Ranked: America’s most dog-friendly national parks

From accessible trails and pet-friendly campsites to kennel services and wildlife safety, these are America’s most dog-friendly national parks

Many of America’s national parks have strict policies in place for bringing along your dog – and for good reason. Some parks are home to dangerous trails, sensitive ecosystems, extreme weather or wild animals – from porcupines to grizzly bears – that you really don’t want your dog interacting with. Not only that, your dog can be a danger to them.

Luckily, there are several national parks which welcome pups and have almost no restrictions in place. Some with stricter rules have opened up trails to make them as dog-friendly as possible. Others have dog-friendly lodgings and kennel facilities nearby so you know your hound will be safe during your visit.

Wherever you take your pooch, never leave it unattended in a vehicle and always follow these basic rules in line with the National Park Service (NPS) BARK Ranger guidance:

• Bag your pet’s waste
• Always leash your pet
• Respect wildlife
• Know where you can go

There is more information on the NPS website. Always check NPS regulations before you visit any national park. We’ve linked to these for every national park in the US in the complete ranking at the end of the article.

What makes them dog-friendly?

What makes a national park dog-friendly depends on several metrics including how many miles of dog-accessible trails the park has, how safe it is for your dog and the local flora and fauna, if there are pet-friendly lodgings (including campgrounds) nearby, if there are local kennel services available, if viewpoints are accessible to dogs, and if there are any travel restrictions which could stop you and your dog accessing the park.

We’ve ranked Shenandoah National Park in Virginia as the most dog-friendly national park in America.

Of its 800km (500mi) of hiking trails, only 32km (20mi) are off-limits to dogs. This includes the 186km (115.5 mi) of the Appalachian Trail that traverses the park. The park is also within easy reach of Washington DC and allows dogs in all campgrounds and in pullouts on Skyline Drive, the stunning public road running 169km (105mi) along the crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Shenandoah is closely followed by Acadia – New England’s only national park – which has 161km (100mi) of hiking trails and 72km (45mi) of carriage roads where dogs are allowed. Some trails are off-limits to pets while others are not recommended for safety reasons. Service animals are allowed throughout.

Other top-performing national parks are Petrified Forest, New River Gorge and White Sands, which are all pretty lenient with where dogs can go. Some of the more urban parks, such as Hot Springs (12th), have almost no restrictions on where dogs can go. However, these parks haven’t ranked as highly as others because they have fewer trails – just 42km (26mi) in Hot Springs’ case – and therefore don’t provide an enjoyable experience for dogs or their owners.

The wilds of Alaska should, in theory, be a pooch’s paradise. America’s 49th state is home to six of the 10 least-visited national parks as well as some of the country’s largest tracts of wilderness. However, not only are Alaska’s parks extremely remote, making them challenging to access, particularly for people with dogs, they are also home to wildlife such as wolves, grizzly bears and moose, all of which are exceptionally dangerous to pups.

In seventh place, Wrangell–St. Elias is the highest-ranked Alaskan national park. It has almost no restrictions for dogs along its trails, in its backcountry or in the Kennecott Mines National Historic Landmark area. The lowest-ranked is Glacier Bay in 60th which only allows leashed pets in a handful of developed areas.

At the bottom of the table, unsurprisingly, are the island-based national parks of Isle Royal in Michigan and the Channel Islands in California. To protect the islands’ unique wildlife, neither park allows any pets to enter. Service dogs are permitted on Isle Royale as long as they have a permit whereas service animals are only welcome in the mainland visitor centre on the Channel Islands, hence its position in last place.

Complete ranking

We created our ranking of America’s most dog-friendly national parks using the latest available information on the NPS website. Below is the complete ranking of every national park according to how dog-friendly it is. Each one links to the pet section of its NPS listing.

1. Shenandoah National Park, Virginia
2. Acadia National Park, Maine
3. Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona
4. New River Gorge National Park and Preserve, West Virginia
5. White Sands National Park, New Mexico
6. Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Ohio
7. Wrangell–St Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska
8. Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky
9. Congaree National Park, South Carolina
10. Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona
11. Yosemite National Park, California
12. Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas
13. North Cascades National Park, Washington
14. Olympic National Park, Washington
15. Gateway Arch National Park, Missouri
16. Indiana Dunes National Park, Indiana
17. Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, Colorado
18. Crater Lake National Park, Oregon
19. Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota
20. Zion National Park, Utah
21. Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah
22. Lake Clark National Park and Preserve, Alaska
23. Capitol Reef National Park, Utah
24. Badlands National Park, South Dakota
25. Death Valley National Park, California and Nevada
26. Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, Colorado
27. Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina and Tennessee
28. Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska
29. Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota
30. Joshua Tree National Park, California

31. Yellowstone National Park, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming
32. Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota
33. Glacier National Park, Montana
34. Saguaro National Park, Arizona
35. Redwood National Park, California
36. Great Basin National Park, Nevada
37. Big Bend National Park, Texas
38. Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico
39. Virgin Islands National Park, Virgin Islands
40. Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Texas
41. Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
42. Lassen Volcanic National Park, California
43. Everglades National Park, Florida
44. Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado
45. Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, Alaska
46. Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado
47. Katmai National Park and Preserve, Alaska
48. Mount Rainier National Park, Washington
49. Kobuk Valley National Park, Alaska
50. Sequoia National Park, California
51. Kings Canyon National Park, California
52. Pinnacles National Park, California
53. Biscayne National Park, Florida
54. Arches National Park, Utah
55. Canyonlands National Park, Utah
56. Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Hawaii
57. Haleakala National Park, Hawaii
58. Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska
59. Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida
60. Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, Alaska
61. National Park of American Samoa, American Samoa
62. Isle Royale National Park, Michigan
63. Channel Islands National Park, California

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