Hiking with Dogs

Dogs are permitted along most of the Trail, but they impose additional responsibilities on hikers who bring them along. If you want to hike with your dog, be considerate of others (and your dog) by planning carefully, educating yourself about local regulations, and keeping your dog controlled at all times.

Regulations and restrictions

Dogs are NOT ALLOWED in three areas along the Trail:

• Baxter State Park, Maine
• Bear Mountain State Park Trailside Museum and Wildlife Center, New York—alternate road walk is available
• Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee and North Carolina

Leashes ARE REQUIRED on more than 40 percent of the Trail, including:

• Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, Pennsylvania and New Jersey
• Maryland (entire state)
• Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, West Virginia
• Shenandoah National Park, Virginia
• Blue Ridge Parkway, Virginia
• 500+ miles of A.T. land administered by the National Park Service

In practice, it can be difficult to tell when you are on NPS-administered A.T. lands. We recommend dogs be leashed at all times, as a matter of courtesy to other hikers and to minimize stress to wildlife.

Trail ethics for dogs and their owners

People hiking with dogs should be aware of the impact of their animals on the Trail environment and their effect on the Trail experience of others.

• Do not allow your pet to chase wildlife.
• Leash your dog around water sources and in sensitive alpine areas.
• Do not allow your dog to stand in springs or other sources of drinking water.
• Be mindful of the rights of other hikers not to be bothered by even a friendly dog.
• Bury your pet's waste as you would your own.
• Take special measures at shelters. Leash your dog in the shelter area, and ask permission of other hikers before allowing your dog in a shelter. Be prepared to "tent out" when a shelter is crowded, and on rainy days.

More information

Hiking with Fido (PDF), an article by veterinarian Tom Grenell, an experienced long-distance hiker who has logged several thousand trail miles with his dogs.

Visiting Parks with Your Pets—information from the National Park Service about restrictions on pets in the parks, and the reasons behind them.

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