Dog-friendly hiking areas close to SLC (Millcreek, Alta: dog friendly, medical, snake)

[kletter1mann]

First, I admit I haven't done much research on this. My bad. Anyway, last winter I noted that dogs seemed to be banned from some (many? all?) of the major trails off LCC and BCC. The reason, I guess, is because the runoff ends up in the SLC water supply. I also had people tell me it's not cool to pee in the woods at AltaBird for the same reason - the only ski areas in the world that I've heard of with a no-pee-in-the-woods ethos.

Can anybody briefly summarize what the dog story is along the Wasatch Front? Thanks!

[UTES]

Some good info here:

Utah Dog Parks

Bill

[skibarbie]

Watershed purity is the reason for no dogs and no peeing ehile you are skiing in the woods too. Alta and the Bird along with Brighton and Solitude all have signs asking us to behave when it comes to using the restrooms. I know where all the bathrooms are at the CC resorts and use them M-F from November through April and my ski husbands do too. You may feel differently when you get moved about keeping the watersheds as clean as possible.
Millcreek Canyon has an odd/even dog policy as that water is not used for culinary purposes nor is Emigration Creek-yet.
As you have posted previously, we are in a desert with finite resourses and I imagine before I am dead, that Millcreek and Emigration will both be harnessed for the growing masses...I will hate that for my nice little patio creekfront reading spot....

[kletter1mann]

Originally Posted by skibarbie

Watershed purity is the reason for no dogs and no peeing ehile you are skiing in the woods too. >>>snip<<<
Millcreek Canyon has an odd/even dog policy as that water is not used for culinary purposes nor is Emigration Creek-yet.

Thanks much. Makes sense for #2, which can have all kind of bad stuff. Makes much less sense for urine, however, which is sterile (unless the organism has serious medical problems) and is consumed very fast by the environment if there's any moisture.

Anyway, back to dogs. Is there a no-dogs policy everywhere in the SLC watershed or Forest Service land? Or are there places that dogs are OK? How to look this up?

[skibarbie]

Http://backcountrypost.com/forum/thr...s-in-utah.239/

I am not very sophisticated in the cut/paste business but I googled "dog friendly in Utah Canyons" if the the link I posted above doesn't work as well as I intended...

[kavm]

I do not know much about the official policies, as we do not own a dog. However, in our hikes - Bonneville shoreline trail on either side of emigration canyon as well as the various hiking trails - we come across dogs and dog owners frequently. Both are typically well behaved. Some keep the dogs on leash (which is preferred from our point of view, but perhaps not dogs') but most are unleashed. So, it hardly seems cut and dried.

One thing you might want to look into is to get your dog vaccine against rattlesnake bites as well as some training in avoiding them. That does seem to be an issue, and such training exists. If you find good training for humans, share as I'd not mind it attending it either

[kletter1mann]

Originally Posted by skibarbie

Http://backcountrypost.com/forum/thr...s-in-utah.239/

I am not very sophisticated in the cut/paste business but I googled "dog friendly in Utah Canyons" if the the link I posted above doesn't work as well as I intended...

Great link, thanks!