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Shenandoah National ParkA ranger and students discuss habitats during an education program in the park.
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Shenandoah National Park
Pets
A beautiful dog!
NPS photo
There are many miles of trails in Shenandoah for you and your pet to enjoy.
Pet owners have the special responsibility of following park rules for pets. Pets must be on a leash at all times in the park. Pets are allowed in campgrounds and in a limited number of lodging rooms at Skyland Resort but not in other lodging units. Pets should not be left unattended at camp or in vehicles.

Your pet is allowed on most trails, if he/she is on a 6-foot lead. But a few trails are rocky, or designed for family groups; and one trail is ADA accessible. For the protection of the park and the safety of others, a few trails, listed here from north to south, are not open to pets:

- Fox Hollow Nature Trail (mile 4.6)
- Traces Trail (mile 22.02)
- Stony Man Nature Trail (mile 41.7)
- Limberlost Trail (milepost 43)
- Old Rag Ridge Trail
- Ragged Run Trail
- Old Rag Saddle Trail (above Old Rag Shelter)
- Dark Hollow Falls Trail (mile 50.7)
- Story of the Forest Nature Trail (milepost 51)
- Bearfence Mountain Trail (mile 56.4)
- Frazier Discovery Trail (mile 79.5)

Even though it may appear long, this list totals fewer than 20 miles of the 500 miles of trails in the park!

Herbert and Lou Henry Hoover sitting on the porch of the Brown House at Rapidan Camp in Shenandoah National Park.  

Did You Know?
In 1928, wanting to escape the heat and humidity of summers in Washington, D.C., Herbert and Lou Henry Hoover began looking for a "summer place" within a day's drive of the city. The Hoovers acquired land within the proposed Shenandoah National Park and built Rapidan Camp, their summer White House.

Last Updated: April 17, 2008 at 07:54 EST