A Bark In The Park-Doggin' American History

By Doug Gelbert

Every year an estimated 29 million people travel with their dogs. But what happens when you actually want to leave the hotel room with your dog? This book is not about traveling with your dog to tiny, fenced-in dog parks or disappearing into the wilderness; it is about places you want to see, and taking your dog to share the fun. We'll track American history with your dog on battlefields and forts

• Language: English
• Publisher: Doug Gelbert
• Release date: Nov 21, 2010
• ISBN: 9781458178664

Book preview

A Bark In The Park – Doggin' American History

Another Vacation Idea For Your Dog from hikewithyourdog.com

published by Cruden Bay Books at Smashwords

Copyright 2010 by Cruden Bay Books

Experienced canine travelers are all too aware of the prohibitions against dogs on national park trails but not so many know about the hidden gems the national park service reserves for dog owners: historical parks and battlefields. Dogs are typically allowed anywhere outside buildings in these places and hikers will often find the same mountain views, verdant forests and refreshing streams familiar in national parks. All with the added bonus of engaging in our shared heritage along these tail-friendly trails.

Here are great places for your dog to learn about America’s heritage:

Colonial National Historic Park - Eastern Virginia

By 1781, fighting in the Revolutionary War had continued for the better part of six years with no real resolution in sight. The British, frustrated by Nathanael Greene’s continuing efforts to thwart their southern expedition, contented themselves with raiding parties in the Colonies.

In the summer of 1781 Lord Cornwallis set about fortifying Yorktown and Gloucester Point but on September 5 the French Navy and Admiral Francois de Grasse engaged a British reinforcement fleet and inflicted enough damage to force the British Navy back to New York.

General George Washington followed the French fleet down the coast with an Army of more than 17,000 men and laid siege to Yorktown. Without reinforcements, the 8,300 British soldiers had no choice but to surrender 19 days later, triggering talks that would end the American Revolution.

Yorktown doesn’t maintain formal hiking trails - the park is traversed by two driving loops - but there are plenty of opportunities to explore the battlefield with your dog on foot. The historic site is graced by an abundance of trees and rolling hills in a park-like setting. Turnouts and wayside exhibits afford easy access to these canine leg stretchers.

A prime stop is at the reconstructed redoubts 9 and 10, which anchored the east end of the British line. The Americans under Alexander Hamilton assaulted Redoubt 10 and the French stormed Redoubt 9. After intense hand- to-hand fighting both earthen forts were overrun in less than thirty minutes.

The Battlefield Tour is a 7-mile driving loop that could actually be hiked with your dog; traffic is generally light and there is plenty of room to step off the paved roadway if necessary. Footpaths also connect to the hiking trail system of the adjacent Newport News Park.

The 23-mile Colonial Parkway connects Yorktown with Jamestown and Williamsburg. Your dog is welcome to stroll the grounds and cobble streets of the reconstructed Colonial town but can’t go inside any of the buildings to view the demonstrations.

Cumberland Gap National Historic Park - Corbin, Kentucky

Wandering animals, buffalo and deer, were the first to discover this natural break in the daunting Appalachian Mountains. These migratory mammals blazed the trail that American Indian tribes would later follow. American settlers seemed destined to be bottled up on the East Coast until April 1750 when Dr. Thomas Walker discovered the gap through the mountains. Later, Daniel Boone blazed the Wilderness Road through the Cumberland Gap in 1775.

Over the next 20 years, although no wagons rolled through the pass, more than 200,000 people made the journey west into the wilderness of Kentucky and beyond. The Cumberland Gap was honored as a national Historic Park in 1940 and a new tunnel through the mountains will enable the Wilderness Road to one day be restored to its 1700s appearance.

The Cumberland Gap National Historic Park encompasses more than 20,000 acres of rich forest lands in the mountains on the Kentucky-Virginia border. The best spot to view the gap is at Pinnacle Overlook, accessible on a 4-mile paved road. Most visitors don't make it beyond the overlook but canine hikers can take off on a wide, rolling walk at the top of mountains with good views through thin trees and from rocky perches. The Ridge