Monterey County
Monterey County is legendary for its pet-friendly beaches, hotels, shops, restaurants and wineries, and rightly so. DogTrekkers would be hard-pressed to find a more welcoming place anywhere on the planet.
Top-dog honors go to Carmel-by-the-Sea, where a glorious leash-free beach takes center stage in a community so accepting of canines that people and pets travel from all over the country to vacation here. Many of the picturesque village’s best restaurants offer dog-friendly patio dining, while almost two dozen lodging establishments, from gorgeous inns to practical motels, roll out the welcome mat for DogTrekkers.
The rest of the Monterey Peninsula is only slightly less accommodating. While your dog can’t come with you to watch the jellyfish floating ethereally in their tanks at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, she’ll enjoy trotting happily by your side on the achingly scenic trail stretching from Cannery Row to Pacific Grove’s aptly named Lovers Point.
Monterey County is big, stretching south through Big Sur and east through the winery-rich Carmel Valley and into the Santa Lucia Mountains. Once you and your four-legged friend experience the doggone good times to be had here, you’ll come back again and again.
A visit to Carmel Valley takes you right to the center of Monterey Wine Country, where a community of family-owned wineries welcome you and your four-legged friends. From anywhere in Carmel Valley three wine roads are only minutes away, presenting many possibilities for an afternoon escape or a lifetime relationship. Your choices: more »
DogTrekkers who visit the Monterey Peninsula tend to be well aware of that glorious, mile-long, leash-free beach in the village of Carmel. But thatís not the only place you can unclip Dash and Dottie and let them run free so long as they stay within sight and under voice control. more »
It’s not difficult these days to find hotels that accept dogs, but some seem to do so only grudgingly, with lots of restrictions. They’re dog-tolerant, but not what DogTrekker would call truly dog-friendly. At the top of the scale are places that not only court people traveling with pets, but provide access and services that go above and beyond the expected. We rate these cherished establishments “dog passionate” and strive not only to find them, but to provide guidance for hoteliers who want to up their dog-friendly quotient.
One of the stand-outs in the dog-passionate category is Carmel Valley Ranch, a bucolic, 500-acre destination resort recently “reinvented” with the help of a $25 million makeover and a huge helping of innovative thinking from investor John Pritzker, one of the creators of Hyatt Hotels and Resorts.
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DogTrekkers craving the beach are in luck when it comes to visiting Monterey Bay. Leashed canines are allowed on four state beaches here, all of them gorgeous. more »
In early morning, canines of every make and model can be seen romping happily on the sugar-soft sand that graces a beach set just below the ninth hole at world renowned Pebble Beach Golf Links. Carmel Beach is one of few beaches in this part of the state where it’s legal for your dog to run free, and DogTrekkers come from all over the country to take advantage of the privilege. more »