RB1

I'm trying to find hiking trails or any fun places to explore with our dog on long island (within 1 hr from city limits, preferably).

Searching the internet was surprisingly futile - I only found hiking CLUBS or hiking maps to BUY.
We did find one interesting park near Oyster Bay, but when we got there - were disappointed that they allowed HORSES but not DOGS!!!All the beaches don't allow dogs either...

We are running out of ideas.
***PLEASE HELP***

nytraveler

Sorry - I don;t think any of the large parks in Nassau allow dogs - and I know they're strictly forbidden at all the beachs - for obvious reasons. Some of the smaller town parks may allow dogs on a leash - try looking at the various town web sites - but I don;t think that will meet your requirements.

You might do better at some of the state parks upstate that are less crowded - but I think the dog will always have to be leashed.

nytraveler

Sorry - have you checked out Bear Mt State Park - that only about an hour from the city.

RB1

Thank you!
When we used to live on the west side, our favorite hiking was in Harriman park (wilder than Bear Mt). When we moved, b/c we couldn't find anything on LI, we explored some great places along Hutchinson (like Caramoor).

But I still feel that I'm missing some dog-friendly places on LI, which will be so much easier for us to drive to...

(BTW, the beaches on Fire Island allow dogs, and the dog owners maintain a spotless beautiful beach, so for me the restrictions are not so obvious....) But Fire Island is for longer getaways and for deeper pockets at this point.

I didn't even know that Nassau parks don't allow dogs. How unfair.

I'm still wondering what other dog- owners do for their pooches to bring them closer to nature on LI...

Any more suggestions please??

nytraveler

I actually grew up on Long Island and the parks did once - 25 years ago or so - allow dogs. But with the population constantly growing and an increasing incidence of dog-related incidents they eventualy decided to ban them completely. Unfortunately the relatively few owners who refused to control their dogs in public ruined it for everyone else.

RB1

Interesting, I would have thought that as penalties grew and dog-owners became more conscientious about picking after their dogs, that the restrictions would ease up...

So I guess I'll have to inform the family that tomorrow we'll go back to our old spots, now thru whitestone and then the cross bronx - 1.5 hrs at least each way just to enjoy a bit of nature.

If you do think of some boardwalk, a nice town park or anyplace else, plz be so kind and let us know. Thnx.

cigalechanta

try , the "dog park" forum on delphi

cigalechanta

about forum, sorry.
http://forums.about.com/ab-dogs/messages/?msg=10510.1

RB1

thank you cigalechanta for the link, I did explore it, searched the website, had some promising leads about LI and pets but it did not materialize as the end result was only about vets and shelters on LI. I did, however, bookmarked the forum for future use, so thanks!

cigalechanta

post your question there. someone will answer.

gail

I agree that dog owners have become more conscientious about their pets - but another take is that cities and towns will see the improved situation and say - "see, dog bans work" without giving credit to dog owners. All it takes is one owner leaving dog poop on the beach or one dog stealing someones sandwich and restrictions tighten up - it does not matter if 2 million dog owners behave.

nytraveler

RB1

Sorry if I was unclear - the incidents that caused dogs to be banned were not poop problems but biting problems. Initially people could let their dogs roam free in the wilder areas of the parks - and some did it with dogs that were unrelaible and there were numerous incidents of people being either bitten or frightened by other's dogs.

(We actually had a problem where a doberman owned by some nut tried to attack our dog even after we had picked her up and started to walk away. He tried to blame it on us because our dog - chasing a ball - ran too close to his. He couldn;t understand that a dog that territorial had no business in a public park.)

So the county first demanded all dogs be leashed. When that didn;t stop the incidents they finally ended up baning dogs completely.