Best Hikes with Dogs Western Washington: 2nd Edition

Great book it is so nice to have a resource on the best trails to hike with our furry friends. I can't wait to explore the Cascades with this book my one recommendation for a future book is to expand the trails in the Olympic mountains. There are lots of trails for dogs in Olympic mountains that aren't in the book yet but I'm sure in future editions they could be. Thank you so much for this book it is incredibly helpful.

I recently adopted a beagle-german shepherd puppy, and although he is too young and not trained well enough to take hiking yet, I plan on taking him hiking every weekend in the future. This book caught my eye because it's written specifically for hikers with dogs. It provides great background information on the steps necessary to getting yourself and your dog ready for hiking, including how to make your own survival kit. The author's humor is great and very easy to relate to. He provides almost step by step descriptions of what each hike provides, and rates it on a scale of 1-4 for day hikes or backpacking trips. The hikes he includes are located within the Cascade Mountain Range and are divided among location (north, central or south) within the mountains. He also includes dog hiking etiquette, safety and first aid tips. This book is an excellent read for those interested in hiking with their dogs, or hiking in Washington in general. It will definitely be in my hiking bag come next spring!

The book was concise, and very helpful, my wife and I have taken our two dogs on 4 of these hikes and each hike the author outlined the pro's and con's of the hike to our liking. We only had one hike where the ball was dropped somewhat, it was stated that the road would lead us into the mountains but failed to mentioned that once off the asphalt, the road became one lane, with very deep potholes and then the road became about 3/4 of one lane with very sttep dropoffs and limited turnoffs. We plan on using the book for many other hikes the remainder of the summer and into fall.

So this book is good for giving you easy go to hikes in Washington where you don't have to find out if dogs are okay. It would be nice if in the info it told you what passes are require; however; my biggest complaint are the directions. Each hike has a map included, which is nice, the problem is getting to the part of the map where the trail starts. The driving directions are often just plain wrong. They haven't been updated as the forest roads have been improved or rerouted, so the direction to turn left in so many miles onto FR-#### are often unhelpful because the road may no longer go to that point or they may no longer be a sign. I though it might just be me, but friends borrowing the book had the same complaint and when we compared the directions beforehand to a newer forest map, they were sometimes so completely off that they would have brought us into completely different trailheads. Occasionally on the trail if we had the book with us, the trail directions were off too, it's like they just updated the book without finding out that the trails had changed. So use this book as an idea source, not a trailguide.

This book is pretty great for hiking with dogs. So far our dog Bella has loved everyone we've taken her on. The organization of the hikes can be a little challenging at times but overall the hikes are searchable by a map in the front. The ratings for each hike are spot on which makes it easy to ease into hiking for the season and I love the hiking with dogs tips. It is a little outdated so some hikes have changed their leash requirements and I believe one hiking trail has been closed down for sometime (silent spring). Overall, a great book.

So far we did 4 hikes. We have been living and hiking in the area for over a decade and never heard of these hikes. It is nice that these trails are mostly empty. The downside is that the book was last revised in 2010, so expect some trails to be closed etc. Always double-check.

This book is the best for finding those great places where dogs are welcome. We've done one hike already and are planning our next one. We also appreciated the tips on a first aid kit for our dog -- all common sense but it was great not to have to figure it out the hard way. Wouldn't it be terrific if other hikers would take the writer's advice to keep their dogs on leash -- we were nearly knocked off the trail by a boxer on the loose.

Got this for a gift. Seemed very comprehensive. Ideas what to bring if hiking with your dog, whether leashes required, water available etc