Ron Bexel
Road Trips With Dogs California – We are sisters with a passion for travel and fashion. We love sharing our tips on hidden gems and the latest fashion trends.
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Road Trips With Dogs California
This summer we decided to travel by car to enjoy the holidays with our little ones. Road trips are a good option if you have several dogs or don’t want to travel by plane. Traveling by car can also be less stressful as you can stop as often as necessary and see some sights along the way.
5 Dog Friendly Weekend Getaways In Northern California
In the excitement of preparing for a trip, it’s easy to overlook some of your dog’s essentials. We’ve been guilty a few times of forgetting our godmother’s dog bed when we took a few quick weekends away. One of the advantages of driving is that you can bring as much good as you want, since you are not regulated by airline fees and excess weight.
We use a pet travel bag that keeps everything neatly organized with universal pockets, food bags and collapsible bowls. This bag stores right behind the car seat for easy access to leashes, bowls, treats, food, water, wipes, etc. We also store extra food, toys, medicine and paperwork in this bag so all their stuff is in one bag.
Wow! This seems like quite a long list, but you most likely already have many of these items. The hard part is remembering to load everything in the car before hitting the road. We forgot Kuma’s dog bed on several trips, even though we checked everything thoroughly! California may be synonymous with Hollywood (Los Angeles), beaches (San Diego/Santa Barbara) or even Silicon Valley and the Golden Gate Bridge (San Francisco Bay Area), but its beauty is undeniable in its various small towns (which are also great winter destinations BTW). Most of these cities welcome dogs with pet-friendly accommodations, restaurants, and activities. These places are the perfect escape from city life for dog-friendly outings or for those looking for dog walking tours from San Francisco.
As a dog mom who also lives in San Francisco, I’ve explored many cool Northern California cities with our precious munchkins, Babu and Gunda, on our dog-friendly tours. Whether you have a dog or not, these places I’ll reveal in this post are not only perfect as dog-friendly vacation spots, but are generally great places to relax with family and friends, escape to beautiful, romantic Northern California. and allows you to explore a hidden side of California that most tourists don’t know about.
Pet-friendly Santa Barbara Activities –
Perfect for dog-friendly weekend getaways, these towns are a great alternative to expensive Napa and Sonoma Valley when it comes to wine tasting, have some of the most beautiful hikes, giant redwoods, and of course, pristine beaches to help you enjoy the long weekend away . from the cares of this world!
I’ve also included specific suggestions for these dog-friendly Northern California weekends like dog-friendly accommodations, hikes, dog-friendly redwoods, and dog-friendly restaurants that are 100% based on my travels and therefore honest and authentic.
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For all dog-friendly hotels, please call prior to booking to confirm their dog-friendly hotel policies with hotel management if they have changed. Thank you!
Pet-friendly Vacations: The 34 Best Destinations For 2024
This was one of our top dog friendly getaways and we loved the place so much we visited three times! A foggy coastal town, Mendocino is extremely pet-friendly and is also a gateway to California’s giant redwoods, along with its twin towns of Ukiah and Willits.
You can treat yourself (and your dog) a little by staying at the Stanford Inn (home of the famous Ravens Restaurant, where dogs can eat in the dining room!) or the Little River Inn, one of the best dog-friendly hotels in Mendocino. dog-friendly dining that can be reserved at either the Heritage House Resort and Spa (luxurious pampering for your dog) or the ever-reliable Holiday Inn Express in the Fort Bragg area, where we stayed during our visit to Fort Bragg for whale watching (which was also a dog-friendly experience).
Being close to Anderson Valley, one of California’s premier wine regions and home of California Pinot Noir, Mendocino is blessed with wineries in Boonville and Yorkville in Anderson County, as well as those in the upper Russian River Valley around Ukiah, Redwood Valley, Hopland and Potter Valley. , many of which welcome dogs.
Fort Bragg’s beautiful beaches, taking a skunk train ride through the Redwoods with your dog, and canoeing down the Grand River are some of the other things that will keep you and your dog happy on a dog-friendly vacation. Finally, don’t miss Point Cabrillo Lighthouse, a rare dog-friendly lighthouse on the lower level. The Coastal Road from Mendocino to San Francisco is another scenic drive full of amazing stops that you shouldn’t miss!
15 Top Dog-friendly Vacation Travel Destinations
Dogs are not allowed in any of the Redwood Groves in Mendocino County, but you can read my great list of Dog Friendly Redwoods near San Francisco for many more options.
Anyone who ventures to Napa Valley is endlessly enticed by the rolling vineyards of St. Helena, Yountville and Healdsburg, and a few end up heading further north to the sleepy town of Calistoga. Once a simple country town filled with farmland, Calistoga is now a hot spot, figuratively and literally, thanks to all the spas and mud baths here due to the significant geothermal activity in the area.
Calistoga is also very dog-friendly, thanks to many pet-friendly accommodations, such as the Solage Resort (it has a charming outdoor dining area) or the Calistoga Motor Lodge & Spa, where we stayed and enjoyed the experience on our trip. to Calistoga finally in Calistoga.
This perfect dog-friendly abode boasts another secret Old Faithful water heater (this place also has a goat farm…say what?) on dog-friendly Tubbs Lane. There are also many dog-friendly wineries nearby where you can enjoy great old wines with your best friend! Add this sleepy summer spot to your list of dog-friendly weekend getaways and you won’t be disappointed!
Dog-friendly Campsites On California Beaches
Murphys is the charming little town in Calaveras County, California (between San Francisco and Stockton) that nobody tells you about. That’s definitely a good thing, because it’s not just a great destination for a weekend trip with the dogs. but it also has some of the cheapest and most diverse taps you’ll find in California.
Fun Fact: Calaveras County was made famous by Mark Twain in his short story “The Famous Dancing Frog of Calaveras County,” so it’s no surprise that you’ll see statues of bullfrogs dotted around this small town.
This weekend, Babu and I stayed at the charming Courtwood Inn bed and breakfast and explored downtown Murphy, which is simply the main drag, with tons of wine tasting rooms and dog-friendly restaurants.
Some of our outstanding pet friendly restaurants were at Alchemy Market & Cafe, Grounds, Aria Bakery (YOU MUST try their delicious croissants and cookies) and V Restaurant & Bar which also has live music on the covered patio which was great for us visiting at a particularly rainy weekend.
The Best Dog Friendly Guide To Monument Valley
Downtown wineries like Gossamer Cellars (they have a dog-friendly sign outside), Twisted Oak (their cellar is known for its quirky signs leading to the tasting room, so get there early), and Frog’s Tooth allow you to do some good ol’ dog-friendly wine on the main street.
We also stopped at Chatom Winery (another dog friendly winery in Murphys) for some additional wine tasting since we had already visited the tasting rooms. The wine is either a mix of red, white and sometimes dessert wines and is very cheap at $5-$10 per glass. tasting, and the fee is waived if you buy a bottle.
In addition to enjoying the wine, stroll through Murphys Community Park (with a lovely babbling brook) or head out on the 17.5-mile Arnold Rim Trail, a popular hiking trail in Calaveras County. dogs. In short, this modest place is perfect for a weekend trip with the dogs.
Lodi, the Zinfandel capital of the world, is California wine country’s best kept secret. With or without a dog, you’ll be mesmerized by the world-renowned Lodi wineries, boasting outstanding natural beauty and the best free pours of wine for $8 per person. Downtown Lodi also has several dog-friendly tasting rooms and many of their restaurants are dog-friendly
