MASSACHUSETTS

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.

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

Great Marsh Hiking Trail
Sandy Neck Beach Park • Barnstable

Your best trail companion can certainly count on sand on this one. Sandy Neck is an appropriately named six-mile barrier island at the foot of Cape Cod Bay. The dune community here reaches back one-half mile to the Great Marshes draining Barnstable Harbor. Two sets of dunes, some as high as 100 feet, run the length of the park and shelter vernal ponds, maritimes forests and vibrant displays of hardy beach grasses.

This is about as far from civilization as your dog can get on Cape Cod - and it comes in a hurry from the trailhead. There is plenty of deep, soft sand on the Great Marsh Hiking Trail but there are also dune areas with grass and scrub pine and even a spot of shade in dense forest.

The views of the wetlands are the star on this trail; Great Marsh is the largest marsh on Cape Cod and you can decide how deeply to immerse your dog in this beautiful salt-sprayed world. You can use crossover trails 1, 2, 4, and 5 to the Sandy Neck beach for a return trip whenever you’ve had your fill of cordgrass and spike grass and blackgrass. Don’t try and find Trail #3 - it was abandoned many years ago.

The full trek to Trail #5 will cover 12 miles but a satisfying sample of Sandy Neck can be accomplished in a 1.6-mile circuit on Trail #1. Out on the beach you will be sharing the rock-infused sand with off-road vehicles and on a busy summer weekend it can feel like you need a wide shoulder. Of course you can always cross back to finish up on the marshside path.

HIKING TIME: 2-5 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)