This story was written by guest-blogger Cinnamon the Coonhound and her human, Elizabeth Rose. Follow Cinnamon’s adventures on Facebook and Twitter.
Hi! I’m Cinnamon the Coonhound, and my favorite thing to do is travel to dog-friendly places where I can relax, enjoy some light adventure, and get some attention and treats – and sniff new places. I’ve found some great places on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula where dogs are welcome and where I’ve had a dog-gone good time myself – more than once. If you need some inspiration for a trip to the Olympic Peninsula, a FREE travel planner is available at 360-452-8552, or it can be downloaded HERE.
There’s a lot to do with your two-legged friend on the Olympic Peninsula. National Forests, State Parks and County Parks love us dogs, with a few rules that we can totally live by. Just keep us on leashes where we need to be close to our humans and, of course, pick up after us. You’ll be invited back time after time. The Olympic Peninsula Tourism Commission has a Dog Friendly Map that will help you plan a vacation for you, your driver and the rest of your family members.
Touring the Dog-Friendly Olympic Peninsula
When I visited the Olympic Peninsula the first time, we drove from the Kitsap Peninsula, across the Hood Canal floating bridge. We were on our way to the beach (yeah!). I got to see totem poles at the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe’s art gallery in Blyn on the way. They have a nice parking lot with carvings and views of the bay. It was a great place to stretch my legs. My humans were inspired by the totem carving in the House of Myths and wowed by the art in the gallery. I didn’t see any good sticks for fetch, but my humans were happy we stopped.
Oh yes, we got to visit Forks, setting of the Twilight Series books, and I posed in front of Bella’s red truck for pictures! They have a Timber Museum there and plenty of grassy spots for me to walk around.
We got to stay at the beautiful Kalaloch Lodge right on the ocean., I climbed over driftwood on the beach and waited patiently for a bit of cooked salmon when my owner returned from dining in the Lodge. Since we had our own cabin with a carport, things were really convenient. My companion and I sat out on the grass behind the cabin and watched the sun set over the beach. I even saw a rabbit on the lawn outside our sliding glass door in the morning. Woof! (But I didn’t chase it.)
What I wanted was a good hike!
While we were there, I wanted to take a hike. I couldn’t go hiking in the Hoh Rain Forest because it’s in the National Park and is one of the places where dogs aren’t allowed (not even behaving nicely and on a leash), but there is a whole list of places in Olympic National Park I CAN GO and next time I can become a “Bark Ranger.” They didn’t have the program when I was there, but we’ll go to the Kalaloch Ranger Station to sign up next time we are there. I will get that Bark Ranger badge to wear on my collar!
We found a cool nature trail that started at the Kalaloch Camp Grounds just up the road from Kalaloch Lodge. I liked hiking along the creek in the forest and, because I’m older now, I liked that it was only a mile long. We also went walking on the beach. I loved jumping around on the huge driftwood logs and exploring the tide pools during low tide.
Time for some shut-eye and down time from all the frolicking. I’ll tell you all about the Sequim area in my next blog. In the meantime, make your plans to visit the beach. Any time is a good time to bark at sand and waves!
