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| Best Hikes With Dogs: Southern California (Best Hikes With Dogs) | 
 enlarge | Author: Allen Riedel
Publisher: Mountaineers Books
Category: Book
List Price: $16.95
Buy New: $10.46
You Save: $6.49 (38%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  1 reviews
Sales Rank: 243083
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 269
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.1 x 0.7
ISBN: 089886691X
Dewey Decimal Number: 917
EAN: 9780898866919
ASIN: 089886691X
Publication Date: September 2006
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| Editorial Reviews:
Book Description
Southern California hikes selected to delight your dog (and you)—many accessible from urban areas More than 60 dog-suitable trails, accessible from metro areas including Los Angeles, Palm Springs, San Diego, and Santa Barbara
Most trails are lightly traveled; off-leash permitted on nearly half
What to pack for your pooch on the trail Allen Riedel and his canine trail companions, Chewbacca and Socrates, have hiked thousands of miles together in southern California to select the best dog-friendly, dog-fun, and dog-safe hikes in the region. More than two-thirds of the hikes are on lesser-known trails where travel is light and where you're unlikely to meet horses, bicycles, or motorized vehicles. On nearly half of the trails, off-leash hiking is permitted. The hikes avoid steep, rocky terrain and many offer lakes or streams as a reward. Paw comfort rating (whether you'll be walking on sand, dirt, or pavement) is clearly noted in the information block at the beginning of each hike description; potential dog hazards such as ticks or poison oak are described in the text. A Trail Finder chart in the front of the book indicates trail length, which hikes include water, swimming, or shade, which are "good for senior dogs" or "best for fit dogs".
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| Customer Reviews:
A Good Book (that Shouldn't Have to be Written) September 10, 2006
15 out of 22 found this review helpful
So you live in Southern California and want to take your dog for a good walk in the out of doors. Where do you go? This is a problem that came up for me when my relatives from out of state visited and naively assumed they could take a dog pretty much anywhere. There are so many restrictions on dogs in this state that it can be downright daunting to take your four legged friend on vacation with you. Happily, you can find dozens of wonderful hikes in Allen Reidel's new book. You and your pooch are more than welcome on all of them.
Not surprisingly, this book does list some of the "dog beaches" where you can actually walk with your pet (unlike the remaining 99% of the coast), but the thrust of this book describes the many wonderful hikes open to your dog in the Los Padres, Angeles, San Bernardino and Cleveland National Forests. The multiple use policy of the forest service is much more open to pets than the other major state and national land agencies. And in Southern California, national forests offer some of the premier outdoor recreation in the state. Reidel includes some classic hikes in these areas: Knapp's Cabin, Mt. Baden Powell, and the Laguna Mountain Recreation Area are just some of the popular trailheads he describes. However, hikers will also find some remote and spectacular hikes to share with their dogs that are rarely mentioned in other guidebooks. Black Mountain, Cleghorn Mountain, and Kitchen Peak are some of my favorite trails. You can easily find yourself enjoying solitude on these trails even on weekends.
In all, this is an excellent book. I do have a few concerns however. In a few cases, I think mileages are too short. Also, Reidel suggests you should not walk your dog in areas with bighorn sheep. He then lists two trails (Baden-Powell and Toro Peak) where bighorn frequent. I'm not sure I understand that. But what I really don't understand are the policies that make a book like this necessary at all. Unfortunately, national parks and California State Parks have adopted an anti-dog (really anti-people) attitude about recreation. Their rationale is that dogs disrupt the "natural" wildlife in an area. And this is simply untrue. Dogs (wild and domesticated) have been around for thousands of years and they are a part of the environment. If anything, it is "unnatural" for dogs not to be in the wild. So, as you use this book to find wonderful adventures for you and your pet, consider a little political activism on behalf of "man's (and woman's) best friend." Maybe this state will eventually adopt a more enlightened policy and future editions of this book could simply be titled "Best Hikes in Southern California."
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