So we might be taking the dogs with us out to Boise Idaho at the end of August. Boise is a work thing but while we are out there we are thinking we may drive it and take the dogs with us and hit Yellowstone and the Tetons in Wyoming, and Estes Park in Colorado, so my husband can check some things off his bucket list. Obviously, dogs aren't allowed on the trails in the National Parks so we are trying to find some local hikes in those areas that we can take them on.

It's looking like we will have to try to AirBNB or VRBO lodging the whole way because finding dog friendly motels is a nightmare. I'm not going to commit to if I will have the camper ready for 3,500 mile road trip by then. Not totally certain the truck will be ready for the trip either. If anyone knows some good ways to enjoy these areas with dogs I would love to hear them. If there's anything special to look out for this time of year also I'd love to know. August before school starts isn't usually ideal for anywhere, would have liked to wait until September but no choice due to work.

Id say hit the sand dunes but thats about 5 hours from estes park, its really cool when the medino creek is running and if you wanted to see something out of this world the la garita caldera is crazy weird but requires a sxs or atv or the walking trail is 8 miles each way. I know thats about 250 miles out of the way from the estes park area in south central Colorado. Then there is mesa verde in the cortez/ 4 corners area with the cliff dwellings.

I liked mesa verde. We used to vacation a lot in CO when I was a kid. I burned the crap out of my feet as a kid not wanting to wear shoes at the sand dunes. lol. My husband hasn't been many places so he has a bucket list of things he's seen online he wants to hit. The dog-friendly aspect has been the kicker for me trying to figure out where we can take them. Want to be able to see similar to those iconic sights my husband has seen pictures of but want to be able to take the dogs and most mainstream sites don't allow dogs on the trails. They aren't allowed off the main road in Yellowstone or any of the national parks/forests which is frustrating. Only certain campgrounds will allow you to camp with them.

So i know the san juan and rio grande national forests are dog friendly but some areas have restrictions such as no leaving the trail, leash of max 6ft no letting dogs harass wildlife. Blm is all dog friendly.

Wheeler geological area where the la garita caldera is, is neither forest service or blm. That requires an atv or plan on camping. Its dog/horse friendly but no campground just pick a spot in the back country.

Sand dunes is dog friendly in the morning and evening but the sand is too hot in the middle of the day for dogs but squirt loves it there. Sad thing about the dunes...the trump admin sold 29 sq miles next to the dunes but part of the monument to oil drilling. It will destroy the dunes. Currently the Navajo nation is claiming the site is sacred and has an injunction to stop the drilling. Eventually they will lose and the oil stuff goes up and the dunes disappear.

Rio grande gorge national monument (blm near taos nm) is 100% dog friendly. I would know i used to be a camp host there.

I have also heard that rocky mountain national park is one of the most dog friendly parks in america.

If you have a general idea of the route id look at both forest service and blm areas... different areas have different rules even within the same forest/park/monument. I thought Yellowstones ban had to do with when they reintroduced wolves into the park

And dont be stupid and try to pet the elk in estes park, they will fine the shit out of you.

As far as I know Yellowstone has always had a ban on dogs. You can take them in the park but they can't leave the road. About all the National Parks have the same blanket policy. They can be in the vehicle. You can get them out on the side of the road to pee, but you can't take them down any trails. Most bans that I know of up north have to do with bears. Bans down here have to do with ecosystem management. Ran into that issue in Kentucky of all places. Can't take dogs to the large land bridges near the Red River Gorge. They don't want them harming the localized systems. As if my dogs would cause any more issue than people's brat kids they don't keep track of. My dogs at least stay on the trail and are quiet.

Boondocking spots are handy. I have solar and gas for my camper. I really need to get it open and see how it faired the winter.

Yeah i know yellowstone has weird rules, we had a discussion about it a few years back and then we found out they had no spots big enough for our 5th wheel.

When i was a camp host i wanted to ban dogs from the campground. So the free range brats you make reference too, i was dealing with free range dogs. Not tied up owners whitewater rafting while their furbaby is out harrassing wildlife,other campers, and my dogs.

I ended up with lots of leashes and people had 1 chance to leash thier dog before i called the ranger to make them leave. Its the same campground that squirt was attacked by a pitbull the owners refused to leash. And i dont blame the dog. Bit thats blm and blm has alot less rules.

We've not had many issues with off leash dogs at campgrounds. All that we've stayed at have had upfront strict rules about it. Now barking dogs has been another matter. They make nice supersonic whistlers you can take with you that deals with that pretty well. We stayed at a cabin campground several years back because we couldn't find any motels that would allow dogs where we were and the owner there said she would rather see people bring their dogs to stay over children any day. The dogs caused less damage to the place. That was my sentiments when I managed a hotel for 8 years. I hated seeing people with a passel of children show up. They were loud and destructive. We had one dog that had separation anxiety that the people were in town for a funeral for and to keep it quiet we just parked its crate with me in the lobby. It was an easy keeper. Slept quietly in the lobby with me while they were gone. No kid would have been so easy.

Everything here is really dog friendly all the campgrounds the blm areas the national forests the town of creede. So I've never worked in hospitality but i did teach pre k for a few years. Its kinda funny they say the avg horse is like a non verbal 4yr old dogs are about the same and well pre k is self explanatory.

Yeah i definitely go with dogs over kids. Err well kids from the slv. Is it normal for children to be roller skating and playing tag and pretending walmart is a playground? It something i notice at the alamosa walmart that ive never experienced anywhere else. Ive been on all ends of the financial spectrum but particularly here ive noticed income tied to "lack of any civility" including peoples unruly packs of wild children. I guess i was just brought up that kids that dont behave arnt seen in public. Like does being poor absolve you of having any manners (my thoughts about the whole town of alamosa)

Sawtooth Wilderness or Frank Church/River of No Return Wilderness.
You can hike with others or be alone.
Dogs allowed.
No griz, yet.

jalepeno wrote:

Sawtooth Wilderness or Frank Church/River of No Return Wilderness.
You can hike with others or be alone.
Dogs allowed.
No griz, yet.

Those are beautiful areas from my google search. I think I could definitely get my husband on board going to them. I've not put much concern on bears in my searching with the exception of making sure the camping allows for popup campers. My popup is hard sided but sometimes that can be really hard to get through to some campground owners when it's packed up and they don't allow canvas tents or campers due to bears.