Ethan Allen Homestead

Behind the intervale is a trail system and several large fields. Many of the trails run along the Winooski River. This is a trail best avoided in the spring thaw, as it is incredibly muddy and wet. Also, if walking in the early summer, make sure to bring some bug spray. The mosquitos will eat you alive.

Digital Park

Also known as "The Whale Tales", this is the park that can be spotted from 89 with the whale tails on top of a hill. Digital Park is a grassy field that is well-loved by many pups and is a great place to romp around in summer, fall or winter. Spring is ridiculously muddy, and probably should be avoided. At one end of the larger loop is a pond? water run-off? pool that pups can go swimming in. At another side is a stream that also offers a quick dip and drink during the summer.

Length: Maybe about a mile around the loop?

Directions:

Colchester Pond

What a beautiful pond! We just found this walk recently, and it is sure to be a fast favorite. The trail goes around the pond, through woods and fields, and loops back up. Although pets must be leashed at all times, we ran into a couple pups that were cheerfully bounding through the trails off-leash. Although I can tell it may be muddy at times, trail maintenance has obviously been well-done, and a series of plank walkways help protect the trails.

Length: 2 1/2 mile loop around the Pond

Directions:

East Woods

East Woods is part of a trail system (I believe) maintained by the University of Vermont. It is wooded and quiet for being as close to Rt. 7 as it is. A stream runs through the woods, and is a welcome dip in the hotter months. This is a far more hilly ramble than some of the others in the Burlington-area, and there are a couple scrambles up and down the loop that make for a nice diversion.

Length:

Directions: From Main Street in Burlington take Spear Street south for 1.1 miles. At the traffic light turn right onto Swift Street. Look for the East Woods sign 0.2 miles on the right. Cars can be parked here at the small pull-off area. The trail system begins just behind the sign.

Red Rocks

No listing of Chittenden County walks could be complete without Red Rocks. Bordering on Lake Champlain, Red Rocks is a well-known place to walk with your pup. Trees shelter the trails in both the summer and winter, and the trail is clear and wide. Although dogs are required to be on leash at all times, almost everyone lets their dogs off-leash -- caution in the summer when cars drive through the first portion down to the lake! The back end of the trails can be somewhat squishy in the early spring, but because of the figure-8 design of the trails, it is easy to avoid these sections. Parking is just outside the park's gates, although during the summer, this parking is only free after 7pm and before... an earlier time (I'll check on this and update later). There is lake access through the beach, and long grassy sections that are great for playing ball or frisbee.

Length: I've seen listings of Red Rocks before that put the distance at about 3 miles. Although this seems a little long to me, by varying the loops you can certainly make the distance anywhere between about 3/4 a mile or longer.

Directions:

Welcome to Pup Play Vermont!

While chatting about pup-friendly summer hikes with the folks in South Burlington's Pet Food Warehouse, we began to wonder why there wasn't a comprehensive site of places to walk your dog in Vermont. And while we may not have the capability to do all sorts of website goodies, with your help we can certainly make this a great place to go to check out information on local trails!

Please feel free to post with comments about any of the trails listed. Although I haven't scouted around this site enough yet to know if there is a "guest post" option, ideally this will be an open forum for people to post notes, directions to and pictures of some of the great pup-friendly trails and rambles in Vermont.

Although we are located in Chittenden County and (in an effort to conserve natural resources) would like to focus on the potential areas in our own backyard, we also like to get out around the state and surrounding area, and may post information about these hikes as well.

Looking forward to seeing you out and about!
Hannah, Christine, and Gracie