Dog Friendly Vacations Colorado – Colorado has four national parks and three of them have many areas where dogs are allowed! Unfortunately, the state’s most popular national park (Rocky Mountain National Park) does not allow dogs on any trails. But three lesser-known parks – Great Sands, Mesa Verde, and Black Canyon of the Gunnison – are definitely worth a visit with your pup! All three of these parks are located in southern Colorado and can be combined for a great trip (the ultimate Colorado hiking trail for dogs). If you plan to visit several parks in a year, consider getting an annual national park pass! The annual fee is $80, but admission to each individual park will be $25 or $30.
Great Sands is a four-hour drive south of Denver. Even though it’s a lot of driving, it’s possible to make a day trip – me and Alice! Dogs are allowed on the first set of lakes and on some trails. I was in awe as we drove up to the massive mountains with the massive 14 behind them. The weather can definitely make or break your time at the park. We were there in the first week of April, on a sunny day, not too hot and not too hot, and it was absolutely perfect! In winter it is very cold, it snows, but in summer it is very hot. Some trails in the park are closed during the winter (and most of the spring), so you won’t be able to reach the higher trails. If the wind is too much, sand can get into your puppy’s eyes. If the weather is too hot, the sand can burn their paws. We have seen other dogs wear booties and goggles to combat this! The weather in Colorado is very unpredictable, but I would like to go in April, May or October, or before the heat sets in. Be sure to stop at Zapata Falls on your way to hike – you’ll see signs for it between the highway and the park entrance. Wear waterproof shoes, or at least a change of socks.
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Located in the southwest corner of Colorado, Mesa Verde is full of mountain dwellings built and inhabited by the ancestral Pueblo people in the 13th century. Although dogs are not allowed on hikes that take you into the mountains, they can accompany you on the Park Point Trail, Nordskold Map #16, and on the paved road and trails around Mesa Top-Lop with its many viewpoints. canyon and mountain dwellings. It gets very hot in the summer, but the park is closed in the winter, so May or September/October might be the best time to visit. Bring it
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Water, and know that there is no shade in the garden. Be sure to watch the sunset in Montezuma Valley.
If you’re looking for a place to stay, this VRBO is five minutes from the park entrance and it was beautiful!
A controversial opinion…I like the Black Canyon of the Gunnison better than the Grand Canyon! When I was there in July, the park was not very crowded and the view of the canyon walls was incredible. The marble design in this stone is amazing and the layers of stone created by the canyon look very awesome. Dogs are allowed almost everywhere on the outskirts, although this is not exactly clear on the map. Randstien is definitely dog friendly. Other viewpoints with small trails, such as the painted wall, the sunset point, and the quad view, have small signs that dogs are allowed. Be sure to watch the sunset from sunset, it was beautiful! The weather here can be a problem – in winter the main road is closed, but in summer it gets very hot during the day.
If you are looking for a place to stay nearby, the Holiday Inn Express in Montrose is about twenty minutes from the park entrance and everyone here was very friendly. I also recommend stopping by the Museum of the West while you’re in the area. It’s basically an old western town full of artifacts and dogs are allowed! We were able to squeeze in one more trip this year before winterizing our van. We had planned to go to the ski town of Telluride, CO this summer, but are postponing the trip to comply with our state’s COVID travel restrictions. We finally went at the end of September and it was perfect as we watched the leaves change.
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More on the gondola, but first let’s talk about where we’re staying. The city of Telluride has limited RV options: there are no private campgrounds in the city, and the Town Park Campground is reservation only and was not available on our dates. You can find campsites 30-60 minutes outside of town, either relatively close but on a slow drive, or farther but off the highway, but finding camping (free or paid) with cellular data near Telluride is a real challenge. is In the coming years we would like to come back with a reservation and after a few days walking through the city park to explore more of the city.
I had to work on Friday, so we chose to stay in the “core area” at the east end of Million Dollar Road because it had a reliable cell signal. What it also had many other camps!
Although the main camping area was a bit crowded, it was a great place to stay for two nights. We did a lot of hiking right out of the van and started leaf raking.
With work done on Friday, we are ready to explore Telluride on Saturday. We got an early start and enjoyed a beautiful morning on Million Dollar Road before making the 30 minute drive into town.
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You should research where you can park in Telluride before you arrive. The signs are not good, you better know where you are going. The city does not allow overnight RV parking, street parking is usually metered, and parking for large vehicles is very limited. Tommy says don’t try to take the trailer into town; It’s possible, but not fun. Here’s what we got:
Carhenge Park in the southwest corner of the city. It’s free, the largest parking lot you’ll find in town, and everything is within walking distance.
From the parking lot, we took the scenic river trail, which is a dirt road that runs along the river. There are many places to take dogs to the river. It is about a mile from the Bear Creek Falls trailhead.
Bear Creek Falls is one of the most popular hikes in town and is a 5 mile round trip. Be prepared for a gradual climb up to the waterfall. Just a few minutes into the ride we were greeted with such sights!
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Since we started early, we didn’t see any other hikers on the way up. About 50% of the people we passed were wearing masks and the road is very narrow in some places. We made sure to always put our masks on when passing other people.
Note that we visited in September which meant the falls were not as large as at other times of the year.
We sat and watched the waterfall for about 30 minutes while eating our packed lunch. All 3 dogs enjoyed a mini break by cooling off in the pool under the waterfall.
The view of the valley on the way back to town is amazing! Plus, it’s a nice treat to come down completely after going up.
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After the hike we let the dogs cool off in the river and then walked around town for lunch.
We ordered a pizza from Brown Dog Pizza (I mean, how could we not!?) and while we waited for our order to be ready, we went to PET Telluride to pick up some dog treats. We felt very safe in both places (thanks to COVID). Brown Dog has an employee outside to take and deliver orders so you never have to go inside, while PET Telluride only allows one hand full of customers in the store at a time (masks required).
We explore the city more, but it was busier and busier, plus the dogs were already very tired. It was… gondola time.
The Gondola connects the towns of Telluride and Mountain Village with one stop at San Sofia Station. It’s completely free and dog-friendly! Due to COVID-19 they limited each car to 1 group (which is really nice because you have your own gondola!) You have to wear your mask for the whole trip.
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There was no line when we first passed the gondola around 8 o’clock on the way to Bear Creek Falls. The line was turned off for about a quarter of an hour in the afternoon. At 8,750 feet the sun was strong, so I went and settled in while Tommy hung out.
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