The 150 miles of Highway 395 (also known as the Eastern Sierra Scenic Byway) between Bishop (Inyo County) and Topaz (Mono County) ranks right up there with coastal Highway 1 as California’s most scenic drive. Make sure you take exit 263 to Highway 203 and see very dog-friendly Mammoth Lakes, worth taking a few days to explore. Continue your journey north on Highway 89 to Markleeville (Alpine County) or west on Highway 4 to Bear Valley and you'll add to the lifetime's worth of dog-friendly attractions easily accessible from the San Francisco Bay Area.

You and your four-legged friend will find yourselves surrounded by rugged canyons, granite peaks, rushing streams and vast displays of aspens, cottonwoods and willows that for a few weeks in autumn paint the landscape in yellows, oranges and reds.