Yo, little Yosemite!

Golden retriever overlooks aerial view of Sunol Regional Wilderness.

Sunol Regional Wilderness. Photo by Kevin Noble.

Don’t have time to visit the real Yosemite Valley? Little Yosemite, a scenic gorge on Alameda Creek in Sunol Regional Wilderness, might not be so grand, but it’s a lot closer to home. Read more.

Regional parks tightening leash?

Man walking a dog through a forest in Oakland, California

From Point Isabel to Lake Del Valle, Black Diamond Mines to Sunol Regional Wilderness, Point Pinole to Mission Peak, the East Bay Regional Parks Read more.

Lake del valle: paradise for water dogs

Mother and daughter with a dog rowing a boat

One of the few places you and your dog can go for a sail. And fish! You'll want to spend the day, the night, or the weekend at Del Valle Regional Park, with 5,000 acres, a five-mile-long lake, a full range of activities, and a big welcome mat for canine family members. Read more.

Badrap

Bay Area Doglovers Responsible About Pitbulls (BADRAP) has been working for over a decade to help the bully breeds when they landed, as they all too often did, in shelters, but the rescue came to national prominence for its role in saving the canine victims of Michael Vick's horrific abuse, as documented in Jim Gorant's bestselling book The Lost Dogs. In addition to rescuing hundreds of dogs, BADRAP is a strong force for owner responsibility, offering free and low-cost Pit Ed classes weekly in Berkeley. It also offers quarterly fairs in low-income areas, at which collars and leashes, vaccines, spay/neuter vouchers, training and behavior counseling, and microchips are available free of charge to pit bull owners in the community. Read more.

East Bay treats

A chocolate-hued canine, sporting a stylish collar, amicably ambles toward the camera along a leaf-strewn forest pathway kissed by sunset's warm glow. The faint silhouette of their companion softens in the distance, their arms laden with delectable East Bay Treats - perfect nibbles for your four-legged friend on such adventure-filled outings. - Dogtrekker

If you live in the Bay Area, you don't have to go far to access some of the 1,150 miles of trails at your doorstep in the 65 parks comprising the nation's largest regional parks system. Only a small percentage of the East Bay Regional Park District's 100,000 acres is off-limits to dogs, so when it comes to places to roam with Rover, this patchwork of open space in Alameda and Contra Costa counties is your bag of treats. First time out? Give yourselves a bone by heading to Tilden Regional Park in the Berkeley Hills, where you can soak up the views along an easy, partially paved, three–mile stretch of the East Bay Skyline National Trail; or take your pooch on an enjoyable twelve minute steam train ride through woodland chaparral and views of San Pablo Bay. Read more.