Best Canine Hike to Bag a State Highpoint
Highpointing is the game of surmounting the highest point in any given geographic area and the division of America into states makes for a very attractive challenge. State highpointing is a wildly disparate pursuit - it could be walking across a parking lot in Delaware or donning full climbing gear to conquer the glacial Mount Rainier. With that in mind here are the nominees for best state highpoint to ascend to with your dog...
Black Mesa Nature Preserve - Black Mesa (Oklahoma)
Summit Trail
Professor Creek flows year-round, although seldom enough to reach the belly of a basset hound. Fresh green vegetation dances against the exposed red rock canyon walls. Canine hiking in Mary Jane Canyon (the professor’s wife) begins almost from the parking lot and for the next four or so miles your dog will be splashing happily through the cooling desert stream waters. Eventually the winding canyon walls climb to over 100 feet and narrow to no more than 15 feet - if you haven’t been hiking straight through the streambed the whole way you certainly will be here. The trail ends with a chokestone wedged into the canyon walls that produces an impressive 30-foot waterfall. The way out of Mary Jane Canyon is the same as the way in. There are numerous dry slot canyons on the sides to poke into along the way.
Mount Greylock Reservation - Mount Greylock (Massachusetts)
Hopper/Mt. Prospect/Money Brook Trails
In 1844 Ralph Waldo Emerson urged his friend Henry David Thoreau to climb Mount Greylock, a place he described as “a serious mountain.” More than 170 years later the climb up the highest point in southern New England (3,491 feet) is still the must-do major canine hike in the Berkshire Mountains. This 11-mile canine loop travels through some of the oldest trees in the Bay State and tags the summits of Mt. Prospect, Mt. Williams, and Greylock.
Mount Rogers National Recreation Area - Mount Rogers (Virginia)
Appalachian Trail
This is one highpoint adventure that gets it all backwards. The canine hike starts in wide open spaces with sweeping countryside vistas and ends up in a lush spruce forest where nothing can be seen but tree trunks. Mount Rogers is the roof of the Commonwealth of Virginia and at 5,729 feet the loftiest state highpoint east of South Dakota that lacks a road to the summit. Getting there is one of the best Blue Ridge hikes with your dog on any of three routes. The most popular assault launches from Massie Gap; Mount Rogers is 4.5 miles away. Friendly horses could well tag along on the way through the meadows adding a dash of equine charm to this ramble.
San Isabel National Forest - Mount Elbert (North Carolina)
North Elbert Trail
The highest mountain in America’s Lower 48 is California’s Mount Whitney at 14,505 feet. You can hike with your dog to the shadow of the summit but the final steps will be yours alone as you leave dog-friendly Inyo National Forest and travel into Sequoia National Park, where dogs are banned from the trails. The highest spot in America where dogs are legally allowed to go is Mount Elbert in Colorado, only 65 feet lower than Whitney. No special gear required - your dog can hike all the way to the top. Just put one paw in front of the other.
Underhill State Park - Mount Mansfield (Vermont)
Sunset Ridge Trail
This canine hike starts out low voltage on an old gravel access road for one mile but your dog’s ears will perk up when you break in the open and begin to enjoy nearly continuous ridgeline views. The destination is 4,393-foot Mount Mansfield and you will gain 2,568 feet to tag the roof of Vermont. The final two miles are across the largest patch of alpine tundra in the Green Mountain State. On a clear day at the summit the skyscrapers of Montreal are revealed in the 360-degree views.
And the Waggie Award for Best Canine Hike to Bag a State
Highpoint goes to...San Isabel National Forest!
OK, maybe it’s not a fair fight when Mount Elbert is more than twice as high as any of the other nominees...but c’mon, your dog can just walk there! It is so easy that snobbish alpinists once piled rocks on neighboring Mount Massive in an attempt to give it the extra twenty feet it would need to surpass Mount Elbert. Of course, “easy” is relative and all prudent precautions for being on a 14,440-foot mountain must be taken. But any trail dog accustomed to a ten-mile hike can scale Mount Elbert. There are five routes to the top, the most popular being the North Elbert Trail. From trailhead to summit is 4.5 miles, the first two climbing through alpine forests. After the trail bursts above the treeline the route switches back twice before pulling straight to the summit. No rock scrambling is even necessary. Views = amazing.