A Bark In The Park-Doggin' America's Hot Rocks

By Doug Gelbert

Some of the best outdoor touring with your dog happens when you seek out America's spectacular displays of rocks - gorges, canyons, formations. this book describes how to take best advantage of America's hot rocks when visiting with your dog.

The bonus chapter, Doggin' Mount Rushmore, takes a look at America's most famous transformation of nature's rocks under the hand of man.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Doug Gelbert
• Release date: Nov 21, 2010
• ISBN: 9781458098450

Book preview

A Bark In The Park – Doggin' American's Hot Rocks

Another Vacation Idea For Your Dog from hikewithyourdog.com

published by Cruden Bay Books at Smashwords

Copyright 2010 by Cruden Bay Books

Some of the best outdoor touring with your dog in America is to look at rocks. Here are some of the best...

Grand Canyon (Grand Canyon, Arizona).

Dogs are not allowed on trails below the rim at the Grand Canyon but there is a surprising amount of canine hiking you can do otherwise considering the immense popularity of the park. Dogs are allowed on trails throughout the developed areas of the South Rim, including the Rim Trail that stretches from the Village Area to Hermit’s Rest. There are plenty of canyon views from the partially paved 2.7-mile trail. For dog owners wanting to hike into the canyon a kennel is available on the South Rim; call [phone] for details. The less visited North Rim is also less inviting for canine hikers. You can get the dog only on a bridle path between the lodge and the North Kaibab Trail for a bit of exercise.

Valley of Fire (Overton, Nevada).

When the sun reflects off the red sandstone formations just west of the Lake Mead they can appear to be on fire. Hence, the Valley of Fire. Two thousand years ago the Basket Maker people traveled to this land of great shifting sand dunes and left rock art reminders of their visits that can be seen today. In 1935 the Valley of Fire, now spreading across 34,000 acres fifty-five miles east of Las Vegas, was dedicated as Nevada's first state park.

Dogs are welcome on all nine short interpretive trails in the Valley of Fire State Park, each easily accessed from the main park roadways. Many trails lead to fanciful rock formations like Elephant Rock, Arch Rock and the Seven Sisters. In many places the canine hiking is over fine red sand trails that are paw-friendly when the sun isn't blazing (temperatures climb over 110 degrees in summer). One trail leads to petrified logs that washed into the area from an ancient forest about 225 million years ago. Some of the best prehistoric Indian petroglyphs can be seen in a small canyon on the trail to Mouse's Tank. The tank is a natural basin in the