Great places to walk a dog

Greetings from the Battery!

Sage Canine Advice, by Sage Riverdog -  Feb. 12, 2012

Greetings from beautiful Charleston South Carolina, overlooking Charleston Bay.  It's hard to believe temperatures in the upper 70s in February. As you might have guessed, one of my favorite pastimes is walking, actually running when allowed.  There are so many incredible places to walk within the Catawba River District or within a short drive.  Let me share  a few of my favorites:

Latta Plantation Nature Preserve - A walking mecca, the preserve has trails from 1 mile to over 10 miles if you are so inclined. There are horses, lake views, a nature center, our Carolina Raptor Center, the historic Latta Plantation. My favorite walk is The Cove Trail. I do occasionally get to hop in the water for a quick dip. This trail goes from the nature center through forested areas and along Mountain Island Lake.

Kings Pinnacle is a hard hike with great views.

Crowders Mountain and Kings Mountain State and National Parks, just 30 minutes west. Challenging hiking, but beautiful views – be sure and bring lots of water if you choose these routes, and sign in at the ranger station. Some stretches are for serious hikers and some crazy humans who like to climb cliffs. I really don't understand why you'd want to do that! 

 U.S. National Whitewater Center - My family buys the annual parking pass, which gives us the ability to walk any of the mountain-bicycle trails. My favorite is the 3-mile loop known as the Green Trail. I meet a lot of new dogs while walking this trail. While it's busy on weekends, there aren't many people during the week so I'd recommend weekdays for walking with dogs. Watch out for the Ridgeback; he's fast and keeps up with his bicycle-riding family.

Tuck Park - Mount Holly's park on Lake Wylie has a fairly new 1-mile trail, which is officially a part of the 15-county Carolina Thread Trail network. This easy walk off Highway 273 provides river views. I'm eager for some of the other planned parts of this great trail system to be completed in the next couple years. Keep an eye out for an extension of this trail and one in Belmont connecting Belmont Abbey and North Belmont to downtown Belmont.

Little Sugar Creek Greenway - This new path just south of downtown Charlotte goes from East Boulevard through Freedom Park all the way to Park Road Shopping Center.  My family sometimes grabs a mocha at Caribou Coffee when we walk this route.

You'll sometimes see deer at UNCC!

Mallard Creek, Clarks Creek and Toby Creek Greenways in the University Area. You can easily park at Kirk Farm Fields, located on Mallard Creek Church Road near North Tryon Street. Then you can walk for miles through lots of woods, University Research Park and many neighborhoods. One new branch of this trail, called Toby Creek Greenway, takes you 2 miles through UNC Charlotte and even up to University Place. Always lots of interesting people and dogs. There are a lot of bicycles on this trail, as well.

Let me know what you think of these routes, the ones that are paved are even walkable in the rain - remember, I'm a "water" dog.  Happy Hiking!

About Sage – Sage is an 8-year-old black Labrador retriever who lives with River District Executive Director Edna Chirico and Edna’s husband, John Huber. Sage earned a Canine Good Citizen award, which allows her to visit nursing homes, hospitals and schools. Sage loves to run, fetch, swim, boat, travel in the car and play with just about anyone, especially children.