“We’re Sherpas, but for a dog” - Tim

Big Bend National Park and Big Bend State Park took a bit of planning to make the most of… especially with a dog! Big Bend was the first National Park stop on our RV trip so we had a few things to figure out. To complicate matters even more we were interested in taking a day trip into Mexico.

Dogs in National Parks

The first thing we did was buy the “America the Beautiful Pass”. Before even arriving at Big Bend we knew we’d planned out enough National Park stops that the season pass would make sensem.Dogs in national parks? Turns out it can be a bit of a headache. Overall, if you’re visiting a national park you have to assume dogs are not allowed on certain hikes unless specifically stated. That meant that going forward we’d have to find a Rover to watch Pepper for the days we wanted to spend hiking.

Big Bend State Park with a Dog

Specific to Big Bend, we were interested in taking a day trip into Mexico. What do you do with a dog when you want to pop into a mexican town for lunch and a margarita? While the Mexican day trip is really the only dog-friendly activity in the  National Park, there are two dog-friendly hikes in Big Bend State Park. As we enjoyed one of the most scenic drives of the year, we pulled over to hike the Closed Canyon trail... dog friendly!