Nala celebrating her birthday on the trail - Shasta Dam
Photo Credit: larryvaupel
Lace up your hiking boots, load Lucy into the car and get a grip on your leash: you’ll need it when you see how excited she’ll become upon encountering a multitude of new sights and smells in dog-friendly Redding, your gateway to the eight-county Shasta Cascade region. On a clear day, the 13,162-foot, snow-covered cone of Mount Shasta fills the windshield during the 2.5-hour drive up Interstate 5 from Sacramento. It’s a looming landmark and constant reminder that you’re leaving the Central Valley behind and entering the rugged landscapes of the Cascade range. more »
Clancy's Pumpkin Patch - Photo Credit: @littlecooperbear
What’s Halloween without a visit to a pumpkin patch, especially if the pumpkin patch doubles as a seasonal family theme park? Largest in Northern California is Cool Patch Pumpkins in Dixon, offering enough activities to keep tails wagging all day. more »
Murphy at Indigeny Reserve. Photo Credit: Nikki Coleman
Like other parts of Gold Country, Tuolumne County is rich in history, rugged scenery and recreational opportunities. You can get some of both and soak up some local color too at First Friday Jamestown Art Walk-Wine-Dine & Music events, continuing through October, or 2nd Saturday Art Nights held year-round in historic downtown Sonora. Either town makes a great base for jumping off into a weekend of hiking, history and off-the-beaten path exploring. more »
Dodge visits Larsen Apple Barn. Photo Credit: @birdiebrain
Talk about diverse: El Dorado County stretches from the city of Folsom, at the beginning of the Sierra Nevada foothills, all the way up to Lake Tahoe and the High Sierra. It’s what’s in between that’s of greatest interest to DogTrekkers in fall, when the harvest is on and the Apple Hill growing region off Highway 50 near Camino, just east of Placerville, rolls out the welcome mat at more than 50 farms and ranches. more »
Photo Credit: kpucster (CC)
Any time’s a good time to head up Highway 4 to the hip and happening town of Murphys, but if you can be there in October, so much the better. That’s when the annual Grape Stomp Competition and Gold Rush Street Fair fills downtown streets with vendor booths and lots of people with bewildered dogs on the other end of the leash. It’s probably the first time Duke and Daisy (and maybe you?) have witnessed a bunch of people stomping around in wine barrels, so go figure! more »
Bodie, Gauge and Justice at Bodie State Historic Park.
Photo Credit: @justice818
You have a couple of options here, but the most direct route sends you back to Lake Tahoe and around the North Shore via Highway 267 to its intersection with Highway 50. By now you will have, in an indirect way, circled the lake. Follow 50 up and over the mountains to Carson City and head south on Highway 395, a designated national scenic byway skirting the snow-capped Eastern Sierra. more »
King of the mountain. Photo Credit: @rowl0067
Allow a full day—or more, if time permits—for the long but scenic drive back to Sacramento via Highway 120 over Tioga Pass Road through Yosemite National Park. But don’t set off without checking conditions: As of mid-June, the high-altitude artery, buried last winter under some 50 feet of snow, was still in the process of being cleared (estimated opening is early July). more »
Fallen Leaf Lake. Photo Credit: @carenandatka
Highway 89 along Tahoe’s West Shore is a treat for the senses on many levels. It takes about an hour in non-traffic conditions to drive straight through, but why would you want to do that? Your first worthwhile diversion, especially if you’re a Tahoe first-timer, is Tallac Historic Site, a collection of late 19th-century estate homes and out-buildings. more »
Bruce aboard the Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Railroad.
Photo Credit: @hi_mynameisbruce
The town Oakhurst in Madera County is the main gateway to Yosemite’s south (Wawona) entrance on the Highway 41 corridor winding through the Sierra Nevada foothills from Fresno. A great stop in Oakhurst is Queen’s Inn by the River, a dog-friendly establishment boasting an adjacent winery, the Idle Hour, and a beer garden where, Wednesdays through Sundays, almost 100 wines and craft beers are available for tasting. Also in Oakhurst are Vulture’s View Inn, a B&B popular with DogTrekkers; and the dreamy (and dog-friendly) Chateau Du Sureau, a castle-like destination inn boasting five stars from Forbes and five diamonds from the American Automobile Association. Just over the county line and only two miles from the park’s southern entrance is Tenaya Lodge at Yosemite, a luxury, dog-welcoming establishment in Fish Camp. more »
Mike's adventure in Red Hills - Tuolumne County. Photo Credit: @mackenzierodgers
The 19th-century miners who swarmed California’s Gold Country made an indelible mark on Tuolumne County, dotting the map with a string of settlements that still have a boomtown feel. There is plenty to see and do as you and your four-legged companion wander through rugged scenery toward the Big Oak Flat entrance to Yosemite National Park. more »