Visiting National Parks with dog

Zion was very hot when we were there in the fall. You could call the area vets and see if they board dogs.

4X4Dodger wrote:

OutdoorPhotographer wrote:
Had our dog with us at Arches and Canyonlands because we were in the midst of a cross country move. It was a horrible experience. Wife and I had to keep sitting by the car in the heat while the other made event the short hikes to the various arches. Never again. I've been to a dozen national parks and can't remember a single one that allows dogs on the trails unless its a service dog.

Not sure how much UT will cool by the fall but daytime heat may still be a factor depending on how late in fall you go.

Just had my dogs in Arches and Canyonlands and had no problems at all. First there are plenty of areas to walk your dogs within the rules.

Some Natl parks are more dog friendly than others and some allow dogs on certain trails but not others. At Grand Canyon I took my dogs and a pot of hot coffee to see the sunrise at Mather Point...no problem and within the rules. My dogs got almost as much attention from the Japanese tourists as the canyon did.

Guess it depends on what trails you take and what arches you want to visit. We were there in 2009 so it's been a while but there were "no dogs on trails" signs at sites we wanted to visit and DW and I had to swtich up.

We have done the Utah and AZ National parks. We have two dogs that are very comfortable in our travel trailer just like at home. We leave them sometimes for 3-4 hours at a time and then when we return they get their reward with a long walk.
The only issue I can see is if it is too hot.
We know we have limitations when we travel with dogs but it is the choice we made when we got them.
jesseannie

We also took our dogs for a month to Utah's national parks last year, and I don't think it hindered us. We are niot big hikers though 3-4 miles max. We even did the horse ride in Bryce canyon. We did our activities in the morning while it was still relatively cooler, so that the dogs were more comfortable left in the trailer with the fans and radio turned on (this way I did not have to worry about power going out). When we got back at around lunch they would get there walk around the campground or on a trail (both Bryce and Zion have a trail that is dog friendly), and as someone else mentioned, the dogs don't care about the scenery. In Zion, the staff even told us it was okay for the dogs to go in the river to cool off.

OutdoorPhotographer wrote:
Had our dog with us at Arches and Canyonlands because we were in the midst of a cross country move. It was a horrible experience. Wife and I had to keep sitting by the car in the heat while the other made event the short hikes to the various arches. Never again. I've been to a dozen national parks and can't remember a single one that allows dogs on the trails unless its a service dog.

Not sure how much UT will cool by the fall but daytime heat may still be a factor depending on how late in fall you go.

Just had my dogs in Arches and Canyonlands and had no problems at all. First there are plenty of areas to walk your dogs within the rules.

Some Natl parks are more dog friendly than others and some allow dogs on certain trails but not others. At Grand Canyon I took my dogs and a pot of hot coffee to see the sunrise at Mather Point...no problem and within the rules. My dogs got almost as much attention from the Japanese tourists as the canyon did.

When we visited Mesa Verde we put our dog at a daycare for dogs. It was located on a ranch and she got to be outside and in the owner's house (not in a kennel). Hot weather is hard on our golden retriever, so I would tend to not to take her on long walks in the desert.

I would leave your old feller at home for this one. The NPS isn't very dog friendly. Some do offer a few trails to hike on but they usually aren't the good ones. Plus, most of the time, as was stated, you will be dry camping so weather is a factor while you are away from your RV. That said, Watchman at Zion does have electric hookups at some sites. Have fun and tell us all about it when you return!

We took our dog with us on a four month trip. Most of it in the areas that you are planning on going too.

We always camped where we at least had electricity. Most of the time, Annie came with us or if we were going for one or two hours we would leave her in the tt with the a/c on.

On about four occasions, we put her in a kennel for the day. Cost was on average $20.

In Alburquerque, she was put in an indoor kennel. The kennel was large, she had a bowl of water, food, a bed off the ground with a head board and a foot board. Oh, and an 18 inch TV turned to the Animal Planet channel. She was walked and well cared for. $23.

Worst place was the kennel at Carlsbad Caverns. Nothing but stacked crates and you had to go back to let the dog out. Ruined our visit to Carlsbad as we rushed through the caverns. $10

Check out the kennel before you pay.

If you want complete freedom to do what you want, take the person up on the offer to take the dog. You will both be happier.

We did find that many stores, not food stores, are dog friendly if you ask. Outdoor eating places generally will allow a dog.

We volunteered for 5 years at Casa Grande Ruins National Monument in Arizona. Dogs were allowed in the ruins but not in the visitor center unless they could be carried. Their reasoning was that they did not want generators running in the parking lot to power AC's to keep the dogs cool. Not all parks are that dog friendly.

As others have said - in Nat'l Parks, your dogs get to explore the sidewalks, parking lots, and road edges. We still bring ours - if there's something that must be photographed, then one stays with the dogs while the other hikes.

We either vacation in the spring, or after the kids are back in school, so the temps have never really been worrisome, if we have to leave them in the vehicle while we eat at a restaurant, for example.

For us, the comfort of knowing that our dogs are with us and having fun (hey - THEY don't know what they're missing - parking lots are LOADED with "interesting smells") far outweigh anything we might miss because we couldn't hike with them.