COLORADO

Everyone knows how great the hiking is in Colorado. That’s part of the problem, popular trails have become so busy they need to be closed to be given a break. Others are so busy they post “No Dogs” signs when they are overwhelmed. At least dogs don’t need to worry about the crowds in Rocky Mountain National Park - they’re no allowed there anyway. In the 1890s on an excursion to Pikes Peak English professor Katharine Lee Bates was inspired to pen the words that became "America the Beautiful." She was standing on one of the 88 mountains in the United States that stand taller than 14,000 feet; Colorado can claim 53 of those "fourteeners." Athletic dogs can conquer about 30-35 of those including Pikes Peak and 14,440 foot Mount Elbert, the second highest mountain in the Lower 48 and the highest point your dog is legally permitted to go. Dogs are pack animals so crowded hikes in Boulder’s Chataugua Park or the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs are probably just another day on the trail. But being Colorado with its embarrassment of hiking riches it is an easy task to find uncrowded space on the rims of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, up the primary sand pile at the Great Sand Dunes, on the open grades of the Lizard Head Trail, around the Rabbit’s Ear overlooking the Colorado River in the McInnis Canyons…

The Best Day Hike You Can Take With Your Dog In Colorado

North Elbert Trail
San Isabel National Forest • Leadville

The highest mountain in America’s Lower 48 is California’s Mount Whitney at 14,505 feet. You can hike with your dog to the shadow of the summit but the final steps will be yours alone as you leave dog-friendly Inyo National Forest and travel into Sequoia National Park, where dogs are banned from the trails.

The highest spot in America where Seaman is legally allowed to go is Mount Elbert in Colorado, only 65 feet lower than Whitney. The first recorded summit of the peak was by Henry W. Stuckle in 1874. Mount Elbert is still not well known, despite its lofty position as the highest peak in the Rocky Mountains. Snobbish outdoor enthusiasts look at Mount Elbert with a degree of scorn because it is so “easy” to summit. There were even people who piled rocks on neighboring Mount Massive in an attempt to give it the extra twenty feet it would need to surpass Mount Elbert.

Of course, “easy” is relative and all prudent precautions for being on a 14,440-foot mountain must be taken. But any trail dog accustomed to a ten-mile hike can scale Mount Elbert. There are five routes to the top, the most popular being the North Elbert Trail. From trailhead to summit is 4.5 miles, the first two climbing through alpine forests. After the trail bursts above the treeline the route switches back twice before pulling straight to the summit. There is no rock scrambling or “mountain climbing” necessary. Views = amazing.

HIKING TIME: 6-8 hours

(from the book 300 Day Hikes To Take With Your Dog Before He Tires You Out: Trails where you won’t be able to wipe the wag off your dog’s tail)