How Does Your State Rank for Hiking With Your Dog?
Like Garrison Keillor’s Lake Wobegon where all the children are above average, it is great to hike with your dog anywhere. If you have a treasured local spot to take your dog on outings you know you live in the best state for hiking with your dog. But we are here to zoom out to the big picture. At hikewithyourdog.com we’ve been telling folks for more than 20 years about places to take your best trail companion. And we’ve developed opinions. So we are going to rank all the 48 states in the continental United States to see how they rate for canine hikers.
Of course the ranking is biased. Our main bias is decidedly against places that don’t allow dogs on trails. Nothing subjective about that. Too many “No Dogs Allowed” signs in your state and don’t expect a high ranking. Another bias is for permitting dogs on the beach. If your state doesn’t have an ocean or a big lake or tail-friendly sand it is likely to be a demerit. Can’t fight geography. Sorry about that. Also, we are skewing more towards day hikes than backpacking trips simply because that is how the vast majority of dogs experience hiking. So, those wonderful multi-day experiences in the wilderness probably won’t get the credit they otherwise would deserve on such a list.
The methodology is as follows. All states receive a score of 1 to 10. An average score is 5.5 (example; a 1 and a 10 averages out to 5.5). Multiply that average by 48 states and you get a total of 264 points to be allotted among all the states. So even though every state is great some are not going to make that 5.5 average. Let’s see how it shakes out…
Oregon benefits in comparison to its partner in the Great Northwest, Washington, in that most of the Beaver State’s federally owned destination land has not been anointed national park status. Oregon has only one national park, Crater Lake, and 12 national forests and a national grassland. Washington has three national parks and six national forests. To most people that is a distinction without a difference but to canine hikers it is massive because it means more access to trails. The Oregon coast is 363 miles of photo ops and it is all public and tail-friendly. There are over 80 state parks and recreation areas designated along the coastal highway where your dog can hike out on headlands for miles into the Pacific Ocean, explore pocket beaches or fetch in the waves. Highlights include Cannon Beach where 235-foot high Haystack Rock is one of the largest free-standing monoliths in the world and the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area where mountains of sand extend inland for almost three miles. The Columbia River Gorge was designated America's first National Scenic Area in 1986. The 77 named waterfalls that tumble over sheer basalt rock walls include the 620-foot plunge at Multnomah Falls, executed in two drops. Dogs are welcome on waterfall trails throughout the Gorge. The sheer cliffs of tuff and basalt stone at Smith Rock on the Crooked River in central Oregon gave birth to modern American sport climbing. Dogs don’t need to test the more than 500 climbing routes to appreciate the high desert landscape here - it can be done from the trails. With paw protection your dog can hike in the footsteps of astronauts on the lava flows at Newberry Crater National Volcanic Monument where space explorers were trained to walk on the moon. Desert-like eastern Oregon is best experienced by dogs in the John Day Fossil Beds where the mute passage of time is marked on red and gold claystone hills. The Carroll Rim Trail in the Painted Hills Unit here purchases panoramic doggie views of the entire national monument. By some counts Oregon has the most ghost towns of any state and the vast Bureau of Land Management lands of eastern Oregon is where dogs can sniff them out. If the Beaver State has to take a demerit it is at Silver Falls State Park. The Trail of 10 Falls, one of America’s best hydrospectacular hikes and atop of many “Oregon Best” lists, is not tail-friendly. 9.5.
Start your day hiking with your dog with a long walk on a beach that appears so primordial it was elected to star as the Vietnam jungle in Forrest Gump. Then take a three-hour drive and finish an epic dog day with a hike to and across a 411-foot waterfall that is sure to leave canine tongues panting. In between Hunting Beach Island in South Carolina’s Lowcountry and Raven Cliff Falls in the Upcountry are a dozen or so state parks that feature lake hikes and swimming for your dog. And toss in Congaree National Park, the rare national park that allows dogs on the trails, including more than two miles of boardwalk through the loblolly pines, tupelo and bald cypress that keeps paws above the flooding of the Congaree River that occurs an average of ten times a year. The park protects the largest contiguous area of old-growth bottomland hardwood forest remaining in the United States, harboring 20 state or national champion trees. For backpackers the 77-mile Foothills Trail is as good as you’ll find anywhere. You want history with your canine hikes? America’s best collection of intact Revolutionary War battle sites - Kings Mountain, Cowpens, Ninety-Six - all welcome dogs on the trails. In the Palmetto State even the businesses open their grounds to dogs. Duke Energy has trails to view Lower Whitewater Falls, part of a chain of plunges that represent the highest series of falls east of the Rocky Mountains. In Spartanburg the Milliken conglomerate campus is one of the largest corporate greenspaces in the Southeast and a delight to hike with your dog among ponds, rolling fields and a world-class collection of trees in the arboretum. Myrtle Beach, Huntington Beach, Edisto Beach, James Island, Kiawah, Hilton Head - all offer tail-friendly sand year-round. We can’t give a 10 because no state is perfect (we’re looking at you Brookgreen Gardens) but how about a 9.
When people hear the words "New York" most think city and not state. So they are shrugging off America's first and most famous state park, the country's largest park, New England's biggest lake, the only state with both saltwater beaches on the Atlantic Ocean and freshwater beaches on the Great Lakes. What state east of the Rocky Mountains has the most public land? New York, and it isn’t even close - more than 37% of the total land in the state. Death Valley is the largest national park in the contiguous United States and Yellowstone is the second-largest. Adirondack Park is larger than both put together - six million acres and 2,000 miles of trails and nearly all tail-friendly. The largest lake in the Adirondacks, Lake George, has been tagged “the Queen of American lakes” with its 170+ islands and many locals won’t even recognize it as the prettiest of lakes in the park. New York also boasts two Great Lake shores for your dog and the 11 pristine glacially-carved Finger Lakes. The highlights of the Finger Lakes are the “gorge-ous” hikes through the gashes in the Central New York terrain. Watkins Glen keeps dogs away from its famous gorge but Letchworth, Robert H. Treman, and Fillmore Glen will all mesmerize canine hikers. Prefer ocean hikes? The South Shore of Long Island has a variety of options although you have to wait until after Labor Day for your dog to enjoy the best beach-walking, at Fire Island National Seashore. Your dog will never see the bottom of the Grand Canyon, never watch Old Faithful erupt and never climb Half Dome but they can hike right to the edge of Niagara Falls, America’s first vacation destination. Niagara isn't even the highest waterfall in this state of natural wonders - that honor belongs to 215-foot Taughannock Falls; your dog is welcome here as well. Oh, and New York is home to one of our top recommended Doggie Destinations - the Shawangunk Mountains. Call it a 9.
Unless your dog is tackling the mythic Pacific Crest Trail there will be no canine hiking in Mount Rainier and North Cascades national parks. Things aren’t much better in Olympic National Park but dogs are allowed on the log-littered beaches in Kalaloch which is a nice bonus. Most of the Olympic Peninsula is publicly owned and the Olympic National Forest will look just like the national park to your dog. Washington’s 212 state parks - only New York and California have more - help dampen any doggie disappointment at their bigger brothers by being tail-friendly. Seattle-area parks are also extra welcoming to trail dogs, including more than a dozen off-leash areas. Who needs the national parks? When producers wanted to film a movie version of Jack London’s immortal adventure yarn Call of the Wild in 1934 the Noosack River in Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest is where they came; the towering arboreal titans of the Evergreen State - Douglas fir, Western hemlock, and Western red cedar - have been protected here ever since. San Juan is the most popular of the hundreds of islands that dot the waters between the United States and Canada and dogs are free to hike and swim in the national historic park of the once hotly disputed island. 8.5.
How big is Big Sky Country? There are more than 100 named mountain ranges in Montana yet more than 60 percent of the state is prairie grasslands. There are more than 31 million protected federal acres here and yet there is enough land for Montana to still administer 53 state parks. Lording over it all is Glacier National Park, the “Crown of the Continent.” Unfortunately the 700 miles of fabled trails are out of bounds for your dog. Dogs can stay busy just outside the gates, however - the meadows of Hall Creek in Helena-Lewis & Clark National Forest, and Stanton Lake and Mt. Aeneas in Flathead National Forest just begin the list. The story is the same at Yellowstone where three of the five entrances to America’s first national park are in Montana. The surrounding Gallatin and Custer national forests are dog-friendly; Lava Lake in the Spanish Peaks is a highlight. Montana’s largest state park is all the way at the other end of the state - Makoshika State Park takes its name from the Lakota word for “bad land.” These badlands are known for yielding some of the richest bounties of dinosaur fossils in the country; ten different species have been unearthed in the park, including nearly complete skeletons and a Triceratops skull. Your dog is welcome to have a crack at those bones as well. 8.
So is New Mexico the “Land of Enchantment” in your dog’s eyes? Well, the Bisti Wilderness has been our “Doggie Hike of the Year” in the past so that’s a good start. Hiking through the world's largest gypsum sand dunes in White Sands is the cover of our website. More to recommend New Mexico. Although the Rio Grande River flows the entire length of the state only 0.002 percent of New Mexico's surface area is covered by lakes and rivers, the lowest water surface ratio in the country. Not much chance to practice dog paddle strokes. Still, enough trees grow in the Land of Enchantment to support six national forests including more than three million protected acres in Gila National Forest alone. Dogs can’t trot around the Capulin Volcano National Monument but can hike on the black lava and open woodlands at El Malpais National Monument. Dogs aren’t allowed in Carlsbad Caverns National Park but the prohibition at Bandelier National Monument is more painful. Even worse is the ban at the Tent Rocks. The alpine adventures in New Mexico are manageable for most any dog - Sandia Peak outside Albuquerque, Atalaya Mountain in Santa Fe, Picacho Peak and even Wheeler Peak to the state highpoint outside of Taos. The final verdict? Enchanted? 7.5.
When it came time to select an image for the United States Mint’s 50 State Quarters Program, California had to sort through so many choices that could shout “California.” In the end John Muir, who did more than anyone else in the 19th century to introduce America to the idea of nature, and his beloved Yosemite were selected as the quintessential symbol of the Golden State. When Muir spent his first summer in the Sierra Mountains Carlo, his St. Bernard, was by his side. The star of Muir’s most beloved wilderness adventure - on an Alaskan glacier - was a little black dog named Stickeen. Today, dogs are permitted on the trails at Muir’s Martinez, California home, now a national historic site. Just like his own dogs. But if our most famous naturalist wanted to explore his adopted state with his dogs today where he went then? No chance. For canine hikers the Golden State struggles to earn even a bronze medal. The nine iconic national parks in California do not allow dogs on the trails and many of its national monuments - including the Muir Woods, follow suit. In the ultimate canine indignity, dogs can climb Mt. Whitney in a national forest but can not actually complete the journey to the roof of the Lower 48 since the summit is in Sequoia National Park. California is an arboreal wonderland with more trees here than in any of the 48 contiguous states - from the palm trees of Southern California to the giant sequoias that are the largest living things on earth. California also has the tallest trees on earth, the redwoods in parks along its North Shore, and the oldest trees, the bristlecone pines growing on the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. More varieties of pines grow in California than anywhere in America and the state's Joshua Trees warrant their own national park. Your dog can hike through the shade of all these trees but work has to be done since so many are protected in national parks. California’s 270 state parks offer little relief for canine adventurers with bans on dogs from trails and beaches as well. What would John Muir say about this state of affairs for dogs? 7.5.
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…7.5.
There are so many great places to hike in Michigan your dog probably won’t even notice the great places they can’t go - Isle Royale National Park, the trails at Pictured Rocks National Seashore, the Dune Climb at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Seashore (the powers that be may be doing your dog a favor here). Nowhere in Michigan are you ever more than 85 miles from the shore of one of four Great Lakes but that doesn’t mean your dog is that close to a romp on the sand. Most of the 3,200 miles of shoreline is not open to your dog but with places like the Lake Michigan Sand Dunes on the Upper Peninsula and the Lake Michigan Recreation Area and some Sleeping Bear beaches all is not lost. In 2011 Good Morning America declared Sleeping Bear Dunes the "Most Beautiful Place in America." When your dog sees the forested dunes, some 480 feet high, and the lakes and the sunsets they will wonder a vote was ever needed. Grand Island, the largest island in south Lake Superior and Mackinac Island in Lake Huron are both tail-friendly. With 65,000 inlands lakes and ponds any water-loving dog will never want for a swim in the Wolverine State. On the UP the Porcupine Mountains are one of the most expansive undisturbed wilderness areas remaining in the Midwest with 90 miles of tail-friendly trails. If that isn’t enough to sate your trail dog there is always the North Country National Scenic Trail that will be America’s longest trail system - twice as long as the Appalachian Trail - when finished. More than 1,100 miles is in Michigan, traversing everything from farm land to rugged Lake Superior woodlands. 7.5.
There is a higher percentage of national forest land here - more than 60 percent - than any in any other state. Remember, nation forest equals good for dogs. The Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness Area, sprawling across more than two million acres, is the largest protected wilderness in the Lower 48. So that’s a healthy chunk of the Gem State that is tail-friendly right there. Idaho County, the state's largest, is the gateway to the pristine outdoors of the Idaho Panhandle and where the Snake River cuts the continent's deepest gorge along the Idaho-Oregon border.The Hells Canyon National Recreation Area was established in 1975 to showcase 652,488 acres of this remote, rugged landscape dissected by over 900 miles of trail. Another big chunk. Hells Canyon is not Idaho's only distinctive landscape. Pioneers on the California Trail found so many tall spires in Southern Idaho’s Albion Mountains that they called it the “City of Rocks.” Today’s national preserve welcomes dogs even in the backcountry. At Bruneau Dunes your dog can scale the country’s highest single-structured sand dune. After that workout a doggie dip in the high desert lake that backs up to the ancient 470-foot inland sand pile is just another tail-wagging Idaho delight. 7.5.
There are 27 states in the Union larger than North Carolina but that does not mean it is not a BIG state. It is almost 600 driving miles between Duck, the ultimate tail-friendly beach town where dogs can run off-leash all year round, and the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest where your dog can hike through one of America’s most magnificent old-growth forests. For canine accessibility and quality the North Carolina beaches are America’s gold standard - a solid 10, even offering both sunrises and sunsets on tap at Emerald Isle or Oak Island. Cape Hatteras was America’s first protected national seashore, for people and dogs. In Western North Carolina the Pisgah National Forest and Nantahalla National Forest and Blue Ridge Parkway are all stuffed with bucket-list canine hiking destinations - Black Balsam Knob, the Roan Highlands, Grandfather Mountain, Max Patch on the Appalachian Trail, the Linville Wilderness. William Vanderbilt built America’s largest home here that included 100,000 acres of backyard. The Biltmore estate is tail-friendly so dogs can hike in the paw prints of Cedric, the Vanderbilt dog. The problem for canine adventurers is the hundreds of miles between coastal North Carolina and the Blue Ridge Mountains. Save for the Uwharrie National Forest, Duke Gardens in Durham, the Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preserve and one or two others the highlights are few in the vast central part of the Old North State. So 10 on either end and 1 in the middle leaves an average of 7.
Hiking with your dog has a different meaning in Nevada. 48 million acres - more land than 32 states can claim - is our land, stewarded for us by the Bureau of Land Management. As the BLM likes to say, “Access to wide open spaces is in the fiber of Nevada history.” So you can hop in a four-wheel drive vehicle with your dog and go make your own trail in 2/3 of the Silver State. Feel like a mountain climb? Nevada has more mountain ranges and more peaks with over 2,000 feet of prominence than any other state outside Alaska. Time for a desert experience? The Black Rock Desert Wilderness in the remains of a prehistoric lake is one of the larges protected desert playas in the country. You get the idea - wide open spaces for you and your dog. Great Basin National Park is the main big space off-limits to dogs. The epic The 165-mile Tahoe Rim Trail visits two states, six counties, three national forests, state parkland and three wilderness areas. The tail-friendly footpath stands as one of the largest volunteer projects ever completed in the United States. Lake Tahoe itself is one of the world’s largest alpine lakes. The glacial water is so clear - 97% pure - that if your dog fumbled a meat bone over the edge of a boat you could watch it drop for 70 feet on its way to the 1,645-foot bottom of the lake. The state rock, sandstone, is on best display for your dog in dazzling red formations in the Valley of Fire State Park and the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area around Las Vegas. 7.
Your dog will not miss out on any of the best hikes in the Keystone State. The mesmerizing Falls Trail that trips past 22 named waterfalls in Ricketts Glen State Park? Check. The Youghiogheny River Trail through mature hardwoods and carpets of ferns in Ohiopyle State Park? Check. The dizzying vistas from the Loyalsock Trail in Worlds End State Park? Check. The 4,000 feet of elevation gain and four vistas on the Golden Eagle Trail? Check. You get the idea. The Poconos, The Laurel Highlands, the Allegheny National Forest - it can seem like Pennsylvania is one unbroken wooded wonderland for your dog. In fact, Pennsylvania timberland was America’s most valuable resource in the 19th century. the trees were all hemlocks and pines back then but after being cut down the Keystone woodlands have grown back as deciduous forest. Presque Isle, the most popular of Pennsylvania’s 121 state parks, sends your dog on a long beach hike on Lake Erie. Even America’s two most hallowed military grounds - Valley Forge from the Revolutionary War and Gettysburg Battlefield from the Civil War - can be explored for hours with your dog alongside. 7.
Let’s start with the bad news for dog owners - there isn’t much to make tails droop! Your dog won’t be able to share in Henry David Thoreau’s revelatory experience at Walden Pond but other than that the only places that prohibit canine hikers are mainly scattered wildlife refuges and sanctuaries. Look up any list of best hikes in Massachusetts and you won’t find any that don’t allow dogs. Even in America’s third most densely populated state you are never far from a solitary walk with your dogs in a Bay State park of forest. Massachusetts is bigger than only six other states but the fact that it borders four of them makes the Bay State seem bigger. It has an entire mountainous region, room for 143 state parks and some of the most visited ocean beaches in the world. And yet you can drive across the state in just a couple of hours. The Berkshires are as good as destination for dog owners as there is in the country - from Bash Bish Falls to Ice Glen to state highpoint Mount Greylock, all are delights for your dog. Notchview, one of New England’s premier nordic cross-country ski destinations, keeps one trail open to ski with your dog. Massachusetts is far and away the dog-friendliest beach destination for dogs in New England; you can find a beach hike with your dog any time of the year somewhere on Cape Cod. Most of the Cape’s 263,800 acres remain undeveloped, including 60 public beaches on its 559 miles of shoreline. Two of America's most celebrated islands, Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard are notoriously dog-friendly. There is no better quick getaway in America for a city dog than Blue Hills Reservation a half-hour out of Boston. And to think there are fewer dog owners by percentage in Massachusetts than any state. A solid 7.
Few trails sum up a state’s hiking personality like Minnesota’s Superior Hiking Trail. Covering more than 300 miles along Lake Superior brings waterfalls gushing through granite outcroppings, towering headlands, and thick forestlands. Dogs can thru-hike the entire trail as they can just about any state park trail. With 267,000 acres of state parks nowhere is a Minnesota dog more than 50 miles from one of those trails. The biggest doggie downer is not being allowed on swimming beaches - and that is no small prohibition in Minnesota. The North Star State is a modest place, boasting of being the Land of 10,000 Lakes when it actually claims 11,842 lakes at least 10 acres in size - so many the state ran out of names for them all. More than 150 are named Long Lake. Minnesota is not all lakes and pine trees. The continent’s greatest river begins here where your dog can walk across the headwaters of the Mississippi in Itasca State Park. When the river reaches the Twin Cities Fort Snelling Park is the best urban canine hike you can take anywhere along the 2,340-miles of Ol’ Man River. When the Mississippi River really gets flowing the trail system in River Bluffs State Park takes your dog to memorable vantage points. The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness is not just for paddling with your dog - a seven-mile round trip takes your dog to the top of Minnesota on 2,300-foot Eagle Mountain. 7.
Utah is the best state in the country for hiking. Or second best. Or third best, depending on whatever list you find. But seldom lower than that. That lofty regard rests mostly on the backs of the “Mighty Five” - the Beehive State’s five magnificent national parks. Hiking trails your dog will never see. Toss in the splendors of Cedars Breaks National Monument and Natural Bridges Natural Monument that will only be seen by canine eyes from paved paths to overlooks. Ugh. On the other hand some of our favorite hikes anywhere are in Utah - Little Wild Horse Canyon, Mary Jane Canyon, Red Canyon in the Dixie National Forest, the rim trails at Dead Horse Point, Fisher Towers, the Lower Calf Creek Falls. There are the ultimate doggie playgrounds amidst the rock formations in Goblin Valley, Fantasy Canyon or the Devil’s Garden in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. We have had more memorable hikes in Utah just pulling the car off the road to go check something out than on the formal trails in most other states. Call it a conflicted 6.5.
New Jersey is America’s most densely populated state yet only 17 states have a higher percentage of public land, which is a neat trick to pull off. Dogs are allowed to hike pretty much all that public land; they have to wait until the taffy shops close at the Jersey Shore to get to most of the 127 miles of legendary wide, white sand beaches for the most part but they can get there. Smack in the middle of America’s fourth-smallest state are one million acres of pine barrens so remote that the legendary winged creature with the head of a horse and the body of a serpent known as the "Jersey Devil" is still said to reside there. The New Jersey Pinelands were established as America's first National Reserve in 1978 and this is the largest open space on the Eastern seaboard between Boston and Richmond. More than 500 miles of sand roads are still unmapped for your dog to explore or sample the 49-mile pink-blazed Batona Trail. New Jersey claims 72 miles of the Appalachian Trail and your dog can jump on for memorable day hikes at the Delaware Water Gap, Van Campens Glen, the Stokes State Forest or Wawayanda State Park. The canine hike to Sunfish Pond, a glacial lake that is one of New Jersey's "Seven Natural Wonders,” is a highlight for day-trippers on the AT. Your dog can tackle another “wonder” - the iconic Giant Stairs hike at the 500-foot sheer cliffs of the Palisades on the Hudson River. It will take a mile of scrambling - and likely lifting your trail companion in places - over massive boulders that have piled up at the foot of the cliffs from thousands of rock slides over millions of years. 6.5.
Right off the top, Maine leaves a bad taste in the mouth of canine hikers. How would you like to hike more than 2,000 miles of the Appalachian Trail and not be able to finish? That’s the case for dogs who are not allowed in Baxter State Park and the northern terminus of the AT on Mt. Katahdin. Moving past that, your dog will likely get over it in the Pine Tree State’s half a million acres of state and national parks, 90 percent of them under tree cover. If your dog is still moping for missing Mt. Katahdin, head up in the North Maine Woods to Debouillie Mountain. Acadia National Park, one of the Crown Jewels of the national park system, is also one of the dog-friendliest. Marquee trails like the Jordan Pond Loop, the Bubbles, and Cadillac Mountain to the highest point on the Eastern seaboard are all open to dogs. When you toss in the 3,000 islands offshore Maine has more miles of coastline - 3,478 - than California and there are plenty of nooks and crannies for your dog to explore. It is hard to imagine what the profile of the United States would look like without Maine, its most northeasterly appendage. America's only single syllable state stands out as the country's exclamation point - the place where the sun's rays strike first every day on Quoddy Head Point. Your dog can bask in those rays hiking along a bluff above the Atlantic before dropping to a sandy beach. The Megunticook Trail in Camden Hills State Park takes your dog to the top the highest mainland mountain on the Atlantic seacoast. 6.5.
The only real fault you can find with canine hiking in Vermont is that there isn’t more of it in the country’s 45th largest state. The Green Mountain Club pioneered long-distance hiking in America in 1910 and the 273-mile walking path the length of the state from Canada to Massachusetts can be traversed the entire way with your dog. No mountain climb is ever “easy” but summiting to jaw-dropping views on peaks like Mount Philo, Mount Hunger, Mount Pisgah and even the roof of the state on Mount Mansfield are well within the capability of any dog. Vermont’s premiere hike, up and over the distinctive double-humped exposed peak of Camel’s Hump, involves enough boulders that a helping hand may be required here and there but it is still doable for an experienced trail dog. Lake Champlain is the largest lake in the contiguous United States not tagged a "Great Lake." Deeper than 400 feet in places, the lake even has its own monster known as "Champ." Don’t expect to find long, solitary beach hikes along Lake Champlain but there are pockets of dog-friendly sand such as at Starr Farm Beach. Snake Mountain snuck away from its cousins in the Green Mountains and lords over the Champlain Valley. The canine hike to panoramic views of the lake and across to the Adirondack Mountains is partially on an abandoned carriage road to a long-closed hotel. And the Green Mountain State gets a big bump from artist Stephen Huneck’s 150-acre Dog Mountain in the Northeast Kingdom - America’s best dog park. 6.5.
Great Smoky Mountains, America’s most visited national park, can’t find any room for dogs on its 900 miles of trail. So the rest of the Volunteer State has to try that much harder to make up for the oversight. You won’t leave any tour of Tennessee state parks with a best hike unchecked because your dog couldn’t go with you. And dogs are welcome in every campground, even some cabins. Chattanooga has staked a claim as a national outdoors destination, plotting 150 miles of trails in the vicinity - all dog-friendly. The Bluff Trail across Lookout Mountain, the waterfalls of the Grundy Forest, the overlooks of the Tennessee River in Prentice Cooper State Forest are all show-stoppers to enjoy with your best trail buddy. Up to the north the Big South Fork National Recreation Area explores the hollows around Cumberland River where the Twin Arches form the largest sandstone arch complex in the East. Central and Eastern Tennessee are the big dogs of canine hiking trails but on the Mississippi River Reelfoot Lake anchors 15,000 acres and a collection of tail-friendly loop trails. The largest earthquake ever to rattle the United States shook the Mississippi Valley in 1811, jumbling bedrock and backing up the mighty Mississippi long enough to create the lake. Maybe not competing for trail time with 14 million Great Smoky visitors each year isn’t such a bad thing. 6.5.
Many lists of “Best Trails in Arkansas” place hikes in Buffalo National River right at the top. That just makes dogs sad. So it is with regrets that trail hounds must look for their hiking fix in the Natural State. The Ozark and Ouachita mountain ranges that blanket the northern part of the state are a good place to start. The Ozark Highlands Trail through the rugged Boston Mountains will deliver 164 miles of some of the best scenery Arkansas has on tap. Again, it will be impossible for backpacking dogs to complete all 270 miles of one of America’s top long-distance trails since it heads into the Buffalo River. Day hiking dogs must do the White Rock Rim Trail that delivers nearly continuous views of the Ozarks in a two-mile loop around a 2,309-foot promontory. Many of the 52 tail-friendly state parks in Arkansas received a boost from Civilian Conservation Corps projects during the Great Depression and Devil's Den is one of the best-preserved government-built parks in the country. Another with a national park-feel is Arkansas's first state park, Petit Jean. Its enchanting mix of eroded bluffs and forested canyons was considered for national park status but eventually deemed too small at 2,500 acres. Hot Springs, the first land acquired by the federal government solely to be protected and preserved way back in 1832, has that status and dogs can hike among its bathhouses and along the ridges to sunrises and sunsets. Other unique canine hikes in Arkansas include hunting for America’s biggest diamonds - and the only place in the world where can take home what you find in a doggie bag - at Crater of Diamonds State Park and through world class art installations at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. 6.5.
Any checklist of hiking destinations in West Virginia need not make any concessions for dogs not being allowed on the trail. West Virginia comes by its nickname the “Mountain State” honestly - it is nestled completely within the Appalachians and its average elevation of 1,655 feet is higher than any state in the East. Yet it is not all mountain climbing and peak bagging for your dog here. The Dolly Sods Wilderness in the Monongahela National Forest - one of three in a state that is 78% tree-covered - is a boggy meadow that seems like it went AWOL from Canada. Your dog can scale the craggy quartzite state icon that is the 900-foot Seneca Rocks and descend to the bottom of New Gorge in America’s newest national park. Thomas Jefferson hailed the confluence of the Shenandoah and Potomac rivers at Harper’s Ferry as "one of the most stupendous scenes in Nature" worthy of a trip across the Atlantic Ocean just to see. Your dog doesn’t have to make that kind of effort to reach one of the best places to combine hiking with your dog and a history lesson. Heck, your dog is more likely to come home with stories of the West Virginia wildflowers than the mountain views. 6.5.
Virginia is one tough state to evaluate as a canine hiking destination. For the Southern Appalachian National Park Committee created by Congress in the 1920s to create a national park east of the Mississippi River the choice was easy - the Shenandoah Valley. One hundred years later Skyline Drive is still a hiking Mecca. It’s not perfect for dogs - Old Rag Mountain, Dark Hollow Falls and a handful of others are out of play - but no other national park serves up hundreds of miles of tail-friendly trails like Shenandoah does. Your dog can also join in on bucket-list hikes in the national forests - the Devil’s Bathtub in Jefferson; Mount Rogers, Crabtree Falls and Blue Ridge Tunnel in Washington: and so much more. Ditto Sharp Top and the Humpback Rocks on the Blue Ridge Parkway. There are also 550 dog-friendly miles of the Appalachian Trail in the Old Dominion, fully one-quarter of all the miles on America’s most iconic hiking journey. As good as all this is, it is mostly all there is for the entire state. Although we are partial to Prince William Forest Park, an underutilized gem that has somehow escaped the notice of 40 million people within a half-day drive of the nation’s capital, there is nothing special waiting for your dog outside the mountains. Even the shoreline stirs ambivalence. First Landing State Park and Hughlett Point Natural Area offer interesting hiking along the Chesapeake Bay and Virginia Beach is a canine hiker’s paradise, especially in the off-season but the Virginia section of Assateague Island National Seashore doesn’t even permit dogs in a car. 6.
First the cons. The oppressive, and possibly dangerous summertime heat, for dogs. The lack of swimming in alligator-infested waters. The near total ban of dogs from the beach, save for a little patch of sand for a dog beach every now and then. You can take a hike on the beach with your dog in a few places in the Panhandle along the Gulf of Mexico and on Amelia Island in the far northeast corner and that’s about it. The topography is not dramatic - no part of South Florida is more than 12 feet above sea level while the Panhandle becomes more rolling before topping out on Britton Hill at 345 feet, the lowest roof of any state in the Union. Now the pros. The sand-based trails are exceedingly paw-friendly with few hidden roots. An outstanding state park system (161 properties) with a unique array of cattle ranches, sinkholes, artesian springs, and sugar sand dunes mostly welcomes dogs to the trails and campgrounds. If you want to hike in the Sunshine State and you’re not at the beach you can generally take your dog with you. Few states are more divisive than Florida among hikers with dogs. Some will hate it, others will love it. Spanish explorer Juan Ponce Leon was one of the first to be fascinated by this land. He named it La Florida which translates to "Flowery Land" 500 years ago and the tropical paradise has not let go of its grip on imaginations ever since. Include us, we’re suckers for all the saw palmetto, longleaf pines, sabal palms and live oaks you find on Florida trails so 6.
The Wisconsin Northwoods have been a Midwest tourist destination as long as there have been midwesterners. In the 1850s the first boat tours were offered in the Wisconsin Dells, a glacially-carved gorge with fanciful sandstone formations along the Wisconsin River. Your dog can check out the 500-foot quartzite bluffs from every angle in nearby Devil's Lake State Park, Wisconsin's most-visited state park. Devil’s Lake is one of the highlights of the cross-state Ice Age Trail but only a portion of this stunning landscape is attributed to the crunching of glaciers. The crags ringing the lake are remnants of the Baraboo Hills that are much older - 1.6 billion years old, when the mountains were taller than the Rockies. The Ice Age and other trails are cutting through the largest contiguous deciduous forests in the Midwest. But those woods are a mixed bag for dog hikers. Another popular destination, Parfrey’s Glen State Natural Area, doesn’t allow dogs. Dogs are allowed on trails and beaches at the Apostle Islands National Seashore but you need to consult your rule book when taking dogs to Lake Michigan beaches. Your dog’s best shot at experiencing the 300 miles of shoreline is at Whitefish Dunes State Park, including the boardwalk crossing of the 93-foot Old Baldy, the Dairy State’s biggest pile of sand. That’s sorta the way it is for dogs in Wisconsin - it’s mostly fun and games until it isn’t. Most state parks allow trail dogs, but not all. Canine waterfall hunters need not worry - dogs can visit displays of tumbling water on the Potato River, the nine quick-stepping rapids in Marinette County, and the Big Manitou Falls in Pattison State Park taking the fourth-highest plunge east of the Rocky Mountains. 6.
Hiking with your dog in Maryland is like owning a Golf GTI when Volkswagen introduces the Golf R that cranks up the horsepower to eleven. You’re still going to get great experiences with your legendary hot hatch but you are aware that that you are missing out on something even better. What do we mean? Take Assateague Island National Seashore. For long hikes with your dog on an undeveloped Atlantic Ocean beach, 37 miles, Assateague is in a class by itself. Many days the only other creature your dog encounters here will be feral ponies. But don’t try to take your dog on the nature trails. Or the towpath of the historic Chesapeake & Ohio Canal - a wonderful adventure for any trail dog with unique experiences in the Paw Paw Tunnel and on the Monocacy Aqueduct but the popular star of the 184-mile long park, Section A of the Billy Goat Trail, is a no-go for dogs. See how it works? At Catoctin Mountain dogs can enjoy hiking and guessing where the Presidential dogs are at Camp David but can’t do the popular trails to the rocky overlooks. America’s mightiest estuary, the Chesapeake Bay, features thousands of miles of shoreline but canine hiking opportunities along its shores are few and far between. By the end of the 1800s just about every tree in Maryland west of Baltimore had been chopped down but you would be hard pressed to know that today. Garrett County that comprises most of Western Maryland is an arboreal wonderland with 76,000 acres of tail-friendly public lakes and parks. In recent years more than a dozen Maryland state parks have lifted bans on dogs moving from one of the worst state park systems for dogs to near universal acceptance. That is enough to lift the Old Line State to an average of 5.5.
There are fewer dogs in Wyoming than any other state, which is good in a way since there are fewer dogs who are disappointed they can’t hike in Yellowstone National Park or Grand Tetons National Park. Even Richard Dreyfuss and his aliens are more welcome at Devils Tower National Monument than canine hikers. Wyoming is where the Great Plains give up and become the Rocky Mountains. When Butch Cassidy and the Wild Bunch wanted to escape detection the outlaw gang's favorite hideout was Wyoming's Hole-in-the Wall, the only break in a red sandstone escarpment that scoots for 50 miles through the Big Horn Mountains. You can visit the legendary outlaw haven with your dog today. It is 32 miles from Interstate 25 and any services, reached primarily on a dusty road through grazing country so each livestock gate must be opened and closed. Once you arrive at the trailhead it is then a 2.5-mile hike over primitive terrain. That is what the great outdoors are like in Wyoming. The Flaming Gorge in southwestern Wyoming was another favorite hiding place for Butch Cassidy but since the Green River was dammed in 1964 it has become a National Recreation Area and not so secretive; the Little Hole National Recreation Trail is one of the best waterside treks you can take with your dog. Experienced backpacking dogs will have to do the Cirque of the Towers in the Wind River Range. If you only have a day steer your dog to the alpine lakes of the Highland trail at 8,000 feet. 5.5.
Cahokia was America’s first metropolis, a cultural center constructed by the Mississippian Indians that is believed to have housed as many as 20,000 people. It can’t be said for certain but there probably weren’t any rules against dogs among the mound builders. More than 1000 years later there still aren’t many prohibitions against dogs in Illinois. The extensive state park system - 142 properties - is one of the oldest in America having protected land since 1908; it almost universally allows trail dogs. Around Chicago the 68,000 acres of Forest Preserves are treasured dog hiking destinations. The Shawnee National Forest is the largest swath of publicly owned land in Illinois and dog-friendly, including the popular Garden of the Gods Wilderness that is a haunting landscape of eroded hoodoos and gray sandstone formations. A long as you aren’t trying to hike an Illinois Nature Preserve or get onto a restrictive Lake Michigan beach, what’s not to love for dog owners in the Land of Lincoln. And the Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site? Dogs are allowed to hike the 6.2-Mile Nature/Culture Trail there. 5.5.
Below the Grand Canyon rim, Paria Canyon, and Antelope Canyon are all bucket list royalty in the hiking community. Two-legged members only. Dogs are also not allowed on trails in Saguaro National Park, Sabino Canyon, Phoenix Mountain Preserve, Chiricahua National Monument, Camelback Mountain, Canyon De Chelly National Monument, Tonto Natural Bridge, Coronado National Monument, Walnut Canyon, Red Rock State Park…ugh, this is grim business. It is clear dogs will never get the best of Arizona hiking. Maybe it is better to cast canine eyes upwards - epic hikes up Mount Wrightson by Old Baldy and Humphrey Peak are available for your dog. For pure Sonoran desert hiking South Mountain in Phoenix is a prime doggie destination. Sedona likes to call itself “the day hike capital of the country” and your dog will not bark in disagreement with all the access to the classic red rock destinations. And what’s going on at Petrified Forest National Park where the pet policy states: “Please take your furry friends on trails, even backpacking in the wilderness area.” Wow. It doesn’t get any dog-friendlier at a national park than that. 5.
Let’s start looking at Georgia where James Oglethorpe and his band of 120 fellow adventurers did in 1733 - on the seacoast. Driftwood Beach on Jekyll Island is one of our favorite dog-hiking beaches in America. Period. But Tybee Island, Savannah’s beach, and Cumberland Island National Seashore ban dogs completely. Stepping away from the coast the Georgia plains are lubricated by more than 70,000 miles of steams and rivers and over four million acres of freshwater wetlands that attract more bird dogs than hiking dogs. The lack of attractive canine hiking opportunities here - the bulk of the state - is exemplified by Providence Canyon, the multi-hued “Georgia’s Little Grand Canyon.” The canyons were actually formed by poor farming practices, nothing nature had a hand in. Things pick up considerably for your dog in the northwest mountains. Waterfalls are a highlight in the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest and state parks here - Anna Ruby Falls, Cloudland Canyon, Shoal Falls, Raven Cliffs. Your dog is even welcome to climb the stairs up the face of 729-foot Amicalola Falls and then hike the eight miles to the southern terminus of the celebrated Appalachian Trail on Springer Mountain. Blood Mountain, Rabun Bald, and Yonah Mountain are just some of the other peaks waiting to be conquered with your dog. 5.
Reference books of the 19th century did not think much of the Connecticut highlands. It was confidently stated no hills higher than 1,000 feet were to be found in the state. In fact, the Connecticut highpoint on Mount Frissell in the northwest corner of the state reaches 2,379 feet - that is actually on the side of the peak which summits across the state line in Massachusetts. Bear Mountain, four miles away, at 2,323 feet is the highest mountain entirely in Connecticut and rewards hikers with views in every direction. Dogs can tag both landmarks, as they can most every trail in the Constitution State. It did not take long for Colonial settlers to abandon the futility of banging their plows against the rocky Connecticut soils and those outcroppings feature prominently in your dog’s adventures here - Ragged Mountain, the Miles of Ledges, the Pauchaug State Forest, the Westwoods, Devil’s Hopyard, the Tunxis Trail and many more. Only about 14 percent of Connecticut’s 618 miles of shoreline are sand beaches and most of those are controlled by towns for residents, primarily of the two-legged variety. No dogs allowed at Hammonasset Beach State Park, the state's largest shoreline park. Bluff Point is the last remaining undeveloped public land of any size along the Connecticut coastline and dogs are permitted to poke around the tide pools of the coastal reserve. This is America’s richest state by a good chunk of change and several of those old estates are now open for your dog to hike. These include stage actor William Gillette’s fieldstone castle, liquor impressario Gilbert Hublein’s tower on Talcott Mountain, and the Stanerigg estate that was built with Collis Huntington’s Transcontinental Railroad money. No state in the Lower 48 has a higher percentage of its land covered by state parks and they are universally dog-friendly - as long as you don’t want to rest weary paws in a campground. 5.
Using a broad brush hiking in South Dakota can be broken into three buckets. Eastern South Dakota is marked by loess (pronounced LUSS) hills that were silt deposits along the eastern edge of the Missouri River Valley that strong prairie winds have blown into hills at least 60 feet high. In the center of the state are parks clustered along the Missouri River and in the southwest are the Black Hills, a small, isolated mountain range so thick with pine trees they appeared black to early explorers. No trails in the east and central regions of the state are ever likely to end up on picture postcards or lists of best hikes. They are, however, mostly all tail-friendly and the lakes and prairies and woodlands will delight any dog. The Black Hills, on the other hand, are a world class hiking destination. Custer State Park here is the largest state park in the continental United States and home to one America’'s largest free-ranging buffalo herds. Sylvan Lake is a calendar-worthy pool of water flanked by giant granite boulders and after a swim your dog can climb Trail #9 to the summit of Black Elk Peak, the highest spot east of the Rocky Mountains. Toss in Spearfish Canyon and Flume Trail #50 in the Black Hills National Forest and the Fort Meade Recreation Area and the canine hiking hits just keep coming. But dogs are also not allowed on the trails in Badlands National Park or Wind Cave National Park or Jewel Cave National Park. Dogs can only see Mount Rushmore from a distance and never make it to Bear Butte. That’s a few too many, “Yes, buts” for our tastes. 4.5.
If your dog is the type who loves to see hike descriptions that include the words “rugged” and “challenging” and “demanding” you will swoon over the Granite State. When National Geographic published an article on the “World’s Best Hikes: 20 Dream Trails” there was only one day hike in the Lower 48 on the list and that was the Franconia Ridge Trail Loop in the White Mountains. There are 48 4,000-footer here, all of which are open to your dog who can even qualify for an Appalachian Mountain Club award for completing them all. America’s first hiking trail was carved up the flank of 6,288-foot Mount Washington in 1819 and a dog was likely one of the first to summit. With such fabled trails in your backyard this has to be a canine hiking nirvana, right? Not so fast. There are plenty of unforgettable alpine hikes but dogs are also forbidden at some of the best New Hampshire has to offer - the Flume Gorge, Mount Monadnock - one of the most frequently climbed mountains in the world, the Wentworth-Coolidge Mansion and more. North Hampton State Beach, which claims 13 of the state’s 18 miles of Atlantic beach, is a no-go for dogs. While many of the most famous state parks permit dogs to tackle the trails they aren’t allowed to spend the night afterwards in the campground. We love the mountains but that is a lot for our best trail buddies to miss out on - 4.5.
It is hit or miss for dogs and hiking at Kentucky’s best trails. The misses include Battleship Rock in Natural Bridge State Resort Park, the uber-popular Raven Run Nature Sanctuary and the Eagle Falls Trail at Cumberland Falls. The hits include the greatest collection of natural stone arches east of the Mississippi in the Red River Gorge and all of Daniel Boone National Forest, the multi-state views at Cumberland Gap and the fractured rock sculptures at Breaks Interstate Park. Mammoth Cave National Park encapsulates the canine hiking experience in the Bluegrass State. Your dog can’t go below ground to experience the world’s longest mapped cave system but the wooded trails above ground are welcoming to dogs. Kentucky has more navigable waterways and streams than any other state and the Between the Lakes National Recreation Area sandwiched inside the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers creates the largest inland peninsula in America. The Honker Trail around and across Honker Lake at the Nature Station is a star day hike among 100 miles of canine hiking trails here. So many giant mastodons and wooly mammoths met a grisly end in the warm salt springs at today’s Big Bone Lick State Park that trappers were said to use mastodon ribs for tent poles; if your dog digs up any such bones any at the state historic site they can’t come home with you. 4.5.
With its head in the Appalachian Mountains and its toes in the white sand saltwater beaches of the Gulf of Mexico, two of every three acres in Alabama are covered in forest. The Sipsey Wilderness is the third largest wilderness area east of the Mississippi River with enough cracks in its limestone foundation to be hailed as the "Land of 1,000 Waterfalls." It is a wonderful place to get lost with your dog for a week but less alluring to day hikers. Cheaha Mountain is the highpoint of the Yellowhammer State and although it is only 2,413 feet in elevation the views for your dog around the Pulpit Rock Trail punch far above their weight class. DeSoto Falls, Russell Cave, Point Rock and Lake Lurleen are other natural Alabama sights easily purchased by any dog. More adventurous canine hikers will want to put the Walls of Jericho at the top of their hike list. Things are less friendly for dogs down on Alabama’s Gulf Coast but Dauphin Island more than makes up for neighboring slights. Lucky dogs may spend enough time on the island to check off all 347 species of birds that have been spotted there during winter migration. 4.5.
Nebraska is what geographers like to call a triply landlocked state. Not only does it not touch on an ocean but none of the states it borders has a shoreline and none of their neighbors have ocean access either. But the Cornhusker State is hardly lacking for opportunities for your dog to hike through the sand - more than 25 percent of the state is comprised of the Nebraska Sandhills, grass-stabilized sand dunes that have been designated a National Natural Landmark. The Pine Ridge Region in the Nebraska Panhandle is a wonderland of ponderosa pines growing among enough eroded buttes and canyons to earn it the label "Little Badlands." Here in the Oglala National Grasslands your dog will find Toadstool Geologic Park where the relentless tag-team of water and wind has carved fanciful rock formations into the stark claystone hills. Nearby a three-mile trail explores the Hudson-Meng Bison Boneyard where archaeologists attempt to unravel the mystery of how over 600 bison died nearly 10,000 years ago in an area about the size of a football stadium. The 800-foot high Scotts Bluff National Monument was the most recognizable landmark for travelers on the Oregon Trail and the paved Saddle Rock Trail to its summit will be the sportiest hike your dog ever takes on macadam. Also in the Pine Ridge is Fort Robinson, one of five army installations open to the public in Nebraska. Most famous as the site where Lakota Sioux leader Crazy Horse was killed in custody, the 22,000 acres of pine-studded hills also offer one of Nebraska's largest recreational areas. In the Nebraska National Forest the Scott Tower National Recreation Trail in the Halsey tract takes your dog through the world's largest hand-planted forest. 4.
You never have to go far in Ohio to find a tail-friendly trail - every state park in the Buckeye State welcomes dogs on the trail and in the campground. You also don’t have to travel far to find a “No Dogs Allowed” sign in Ohio - the state operates 140 nature preserves that all ban dogs. The latest Ice Age around 7,000 years ago did a number on today’s Ohio, cracking the limestone bedrock into enormous slabs known as Ledges that your dog can experience in several parks between Cleveland and Akron. Further south the glacial ice plugged the Hocking River, creating the state’s star canine hiking attraction in Hocking Hills State Park. Cuyahoga Valley, America’s first national park of the 21st century cobbled from farmland and woods along the historic Ohio and Erie Canal, is another standout. Dogs looking to romp on the sand along Lake Erie will - for the most part - be disappointed. But tails will wag at Holden Arboretum, one of America’s largest tree museums. Most formal gardens leave dogs outside the gate but here even the brochure gushes, “We Love Dogs.” 4.
The Corps of Discovery led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark blazed a trail to North Dakota in 1803 but travelers seldom follow their lead - today the state banks fewer tourist dollars than any other. The first thing dog owners need to know in the Flickertail State is to keep their Presidents straight: Theodore Roosevelt, as in national park, bad; Fort Abraham Lincoln, as in state park, good. Also, “Little Missouri” good. The Little Missouri State Park gives dogs a chance to tackle the North Dakota badlands and the Little Missouri Badlands is the largest federally managed grasslands in the country. The Maah Daah Hey Trail courses through the grass and coulees for 144 miles; in the southern expanses your dog can make the short ascent to the highest point in North Dakota atop White Butte. When the Garrison Dam was topped off in 1956 the Missouri River backed up for 178 miles. With 1,340 miles of shoreline, Lake Sakakawea is the third-largest man-made lake in America with room for 35 recreation areas. It is also the western terminus for the 4,700-mile North Country Trail that links to the Appalachian Trail in Vermont. No need for your dog to pack an overnight bag - they are plenty of opportunities to nibble on the trail in bite-size chunks. 3.5.
Texas is by far the largest state in the Lower 48, with more than 100,000 square miles of land more than runner-up California. That difference is more than 42 states have land period. And almost all - 96% is privately owned. Most of the star Texas hiking is waiting out west in Guadalupe Mountains National Park and the legendary Big Bend National Park, neither of which your dog will see. There are some places of note for your dog in the Lone Star State - the Lighthouse Trail in Palo Duro Canyon, Caprock Canyons, Mount Old Baldy in Garner State Park, Madero Canyon, a few parks in Texas Hill Country (although your dog can only hike around Enchanted Rock, not climb 425 feet to the top anymore), Big Thicket Preserve - but when you are cherry-picking dog-hiking highlights in 668,000 square miles you are not in a good place. Call it a 3.5 - and that includes a bump for the 113 miles of sand for your dog to roam on Padre Island, America’s longest barrier island.
Oklahoma is not a place where you are going to open your door and be enveloped in a forest trail in 15 minutes. Instead, the doggie hiking delights are tucked into different corners of the state almost as if by planning. Eastern Oklahoma is laced with four mountain ranges, most notably the Ouachitas and their unusual east-west orientation. Beavers Bend State Park on Broken Bow Lake and the Mountain Fork River is a star here. Moving to central Oklahoma the Wichita Mountains - some of the oldest rock on the planet some 500 million years in the making - stand out, literally, for your dog. The boulder scrambling through the Charons Garden Wilderness Trail and journey to the granite domes of Elk Mountain are highlights here. Heading north your dog can walk along an ancient seabed at Salt Plain State Park and dig for crystals when the beds are open. Finally, just before the Sooner State breathes its last in the west a switchbacking trail leads to the 4,973-foot roof of Oklahoma on Black Mesa. Nothing grows high enough here to obscure the view of even a dachshund on this canine hike. Don’t try hunting the state’s highest waterfall - dogs are forbidden in Turner Falls Park. In the big cities dogs can enjoy Myriad Botanical Gardens in Oklahoma City and the Turkey Mountain Urban Wilderness outside Tulsa. 3.
With only a few exceptions at nature conservancies and a few state parks, dogs are welcome citizens on Missouri trails. The best of those canine hikes come across the southern tier of the Show Me State in the Ozark Mountains. The Ozarks - America's most extensive mountain range between the Appalachians and the Rockies - are so old and worn down that no peaks exceed 3,000 feet. In Missouri they have been whittled down all the way to 1,772 feet on Taum Sauk Mountain. The hike for your dog to highpoint is flat and simple with no views but continuing to the state’s highest waterfall, 132-foot Taum Sauk, will set doggie tongues to panting. Your dog will see an example of eons of erosion up close and personal in Elephant Rocks State Park’s granite formations. Plenty of places name natural springs in their streams “blue hole” but few can match the vibrancy of color your dog will find in the swimming holes and grottoes in the Mark Twain National Forest. Dogs with a few dollars to throw around can buy a membership in Dogwood Canyon Nature Park, a 10,000-acre oasis created by Bass Pro Shops owner Johnny Morris. 3.
When all the rows of corn and soybean plants are factored in there is less undeveloped land in Iowa than anywhere in America. Fewer than one percent of the original tallgrass prairie that once blanketed the state remains; all but five percent of the state's wetlands have been filled in and almost all the forests have been converted to cropland - 85% of Iowa is farmland. Surely, your dog must be asking, this can’t be a Doggie Dream Destination. But don't let the fact that there are no national parks or forests in Iowa and only one fire tower fool your dog into thinking there is no outdoor recreation here. The state is dotted with glacial lakes and there are almost 100 paw-friendly state parks and forests to be explored. In the eastern region sandstone bluffs, the best Mississippi River views to be had anywhere, the lush valleys, the verdant forests, and yes, even the waterfalls make the Driftless Area a favored doggie destination. “Driftless” because the last ice age 12,000 years ago skipped over this area and didn’t scrape the land into submission. In Central Iowa no one will mistake the 100-foot tall sandstone formations in Ledges State Park for amber waves of grain. Out by the Missouri River the Hitchcock Nature Center is the best places for your dog to experience the Hawkeye State’s largest remaining prairie remnants in the Loess Hills. 3.
Indiana, the smallest state west of the Appalachian Mountains, still boasts more than 1,000 lakes and 24,000 river miles. The official state river, the Wabash, accounts for 475 of those miles and is the longest free-flowing river east of the Mississippi. Sixty-five of Indiana's rivers have been recognized for scenic beauty. Once eight of every ten Indiana acres was covered in trees; today the number is closer to one in seven. So the Hoosier State is not a place of towering trees and plunging canyons and mountain vistas that go on forever. The joys of hiking in Indiana with your dog are subtler and sneak up on you in unexpected places - the ladders in Turkey Run State Park, the sandstone caves in the Hemlock Cliffs in Hoosier National Forest, the waterfalls in Clifty Falls State Park. Long distance trails like Knobstone actually pile up around 20,000 feet in elevation change in the course of some 50 miles. The Tecumseh Trail reaches a highpoint of 953 feet in its 52-mile journey. Dog owners have to be ready for the occasional downer in Indiana with trails that forbid dogs in unexpected places from time to time. One place that has kept some trails open to dogs - including the 126-foot mountain of sand that is Mount Baldy - is the Indiana Dunes, even after its elevation from national lakeshore to national park status. 2.5.
Save for a couple of beaches in the height of the season you have to work hard to find a “No Dogs” sign anywhere in the First State. Of course, “day hike” is an aspirational phrase here. The seven-mile circumnavigation of Lums Pond is the longest trail in Delaware so “half-day” is more accurate. If you’re looking for traditional hiking with your dog through rolling wooded hills your list is vanishingly short - essentially White Clay Creek State Park, Brandywine Creek State Park, Middle Run Valley Natural Area, and…that’s it. Cape Henlopen is a primo Atlantic Ocean beach hike destination and Trap Pond pokes around the the northernmost natural stands of bald cypress trees in North America. Delaware Seashore State Park preserves miles of unspoiled dune-backed beaches and sun worshipers make this the most popular park in the First State. Delaware beaches do not end with the Atlantic Ocean. Canine explorers will find intriguing sand along the Rehoboth Bay (James Farm Ecological Park) and Indian River Bay (Holts Landing State Park). More hidden beaches are strung along Delaware Bay north of Lewes - Broadkill Beach, Beach Plum Island Nature Preserve, Fowler Beach. National wildlife refuges are often overlooked resources for canine hikers and both Bombay Hook and Prime Hook are paw-friendly here. Yes, you can take your dog anywhere in Delaware but you run out of destinations in a hurry. 2.
The swamps and wetlands of Louisiana are a sportsman's paradise but for canine hikers, not so much. It doesn’t help that the primeval jungle trails through Jean Lafitte National Historic Park & Preserve ban dogs. A 17-mile loop around Lake Chicot will enable your dog to sink paws into some good Louisiana swamp mud. Centrally located Kisatchie National Forest is the canine hiking magnet of the Pelican State with sandy, paw-friendly trails that roll through piney and oak woodlands. Anything from a full-day loop in the Kisatchie Hills Wilderness to a backpacking expedition on the 24-mile Wild Azalea Trail to quick hits on the nature trail are on your dog’s hiking menu here. Louisiana has the fifth most shoreline in the country with 397 miles but sand beaches are a novelty in the Pelican State; the Gulf of Mexico-washed sand of Grand Isle welcomes dogs as does the Fiddlers Loop around the island’s main lagoon. Louisiana is peppered with salt domes formed by evaporated minerals and the ancestral home of McIlhenny’s Tabasco sauce on Avery Island permits dogs to explore a jungle botanical garden cultivated from a sand mining pit. Louisiana’s laid back culture lends itself to strolling with your dog in places like the Cane Bayou in Fontainebleau State Park, around the plantation grounds of the Houmas House or through Audubon Park in the Big Easy itself. 2.
If there is a hiking trail in Mississippi your dog is almost always allowed to be at your side. There are six national forests in the Magnolia State with over one million recreational acres but not an overabundance of day hiking opportunities. However each time you set out you never expect to see another trail user, if that’s your preference. The Bienville National Forest shows off a large grove of old growth loblolly and shortleaf pines known as the Bienville Pines and the nearby 23-mile Shockaloe Horse Trail is one of the few outdoor treasures in Mississippi known beyond state borders. The 41-mile Longleaf Trace was one of America's first rails to trails projects and the Tanglefoot Trail meanders a state-longest 43.6 miles through the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. Some of the best canine hiking comes along the Natchez Trace Parkway with stops for short leg-stretchers through meadows, cypress swamps and ancient Indian mounds. Rocky Springs allows your dog to sniff through a ghost town and jump off on the wooded Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail. Tishomingo State Park is the largest recreation area on the 444-mile long Trace with 12 miles of trails, including two through rock outcroppings unique in the state. Dogs can hike along the Gulf of Mexico sand as long as you stay clear of Biloxi; Front Beach in Ocean Springs is a doggie winner. 1.5.
Rhode Island is instantly recognized as America's smallest state but it is even smaller than most people realize - 14 percent of its territory is underwater courtesy of New England's largest estuary, Narragansett Bay. And what little land there is resides in private hands. Only 1.5% is public, the smallest percentage in the country. A sliver of that public land is along the shoreline behind America’s grandest mansions in Newport, protected by a provision in the Rhode Island Constitution. Your dog can enjoy this unique backyard Cliff Walk but other Ocean State highlights are few. Much of Rhode Island is heavily forested. Typical is the Arcadia Management Area, the largest of several such properties, with 14,000 acres of pine trees and hardwoods penetrated by 30 miles of trails. The highlight of the George Washington Management Area is the six-mile Walkabout Trail that was constructed by sailors from the Australian HMAS Perth who were ashore in the States while their destroyer was being repaired. The North/South Trail covers 78 miles - no mean feat in a state that is only 45 miles long. The best canine hiking is a half-hour ferry ride away on Block Island. Dogs are allowed on the beach year-round while the mainland beaches ban dogs entirely from April 1 to September 30. The only one of Rhode Island’s five national refuges that allows dogs is also out on the island. Dogs are at least welcome in all 12 Rhode Island state parks. That’s something. 1.5.
State parks make up only 0.06% of Kansas land; less than 2% of Jayhawk land total is public. No wonder many of the best hiking trails in Kansas are long distance point-to-point affairs, the Flint Hills Nature Trail and Elk River chief among them. The Cimmarron National Grassland is the largest swath of public land in the Sunflower State. It also contains the longest publicly owned stretch of the historic Santa Fe Trail and there is much exploring open to your dog here. Castle Rock and the Little Jerusalem Badlands are very un-Kansaslike doggie destinations, although the Badlands hike traces the rim of the eroded chalk cliffs and doesn’t dip into the formations. The Southwind Nature Trail in the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve is a very Kansaslike experience for your dog, harkening back to the open prairie days before 96% of that ecosystem was destroyed. The shale and limestone of the Flint Hills repelled the plows leaving 70 species of grasses flourishing here. Wyandotte County Lake is the best circumnavigation of water in Kansas and offers smaller loops for less ambitious canine hikers. When you can find a trail in Kansas it is generally paw-friendly but a dispiriting number of “No Dogs” sign appear at local nature trails. 1.
