BootsnAll Travel Community

My husband and I are moving from the D.C. area to San Francisco this summer. We are leaving on June 23, and plan to take 3 weeks, as I am starting work on July 25. We would like to hit the following cities/towns, and are looking for cool places to stay or camp that are dog friendly. We are hoping for an adventure, and camping is preferred

D.C. to Chicago
Chicago to Carbondale, Colorado (we have lodging here)
Carbondale to Yellowstone National Park
YNP to Bozeman, Montana
Bozeman to Missoula, Montana
Missoula to Seattle
Seattle to Victoria, B.C. (only if we can take our dog)
Victoria to Portland
Portland to S.F.

Also, if there are any better detours or neat towns to stop in, please let me know.

Thanks so much! You all have been awesome!

You lucky girl, you'll have so much fun. My dog and I have spent lots of time exploring around Seattle, so I have lots of recommendations.

From Seattle, take the ferry to Whidbey Island. It has a beach that is a dedicated off-leash area called Double Bluff, which is fun, but you MUST camp at Deception Pass State Park. It is an amazing campground with lots of trails and beaches to check out - one of our favorite places to go, great with a dog. Whidbey Island is also just a nice place to drive through too. From Whidbey Island, make your way North up Chuckanut Drive, and you can camp or just check out Larrabee State Park which is a nice spot. But Chuckanut Drive is a definate must for near Seattle, really super pretty drive.

You hit Bellingham before you get to the border, and if you happen to be hungry there, go to Casa Que Pasa which has super yummy potato burritos and a tequila bar. There is an off-leash park there, but I don't think its anything super impressive. Getting from Chuckanut through Bellingham to Casa and I-5 can be confusing, so you might want to get a good google map.

In Vancouver, I noticed at that one neat island place I can't remember the name of but took a water taxi to has an off-leash area. I seem to remember lots of people happily running their dogs off the leash, I don't know if that's really kosher or no.

Make sure you have records of your dogs vaccinations before you go through Canada, and I think you need your vet to do a letter of health status or something.

From Vancouver Island (I don't know much about it) you can Take the ferry from Sydney through the San Juan Islands. Camping at Orcas Island is also awesome, but the one state park gets booked up way way in advance. However, I know a camping spot that is one mile to hike into and is fairly secluded - if your interested I can e-mail you directions. The San Juans are kind of a must see, I think.

But you can also take a ferry to Port Angeles and then down around the Olympic Penninsula on 101. Unfortunately, you can't take your dog into the Olympic National Park, which is a huge bummer. I think they're OK at campgrounds as long as they stay on a leash and don't go on trails. If you go down the inside of Hood Canal, though, Pt. Townsend is awesome, the campgrounds are close to town which actually has a neat little night life (check out Sirens for live music or the Waterstreet Brewery for pool and beer) and really nice restaurants. Fort Warden State Park has a campground, although Fort Townsend has a prettier one. Both are great for dogs, but Fort Warden is better for people I think. Lots of fun places to explore. There are lots of great campgrounds down Hood Canal.

Of course, you're going to hit the Oregon Coast, it's dog paradise. And you have to check out the waterfalls at the gorge, but there's only one campground at the Gorge and it's not that great.

I don't have any recommendations for where to stay in Seattle that's cheap and dog friendly, but Best Westerns will usually let you bring your dog and there's one in downtown Seattle. Let us know if you need a dog sitter in Seattle!

Within Yellowstone simply stated the rule is, if you can't drive your car there, you can't take your dog there. So...no geyser trails or any other hiking with poochie inside the park. Dogs are allowed in the campgrounds.

Wow, thanks so much Penny Lane and m0loch. I had heard that Yellowstone was not so welcoming for 4-leggers.

That is fantastic information about Washington, Vancouver, and Oregon.

Thanks so much!

Once your in Montana and on westward toward the coast, there are state parks that are in some wonderful places, and let you have pets with you. I have never had any problem in state parks with pets. We have 3 dogs.

On the far east side, just outside of the town of Glendive, is Makoshika State Park. They find dinosour bones here, it looks like the badlands. Great park and not visited by many people. Some hidden campgrounds, not on the park map, but a park campground. Picnick tables and fire rings. Great place to let let the dog run.

As you go along the highway, The Yellowstone river will start to run along side of it. There are some Lewis and Clark historic sites along the way.

Ok, so the National park thinks little of dogs. But, if The Beartooth Highway is open, take it. One of the best drives ever. If you stay onit, it will take you into Cooke City, then into Yellowstone. it's still a nice drive throught the park, but why not turn around, and drive back down the Highway, to Red Lodge.

There is BLM land out here. Thats land that belongs to all Americans, we can only use it, not really own it. It is for everyone. Some of the places where you can camp are so good.

With a good map, and a little bit of exploring, BLM land, can be just as good as the National Parks, sometimes right next to it......

South of Bozeman is good camping, this road leads toward the west enterence of Yellowstone. Bozeman is a busy place, lots of people.

But the BLM camping there is great. Just find a road, and take it. If it a wrong turn, there will be a fence.

Look at your map, find rivers, most have somekind of road running along it. And these lead to camping sites.

West of the divide, camping is everywhere, old ghost towns to explore, old mine camps, great hiking too.

Look for wilderness areas on your map. These are some of the best "parks" I have ever been hiking in.

Idaho has some nice state parks too, just scoure the map for them. Been to a few, dont remember the names.

Just practice bear safety, and check fire restriction.

I live in Montana and know more about it then Idaho, but did travel all over the US with my dog,and found that the land next to the national parks, is sometimes just as good, if not better.

Lots of cool places listed!!

I drove from MS to California with my dog and found this website helpful for some of those emergency and fun stops:

http://www.petswelcome.com/

Enjoy!