San Mateo County

As one of the nation’s most affluent counties, San Mateo is not lacking in high-end restaurants and hotels. But neither is it lacking in scenic beauty and open space. Some 72 percent of its landscape has been preserved as dedicated open space. That visitor wonderland includes lagoons, estuaries, open shore, redwood forests and the rugged and varied habitats contained within the Santa Cruz Mountains.

The northern part of the county, which includes South San Francisco and Burlingame, is more urbanized than the southern end, which includes the resort communities of Pacifica and Half Moon Bay.

Unfortunately, dogs are banned from all county parks. But the Midpeninsula Regional Open Parks District contains several preserves where both people and pets can stretch their legs. Dogs can watch the waves roll in at Montara and Bean Hollow state beaches, among other dog-legal strands. If you’re looking for scenic places to go for a walk with Rover, you can’t go wrong with the Coastside Trail above the ocean in Half Moon Bay or the San Francisco Bay Trail skirting the shore in the urbanized north.
 

Gem of a Find in the South Bay

It can be hard to find a place where you can legally cut that pesky umbilical cord, otherwise known as a leash, that ties you and your furry friend together.  more »

Mutt Strutt 2012

Last Saturday a parade of pooches took over Coyote Point Park in San Mateo for the 18th annual Mutt Strutt and DogTrekker was on hand to take it all in.  Close to 500 uprights and more then 300 dogs strutted their stuff to help raise money for the Peninsula Humane Society’s Hope Program.  “The highlight, for us, is seeing so many dogs who were adopted from our shelter come back and take part in this event,” said PHS/SPCA President Ken White. more »

It's time for Mutt Strutt!

Get your walking shoes laced up and your leash untangled because its time for the Peninsula Humane Society’s annual Mutt Strutt fundraiser. Held at Coyote Point Park in San Mateo, the fundraiser raises money for the PHS’s Hope Program.  DogTrekker was on hand to take part in the festivities last year and this year we are looking forward to another pawsitively fun filled day! more »

Mayor Lee Says No to GGNRA

At first bark, the Sharp Park golf course and the National Park Service's bid to acquire it from the City of San Francisco wouldn't seem to have much to do with DogTrekkers, but there you'd be wrong. Even aside from the fact that apparently the park's perimeter is  popular with dog walkers.

The City has been considering the Park Service's bid, but the Park Service unabashedly admits that its taking possession of the place would be the end of golf, and indeed much in the way of recreational activity, as it pursued an agenda of restoring the golf course's environment to a state ostensibly reflective of some natural reality before humans arrived. "Wilderness restoration" rules the day at the GGNRA, in contrast to its recreational mandate. more »

Broken Spirit Restored

This time of the year, most of us are thinking about how much we ate, how full we are and how we're going to lose five pounds as soon as the holidays pass. If we’re having family over for the big holiday feast, the day will likely end with an uncle or a grandpa snoring on the sofa. The subject of food makes this the perfect time to share the story of Duke, a skinny black Lab who found his way to the Peninsula Humane Society. Duke arrived as a stray weighing just 57 pounds, pretty lean for a young male Lab with his frame. But his weight was just one of the issues troubling our staff. Duke seemed like a deflated version of Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh.  more »