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.
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 »
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.
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This dog-friendly coastal community in San Mateo County is part resort, part classic California surf town. Visitors with dogs can access the ocean at several points, including Blufftop Beach at the end of Poplar Street; Surfer’s Beach at Highway 1 and Coronado; and Montara State Beach eight miles north of town. more »
This scenic slice of San Mateo coastline three miles south of Pescadero is composed of two accessible dents of waterfront — Bean Hollow and Pebble Beaches—connected by a mile-long nature trail along the coast. The Bean Hollow area includes two sheltered, sandy coves separated by a rocky point. more »
It's hard to know what to do first in Half Moon Bay: Explore miles and miles of pristine beaches, scarf up some seafood at a seaside café, ogle the surfers or window shop in the picturesque downtown district. If your main goal is a sandy stroll, try chasing some waves with Rover at dog-friendly Montara or Bean Hollow state beaches, both within 20 minutes of town.
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