The biggest problem of national parks is overuse. For me, crowds and enjoyment of nature are mutually exclusive, so I stay away from national parks during busy seasons. Despite lip service, there is no incentive for the Park Service to increase access to national parks, so don't expect any easing of restrictions on dogs anytime soon. All other reasons given for restrictions on dogs in national parks are red herrings: safety of dogs, safety of humans, safety of wildlife, etc. None of those reasons matter a few miles down the road in national forest or BLM land, which are equally as safe, or unsafe, as national parks.

What does matter is that national parks are overcrowded, and those in favor of increased access for dogs are far outnumbered by those against, an easy equation to solve. I can guarantee you that old people cause more problems in national parks than dogs, by wandering off and getting lost, asking irrelevant questions in loud voices, and dying or having heart attacks at inconvenient times and places. I'm sure the Park Service would ban old people if it thought it could get away with it. They would blame other "problems" that we old people cause, but the real reason would be overcrowding in general.

Fortunately, as Ray mentions, there are still plenty of beautiful areas to visit with your dog. More, actually, than exist within the boundaries of national parks. Just have to look for them.

[Julie-Bob]

We visit National Parks with our dog, however we find an RV park near the park and ask the Manager about dog sitting, there is always someone in the RV park that will check in on Abby. Some time when we know that we are only be gone for a few hours we leave the AC on water down. We have been doing this for the last 10 years and yet to have a problem.

[jimmini]

PLEASE read my post about my BAD day yesterday in Yosemite NP.
Almost 2 hours just to get in the park,then was a Wallmart parking lot on sales day.No parking spots No restrooms ect.


http://www.airforums.com/forums/f42/...ml#post1949784

[Julie-Bob]

We stayed at Indian Flat on CAL Route 140, just out side of Yosemite.

[USAtraveler]

Yosemite is actually a very large park. You can find little used areas within the park even at the height of visitor season. But most people head for the valley, by far the most popular area within Yosemite. The NPS has been floating ideas on how to reduce the traffic on roads in the valley. Hop & ride buses are one solution. Traffic metering when vehicle density reaches a certain level is another. You can't expect to show up late in the morning and find it anything but very crowded, especially on weekends with good weather.

[Julie-Bob]

All I say to the folks on this forum that says take your dog with you into the park. Just don't go where there is a lot of folks. That is why dogs are bared from parks folks just do what they want to do and the heck with others. Dogs fight, dogs frighten a lot of folks, dogs bark, dogs poop and owners don't clean up after them. Yup we all have the sweetest, most loving dogs I get it just don't take them to the parks. We have had dogs and cats all of our life, we don't take them, why it's the law. Don't like the law change it. We caused the band our self.

[Lotus54]

If you are gong to Olympic- on almost no trails are dogs allowed.
But adjoining Olympic National Forest does have quite a few trails where dogs are allowed.

I can give details/recommendations in a PM if you are interested.

Mark

[Woosch]

We have the pup(s) with us wherever we travel. If you want to visit the National Parks the dogs just can't go on the trails. We have been fortunate that the dogs forgive us for not taking them on the trails but happy for the consolation prize of a walk where dogs are welcome. Our previous Lab and Golden were perfectly happy hanging out in the trailer. We lost the Lab a few years ago and the Golden fairly recently. Our young Golden is the wild card so we need to be sure that she can be quite in the trailer for three or four hours. I did see a Park Employee writing citations for barking dogs once but have not had any problems ourselves.

You are about to embark on the trip of a lifetime, enjoy it with your best friends. I have park recommendations if you are interested. PM me if you like.
Attached picture of Molly and Harlow outside Bryce Canyon NP.

[Julie-Bob]

Our Abby has travel with us for 10yrs.