Doggin' Delaware: Best of the Best

 

As the temperatures drop, you may notice your dog getting friskier. Autumn is the best time of year to get out and exercise with your dog on Delaware trails. Delaware is a great place to hike with your dog. Within a short drive your dog can climb hills that leave him panting, trot down sand trails, walk on some of the most historic grounds in America, or circle lakes for miles and never lose sight of the water.

BEST PLACE FOR YOUR DOG TO SWIM: James Farm Ecological Preserve (Ocean View). A sandy beach and the gentle waters of Indian River Bay will entice any dog into the water.

BEST ONE-HOUR WORKOUT FOR YOUR DOG: Killens Pond State Park (Felton) There are plenty of ups and downs to give the 2.75-mile Pondside Trail a nice, sporty feel. Your dog will also approve of the wide, roomy paths and the packed sand and pine straw under paw.

PRETTIEST HIKE FOR YOUR DOG: Trap Pond State Park (Laurel). The atmospheric swamp of the Cypress Point Trail will make your dog feel more like she is in the Louisiana bayous than southern Delaware.

BEST HIKE TO VIEWS WITH YOUR DOG: Woodlawn Trustees (Wilmington). Breaking out of the woods at this canine hikers' paradise, you will be greeted by the best views of Brandywine's Chateau Country anywhere.

BEST BEACH TO HIKE WITH YOUR DOG: Cape Henlopen State Park (Lewes). If hiking on the sands around the cape on the Atlantic Ocean and Delaware Bay aren't enough for your dog, climb up the 80-foot Great Dune that is the highest pile of sand on the Atlantic coast between Cape Cod and Cape Hatteras.

BEST HALF-HOUR HIKE WITH YOUR DOG: Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge (Milton). The Pine Grove Trail follows a serpentine path between Turkle and Fleetwood ponds on lovely, paw-friendly pine straw beneath a phalanx of loblolly pines.

MOST HISTORIC HIKE WITH YOUR DOG: Brandywine Springs Park (Wilmington). Your dog will hike through the ruins of one of America's first amusement parks, along the histric Wilmington and Western Railroad. Before that, Brandywine Springs along Red Clay Creek was a pioneering resort. George Washington even came here to plan the defense of Philadelphia during the Revolution.

BEST OPEN-FIELD HIKING WITH YOUR DOG: Brandywine Creek State Park (Wilmington). The former duPont estate highlights the rolling hills of northern Delaware to its best effect with long views and native grasses.

BEST PLACE TO CIRCLE A LAKE WITH YOUR DOG: Lums Pond State Park (Kirkwood). The Swamp Forest Trail circumnavigates the water and covers over seven miles and 26 bridges in its trip around Lums Pond. In for a penny, in for a pound - once you set out on this three-hour tour you are in for the whole trip.

BEST PLACE TO LOSE YOURSELF IN THE WOODS WITH YOUR DOG: Middle Run Valley Natural Area (Newark). More than 14 miles of interesting and sometimes challenging trails with plenty of switches in terrain; at seven miles the purple-blazed Lenape Trail is one of the longest loop trails in Delaware.

Find out about these and other destinations for your dog in DOGGIN' DELAWARE: THE 40 BEST PLACES TO HIKE WITH YOUR DOG IN THE FIRST STATE, $9.95. So what are you waiting for? Your dog will want to hike past World War II lookout towers (page 15), hike past a relpica of James Madison's Montpelier (page 75), hike past quarries of the original Blue Rocks (page 39), hike to the highest concentration of bald eagles on the East Coast (page 27), visit a native butterfly garden (page 61)...

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