Traveling With a Dog: Shenandoah National Park
In our case, Shenandoah National Park was a first-time trip for everyone: me, my dog, and my mom. With high hopes of seeing wildlife and having a long weekend away, we set off, but not before I made my incredibly “type A” itinerary.
For those who don’t know me and are finding my website for the first time, my name is Eliza, and I have a daughter named Reese. She's 22 pounds, white with little and big black spots, and has a pink tail. She is the love of my life, and I try to take her everywhere with me. For her half-birthday and “full” birthday, we go on a trip to celebrate, and this May, we went to Shenandoah National Park to acknowledge her accomplishment of turning 10 and a half!
Since I enjoy taking my dog everywhere with me, I plan ahead to an extreme, which I would recommend especially when going to a National Park as to not only be respectful of the park and its wildlife, but also to be respectful to your dog. While reading this itinerary, please remember to modify wherever needed for your dog’s skillset and their activity level.
In this itinerary, I will be going over trails to go on, hotels to stay at, and even places in the nearby town that are dog-friendly, and all come together to create the perfect long weekend at Shenandoah National Park.
Reese enjoying breakfast in bed at Tru by Hilton Harrisonburg.
Where to Stay
For some, the biggest challenge may be where to stay – for Reese and me, this is never a problem. We are very loyal fans of Tru by Hilton, a very affordable, clean, convenient, and dog-friendly Hilton chain. Our top recommendation is to get a free Hilton account and pay the non-refundable amount at booking to save the most money.
Tru by Hilton charges $50-75 per dog, depending on the location, but this is per stay, not per night. If you have a service dog, they are free of charge. Every hotel also has an outside doggy station that I have personally never found dirty, and they have a bagging station with complimentary waste bags.
We not only stayed at Tru by Hilton because we are loyal to the hotel, but also because it takes a while to get into Shenandoah if you are looking to stay at a hotel, no matter where you stay. Because Shenandoah is so vertically long, it has many entry points, but even with these entry points, you’ll find yourself driving for a while to enter, unless you stay in a cabin.
Our choice to stay in Harrisonburg didn’t come lightly, and we explored all options, but due to the abundant food options around, the cleanliness and safety of the hotel environment, and the comfort of my dog and me, it was the choice we made, and I have zero regrets about it. Truly, I can’t recommend it more. For us, there is nothing like coming back to a chilled hotel room with some takeout after a long day of hiking just to get a hot shower and watch a movie while eating dinner. Because Shenandoah has so many ticks – and Reese truly is a tick magnet – this also allowed me to check her over and have her sleep on white sheets, which made it easier to see if I missed any (something very important to me).
Reese on the Rose River Loop Trail.
Where to Hike
At the end of the day, we aren’t here for the hotel, though (for the most part), we are here for the beautiful hikes and scenery. Again, Reese is very healthy and can hike a good amount. I recommend taking this into account when first planning a trip, as well as coming back to it while making every decision. We hiked for three days, but unfortunately got rained out a lot, so we didn’t get to do every trail we had planned.
For this blog, I will only speak to the trails we did get to go on. If you want to look for additional trails, we recommend going to Alltrails+ and searching for dog-friendly, easy, or moderate trails on there.
Day 1 - River Rose Loop Trail (4.34 miles - moderate):
This was by far the hardest, most strenuous trail we did during our trip. The entire trail essentially is a decline and then an incline, and once you are at the bottom of the decline, the only option is to go up. The total elevation gain is 904 feet. This trail is full of beautiful scenery, and the sound of the river is so serene. Even with a highly active dog, this trail is no joke and is very rocky. If your dog sometimes loses their footing or can’t jump high, I wouldn’t recommend it.
With that being said, we did pass many dogs while hiking. We took many stops to enjoy our surroundings and catch our breath, and were able to complete this trail in two and a half hours. Because it is longer, I also recommend bringing a large amount of water and, of course, a pop-up doggy bowl.
Reese and I at the overlook in Shenandoah River State Park.
Day 2 - Hemlock Hollow, Bluebell, Campground, and Overlook Trail Loop (3.43 miles - easy to moderate):
This trail is actually not in the National Park, but instead it is in Shenandoah River State Park. I highly, highly recommend stopping over to Shenandoah River State Park to go on this trail. It is a very short drive outside of the National Park and is very worth coming to. The Visitor Center is small but very clean and informative. It was also incredible seeing the river and getting to walk along it. There were flowers along the pathway, and though there was a bit of a decline and incline (371 feet total), there was a lot of flat walking as well.
This is ranked moderate on Alltrails+, but even my mom said it was not as difficult as a moderate trail like the River Rose Loop Trail. We finished this trail in about an hour and twenty minutes, and nearing the end is a stunning overlook you can’t miss. On this day, we got rained out later, so I was so thankful we made it to this trail and got to experience such amazing views and scenery.
Reese and I on Blackrock Summit.
Day 3 - Blackrock Summit via Trayfoot Mountain and Appalachian Trail (1.3 miles - easy):
This was the easiest trail we went on and is even advertised to children, and it was also the most gorgeous trail we went on during our trip, with the most incredible view. I would have skipped all the overlooks we stopped at if I had known about this view sooner. We were supposed to go on a longer, more difficult trail, but we switched last minute to this one, and it was the best decision we made the entire trip. Blackrock Summit is easy to reach, and once you’re there, it’s amazing.
Since there is a pathway that goes through the rock as well, it isn’t dangerous to walk on and feels very safe. There are connecting trails, so you can make this hike longer if you want to, but there were a lot of rocks, and it is at a decline, so Reese was too scared, and we immediately headed back to the easier path. The only thing to note is that there are a lot of holes made from the rocks, making great snake homes (something the family next to us said they had seen the day before), so it is important to just stay aware!
Reese and I at Fisher’s Gap Overlook. She is exhausted after the Rose River Loop Trail.
Where to Go
Of course, the hikes are only one of the main attractions at Shenandoah National Park. The other is Skyline Drive. To drive along the entire thing, it may take one to two hours, but it truly doesn’t feel like it because of the environment along the entire drive and stopping at overlooks. For overlooks, we ended up stopping at quite a few, including but not limited to:
Fisher’s Gap Overlook
Tanners Ridge Overlook
Range View Overlook
These were all breathtaking, and while I am a planner, I couldn’t help but continuously pull over to individual overlooks just to see the view from every angle. Another perk of the park is how many options there are for food and souvenirs. For food, we stopped at the Harry F. Byrd Sr. Visitor Center, Elkwallow Wayside, and Lewis Mountain.
The Harry F. Byrd Sr. Visitor Center is the main visitor center and is also where you can receive a B.A.R.K. Ranger tag. The Elkwallow Wayside was a bit smaller, but equally as convenient for a bathroom and food stop. Lewis Mountain is a cabin site with a site store, and for a quick souvenir or more of a camping snack, it was very convenient. A massive perk for us was their vegetarian options. I was very surprised and pleased that they had a vegetarian burger as well as so many vegetarian snack options. If you’re a vegetarian, you’re in luck, because the burger here isn’t just for show since it was also delicious!
Inside The Lady Jane, a dog-friendly shop in Harrisonburg.
Extra Stops
Since we stayed in Harrisonburg, we made it a point to eat food from there as well as explore some of the local shops. Some highlights in town were Hokkaido, Broad Porch Coffee, Shops at Agora, and The Lady Jane. We had Hokkaido for dinner on the first night of our trip, and it was so fresh and yummy. Side note: They are not dog-friendly for those looking for a sit-down dinner.
Broad Porch Coffee, on the other hand, is dog-friendly and was also very much up to par. They have a big outdoor, covered seating area where dogs are allowed to sit, and their drinks were worth the price and very refreshing. The interior and design were also very cute.
As for shopping, I don’t believe Shops at Agora is dog-friendly, but Reese stayed in the car during that trip to take an extra nap before hiking. The shops in the store are beyond cute, diverse, and great for personal shopping or gift shopping.
Our favorite stop has to be The Lady Jane, though. They were dog-friendly, and not only that, but everyone in the store loved Reese. I did pick her up to peruse the store, but they said dogs are allowed to walk around as well. Everything in the store was so cute, and we ended up purchasing multiple things. The employee could not have been nicer as well. If you’re staying in Harrisonburg and looking to add a little bit of casual city exploring to your itinerary, I highly recommend stopping into these gems of stores and restaurants.
Full Itinerary
Everyone’s trips look different and can be adjusted to best fit their furry companion, but I hope this gave a base outline for a great trip by itself! For our full itinerary, including driving time, please see below. We hope to see you on our next trip!
Our full Shenandoah itinerary.
