Cliff Walk

places where you won't be able to wipe the wag off your dog's tail - Newport, Rhode Island

The Park

In the late 1800s wealthy New Yorkers began coming to Newport to escape the suffocating summer heat in the city. They built the most extravagant “cottages” ever seen in America on the rocky bluffs overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. No matter how impressive the mansion or how rich the owner, however, no one’s property could extend all the way to the shoreline. By virtue of “Fisherman’s Rights” granted by the Colonial Charter of King Charles II and a provision in the Rhode Island Constitution, the public is always guaranteed the legal right to walk along a small sliver of cliff. Not that the powerful residents on the other sides of the gates have always agreed with that right. In the past bushes were planted, walls erected and even bulls grazed to discourage use by the public. Other owners embraced the Cliff Walk and helped develop it from a mere footpath. Some tunnels were built and flagstones placed in muddy stretches. Eventually the federal government stepped in to help rebuild the path after erosion during hurricanes. In 1975, the Cliff Walk was named the first National Recreation Trail in New England.

The Walks

Today the Cliff Walk rambles for about 3.5 miles, about two of which are paved and easy to hike. The first mile calls to mind a stroll in a city park with manicured grass and an abundance of flowers. Your dog will be walking on nailgrinding asphalt and concrete sidewalk. As you move along the path deteriorates into broken asphalt and dirt but the views improve as you reach the jawdropping relics of the Gilded Age - mansions constructed as summer cottages from about 1870 to 1915. Continuing past the paved path, the Cliff Walk turns rustic with some walking on unprotected, open cliff faces and boulder hopping. It requires concentration but any level of canine hiker can negotiate the trip. If you continue to the end of the Cliff Walk you will drop to ocean’s edge and Reject’s Beach where your dog can get a swim. At the end of the Cliff Walk you have the option of returning by the same route along the black Atlantic rocks or exiting into the town and walking back on the sidewalks in front of the mansions whose backyards you have just walked through.

Where The Paw Meets The Earth: Boulders, sand and sea.

Workout For Your Dog - The full canine hike back to your start point will last about three hours.

Swimming - If the sea is agreeable there is the opportunity for an ocean swim.

Restrictions On Dogs - Dogs are welcome all along the Cliff Walk and Poop Bags are even provided at the start on Memorial Boulevard.

Something Extra

Adjacent to the northern end of the Cliff Walk is First Beach, open to dogs in the off-season. There is about 3/4 of a mile of sandy shoreline to hike with your dog here. Also at the beach is the New England Exploration Center with a hands-on touch tank and 1950s-era carousel.

Phone - None

Website - http://www.cliffwalk.com

Admission Fee - None

Directions - The Cliff Walk begins at Memorial Boulevard and ends at the southern end of Bellevue Avenue. In the off-season there may be parking near the northern terminus at First Beach.

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Chesapeake Arboretum

places where you won't be able to wipe the wag off your dog's tail - Chesapeake VA

The Park

In 1985, Abby Hughes and Wade Long, both Chesapeake Master Gardeners, hatched a plan for a city arboretum that would be a cross between a botanical garden and natural classroom. For years the nonprofit Chesapeake Arboretum Inc. searched for a suitable location but it wasn’t until 1996, thanks to a recent city ordinance requiring developers to dedicate natural features in exchange for the ability to build higher concentrations of homes. Just such a natural area was preserved in Oak Grove along a meandering stream and the 47-acre Chesapeake Arboretum became a reality. Most of the property survives in a mature hardwood forest but 5 acres have been dedicated to demonstration and research gardens.

The Walks

The Chesapeake Arboretum group wanted a location in a residential area that would afford easy access to the most people and they certainly found it. This linear park stretches for more than one mile, squeezed in between thousands of homes. Step ten paces off the trail at almost any time and your dog is liable to find himself in someone’s backyard. But the magic of this place is that you never know it on your canine hike. The woods are so thick and varied - you could spend hours trying to locate the 100 or so identified species of trees and bushes - that you feel as if you are in a much larger woodland. The richness of the flora promotes almost a tunnel effect in places where the trails narrow. Your dog will find the going easy on soft dirt and woodchip paths. All the terrain in the Arboretum is flat. For the most part the trail works along both sides of the brook for a total loop of over two miles. But the water is crossed by five bridges so you can give your dog any length of outing here.

Where The Paw Meets The Earth: A detailed trail map is available at the parking lot kiosk.

Workout For Your Dog - Up to an hour or more is possible.

Swimming - A neighborhood retaining pond located on the east side of the trail will do the trick. It is not pretty but your dog won’t notice on a hot day.

Restrictions On Dogs - Dogs are welcome in the Arboretum and poop bags are provided.

Something Extra

The Chesapeake Arboretum office resides in an early 18-century farmhouse. Around the farmhouse are several theme gardens anchored by shade trees. Over by the parking lot give your dog a chance to sniff the antique rose garden.

Phone - (757) 382-7060

Website - http://www.chesapeakearboretum.com

Admission Fee - None

Directions - Chesapeake; From I-64 take Exit 290 a/b for Battlefield Boulevard (Route 168) South for 2.25 miles to Gainsborough Square. Turn left at the light and continue .2 miles until the road ends. Turn left onto Oak Grove Road and another immediate left into the Arboretum parking lot at 624 Oak Grove Road.

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Trap Pond State Park

places where you won't be able to wipe the wag off your dog's tail - Laurel DE

The Park

Trap Pond is a small portion of the Great Cypress Swamp and features one of the northernmost natural stands of baldcypress trees in North America. In the late 1700s a millpond was constructed to power a sawmill to harvest the valuable lumber. During the Depression in the 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps of the federal government put men to work building diverse recreation facilities. In 1951, 14 years after the Delaware legislature authorized the development of the state park system, Trap Pond became the first state park to welcome visitors.

The Walks

The 5-mile long Boundary Trail completely circles both the 90-acre millpond and the baldcypress swamp. There is a mixture of natural and paved surfaces and the flat trail is very easy to walk. Note that to complete the loop requires a short walk on Little Hill Road. For canine hikers not interested in a complete circumnavigation of Trap Pond there are short one-mile trails on opposite shores. The Island Trail on the western shore visits the shoreline and actually onto one of the namesake islands in the pond before leading back into the forest. On the opposite shore the Cypress Point Trail meanders along the edge of the swamp.

Where The Paw Meets The Earth: Natural trails and dirt roads

Workout For Your Dog - Minimal elevation changes

Swimming - The best access is from a wooden dock on the south shore

Restrictions On Dogs - None

Something Extra

Hiking through Trap Pond State Park is an experience like no other in Delaware - your walk in the atmospheric swamp could easily be in the Louisiana bayou. Marvel in the quiet beauty of the baldcypress - one of the few trees capable of living in the water. Each tree sends out small stumps known as “knees” in every direction to help keep from drowning. The boardwalks on the Cypress Point Trail enable you and your dog to get close up views.

Phone - (302) 875-5153

Website 

Admission Fee - Yes, May to October

Directions - Laurel, Sussex County; 5 miles east, off Route 24 between Route 13 and Route 113. The park is one mile south on Trap Pond Road (Road 449).

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Schenley Park

places where you won't be able to wipe the wag off your dog's tail - Pittsburgh PA

The Park

Mary Elizabeth Croghan did not spend much of her 77 years in Pittsburgh, but few have matched her lasting influence on the city. Born near Louisville in 1826, Mary was the daughter of frontier businessman James O’Hara’s daughter and as her mother’s only heir stood to inherit large tracts of Pittsburgh land. That inheritance was jeopardized when, at the age of 15 in a Staten Island boarding school, she eloped with a 43-year old British sea captain named Edward Schenley. The incident became a highly publicized scandal on both sides of the Atlantic, not helped by the fact that Captain Schenley was AWOL from his post in British Guiana at the time and it was his third elopement. Mary’s enraged father voided her inheritance by an act of the state legislature. Years later after he had calmed down, the two reconciled in England and in 1850 she received her full inheritance. Through the years she donated freely to Pittsburgh churches and public schools and in 1889 she gave the land that would become Schenley Park. 

The Walks

Your dog’s best hiking day in Schenley Park will be in the 456-acre park’s forested interior around Panther Run. The stone stairs and bridges used to reach the floor of the ravine were mostly constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Depression of the 1930s. Hollow Run Trail will be your main conveyance through the valley with a choice of return paths at varying elevations.

Your dog will experience paw-friendly dirt and packed clay trails as he quickly loses any feel that he is in the middle of a major American city. The full trip up and down the Panther Run ravine will cover a bit less than two miles.

Where The Paw Meets The Earth: A park map is available to explore the various delights of Schenley Park but don’t expect much help on the ground.

Workout For Your Dog - More than one hour.

Swimming - In 1909 the city excavated in the ravine at Panther Hollow to create a lake for very short boat cruises. Today, if no is fishing your dog can slip into the lake for a swim where it empties into Panther Run.

Restrictions On Dogs - Dogs are allowed throughout Schenley Park.

Something Extra

Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in the park was a gift to Pittsburgh from steel and real estate baron Henry Phipps in 1893. Phipps directed the building of a splendid Victorian glasshouse designed by the renowned architectural firm of Lord and Burnham. Today Phipps Conservatory is one of the largest celebrations of botanical diversity in the country.

Phone - (412) 682-7275

Website 

Admission Fee - None for day use

Directions - Pittsburgh; the Visitor Center is at 101 Panther Hollow Road. From I-376 take Exit 3A and

turn right, away from the river. Turn right on the Boulevard of the Allies into the park.

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Rock Creek Regional Park

places where you won't be able to wipe the wag off your dog's tail - Rockville MD

The Park

In 1965 an earthen dam was built creating Lake Needwood to prevent small stream flooding and control sediment. In 1967 another earthen dam was constructed down the road on the north branch of Rock Creek to create Lake Bernard Frank for the same reasons. Together the two lakes are the centerpieces of the 2,700-acre Rock Creek Regional Park.

The Walks

The two sections of Rock Creek Regional Park each radiate different personalities. Lake Needwood is a bit more rough-and-tumble with picnic shelters on the shore and boaters - including an outboard powered pontoon boat that cruises the lake on weekends - out on the water. The most-favored route for canine hikers here is a trip around the 75-acre lake partly on an old access road and partly on dirt paths. This is a shady, sometimes hilly circuit that hugs the shoreline and gives your dog plenty of opportunity for a swim. Lake Frank is given over to quiet, passive recreation. Aside from fishing on the lake the primary activity to take place here is hiking. Eight miles of well-maintained trails spread out from the Meadowside Nature Center. To stretch your dog’s legs you can tour Lake Frank for over three miles on the Lakeside Trail or for those hounds with short attention spans you can jump from trail to trail on the many short, themed paths. There are many delights to found around the corners here: an old mill site, a restored log cabin, and even a covered bridge built by Rockville High School students.

Where The Paw Meets The Earth: Mostly natural

Workout For Your Dog - Modest climbs here and there

Swimming - Excellent, don’t disturb the fishermen

Restrictions On Dogs - None

Something Extra

Don’t leave without taking your dog for a stroll through the Raptor Walkway at Meadowside Nature Center, home to permanently injured, non-releasable birds of prey. At one time or another the park has hosted every species of owl native to Montgomery County, hawks, turkey vultures and a bald eagle.

Phone - (410) 592-2897

Website 

Admission Fee - None

Directions - Rockville, Montgomery County; from Norbeck Road (MD 28) take Muncaster Mill Road west. Lake Frank and Meadowside Nature Center are on the left; Lake Needwood is down on Needwood Road.

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