For many, fall means back to school. And it should for dog owners as well. A
college is a great place to look for a canine hike when you are traveling. You will
find many a campus to be dog-friendly. The best time to visit with your dog is early
on a weekend day or when school is not in session. At smaller colleges you can
maneuver your dog unobtrusively around campus most any time. Here are some of
my favorite campus canine hikes:
Swarthmore College - Swarthmore, Pennsylvania
Scott Arboretum - Route 320 north from I-95
The 300-acre Swarthmore campus is advanced to be an arboretum, established in
1929 as a living memorial to Arthur Hoyt Scott, Class of 1895. Stop in the office to
pick up a tour map to the collections that are integrated with the stone structure of
the college that date to 1864. A dog-friendly campus, you'll find dog water bowls at
the drinking fountains as you travel among the 3,000 separate kinds of plants. You
can conclude your tour in Crum Woods where your dog can go under voice operate on
the rolling dirt paths. You can actually spend an hour or more with your dog exploring
these trails.
West Virginia University - Morgantown, West Virginia
Core Arboretum - Monongahela Boulevard, next to the football stadium
The 91-acre Core Arboretum on the campus of West Virginia University is named for
Earl Lemley Core, the Mountain State's prominent botanist, one-time mayor of
Morgantown and faculty member at Wvu for 44 years. Students began advent to
the small forest in the early 1900s and the school acquired the asset in 1948. Its
steep slopes negated development and today visitors (free admission and parking
right at the arboretum) can enjoy the old increase forest that covers the hillsides as it
sweeps down to the Monongahela River.
There are 3.5 miles of trails for canine hiking that begin in an upper lawn sprinkled
with native specimen trees. The trail drops some 200 feet to the river, past trees
estimated at 400 years old. Look for specks of black rock that are remnants of an
old coal mine that once operated here. The forest changes blend as it nears
the floodplain and thirstier species like silver maples begin to dominate the
landscape. The Caperton Trail, an old rail-to-trail, crosses the park for longer
explorations of West Virginia's fifth largest city.
Duke University - Durham, North Carolina
Duke Forest - research Drive off Erwin Road from Nc 751
College planners began buying up small farms and forestland as a buffer for the
Duke campus in the 1920s. The lands have now evolved into the Duke Forest with
nearly 8,000 acres spread across six divisions. Much of the canine hiking is easy
going in the woods is through airy pine trees, along with stately loblollies and
majestic white pines.
Although there are few footpaths in the Duke forest there are more than 30 miles of
old woodland roads to travel on. There is also a three-mile graded loop used as a
cross-county procedure that winds through the woods around the campus golf procedure
that makes an ideal one-hour canine hike.
College of the Siskiyous - Weed, California
Bear Trail - College Avenue off I-5
The College of the Siskiyous was founded in 1957 at the base of free-standing Mt.
Shasta - the second top volcano in the Lower 48 at over 14,000 feet. The Bear
Creek Trail - so named for the many black bear sightings near the path - is 1.7
miles and easy going on level dirt through a shady forest. The trailhead is within 20
feet of the college sign at the entry parking lot. The trail is extremely paw-
friendly and often padded by pine straw. In increasing to the easy-to-follow main
trail, there are some forks where you can expand your canine hiking day. Enjoy a
stroll through the 250-acre campus after you conclude the Bear Trail.
Cornell University - Ithaca, New York
Cornell Plantations - Judd Falls Road off Route 366
According to the arboretum brochure, "The name Plantations was coined by Cornell
University professor freedom Hyde Bailey (1858-1954), who is often called the father
of American horticulture. Bailey understood a plantation to be 'a large group of
plants, especially trees, under cultivation.'" The Plantations welcome visitors year-
round, are free and open sunrise to sunset. Dogs are allowed.
The trails are divided in the middle of cultivated collections and natural areas, spread
across rolling terrain. The natural areas contain over 3,000 acres of diverse habitats
- bogs, fens, gorges, glens, meadows and woodlands - as trails roughly trace Falls
Creek. Nearby, an additional one four miles of woodland trails beckon in Sapsucker Woods,
maintained by the Cornell Ornithology Department, by dogs are not permitted in
this sanctuary.
Clemson University - Clemson, South Carolina
The Simpson Agricultural center in the middle of Pendleton and Anderson on Lebanon
Road
This is a spacious farm owned by the university and a great place to hike with your
dog. Foot travel is invited and there are lots of separate terrains to pick from -
woods, ponds, miles of level gravel roads, and huge fields for your dog to run in. On
a clear day there are beautiful vistas of the mountains. It's a great, off the leash,
unfettered walk with your dog!
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