View Full Version : SOBO bypassing SMNP with dogs
madeformisery
08-31-2015, 20:07
I'm hiking sobo on the at soon and was wondering if anyone knew how I could bypass SMNP cause they don't allow dogs. I do not want to kennel or shuttle my dog. Can I get some info on how to bypass the smokies please
Sent from my ALCATEL ONETOUCH P310A using Tapatalk
Slo-go'en
09-01-2015, 09:44
A kennel or shuttle is your only real option. You could try to hitch hike around (but it's a long way around, look at a map). There is no practical way to hike around the park, that would be about a 150 mile road walk.
Gambit McCrae
09-01-2015, 10:34
Option 1- Shuttle you and dog around the park
Option 2- I see your from Va, Could you have anyone close to the park that could watch your dog while your in the park?
Option 3-Kennel Dog (its expensive in the area)
wannahike
09-01-2015, 11:12
JUST WOW you really just told someone to lie, I hope you don't have kids.\
"Option 4 could you possibly use your dog for comfort due to PTSD? Service dogs are allowed in the park" Gambit McCrae
https://adata.org/learn-about-ada
A service animal means any dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability, including a physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual, or other mental disability. Tasks performed can include, among other things, pulling a wheelchair, retrieving dropped items, alerting a person to a sound, reminding a person to take medication, or pressing an elevator button.
Emotional support animals, comfort animals, and therapy dogs are not service animals under Title II and Title III of the ADA. Other species of animals, whether wild or domestic, trained or untrained, are not considered service animals either. The work or tasks performed by a service animal must be directly related to the individual’s disability. It does not matter if a person has a note from a doctor that states that the person has a disability and needs to have the animal for emotional support. A doctor’s letter does not turn an animal into a service animal.
Gambit McCrae
09-01-2015, 11:28
I wasn't telling him to lie, I was under the impression that PTSD fell under the acceptable list of service dogs.
I was trying to be respectful in case the OP was using the animal as a service provider. You need to chill out
WannaHike sounds like a dramagirl!!
Gambit McCrae
09-01-2015, 11:34
I wasn't telling him to lie, I was under the impression that PTSD fell under the acceptable list of service dogs.
I was trying to be respectful in case the OP was using the animal as a service provider. You need to chill out
WannaHike sounds like a dramagirl!!
Nope I was right, service dogs are allowed. I hope you don't have kids....
Service dogs in the smokies (http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/archive/index.php/t-100449.html)
gpburdelljr
09-01-2015, 11:39
The OP never even hinted at having PTSD.
wannahike
09-01-2015, 11:43
Well, maybe you just misread the post, they asked how to get around the park not how to get around the park regulations.
And service dogs are allowed in the park, I didn't say that they weren't but emotional support dogs are not service dogs under the Americans with Disabilities act.
And posts here on White Blaze don't trump the actual law.
squeezebox
09-01-2015, 11:45
Are dogs also banned in the tourist parts of the Smokies? Or is the dog ban only for the back woods?
Gambit McCrae
09-01-2015, 11:53
Dogs are allowed on 2 short trails in the park, and on concrete surfaces so to speak.
madeformisery
09-01-2015, 12:23
A kennel or shuttle is your only real option. You could try to hitch hike around (but it's a long way around, look at a map). There is no practical way to hike around the park, that would be about a 150 mile road walk.
Kenneling or shuttling will not be an option because all our funds are for resupply. 150 miles of road walk sounds like our only legal option. Are there regulations on pitching a tent off the roadway? Not right on the side of the road but like off the road a ways in the woods or something?
Sent from my ALCATEL ONETOUCH P310A
Gambit McCrae
09-01-2015, 12:56
You will be able to hitch. When are you planning to be there?
madeformisery
09-01-2015, 13:05
You will be able to hitch. When are you planning to be there?
Hopefully around the second week of October. My wife, myself, and our two 10 month old male Shepard/huskie mix will be departing Waynesboro va around September 20th
Sent from my ALCATEL ONETOUCH P310A
WingedMonkey
09-01-2015, 13:05
I'm hiking sobo on the at soon and was wondering if anyone knew how I could bypass SMNP cause they don't allow dogs. I do not want to kennel or shuttle my dog. Can I get some info on how to bypass the smokies please
Sent from my ALCATEL ONETOUCH P310A using Tapatalk
Southbound from where? and when?
madeformisery
09-01-2015, 13:07
Southbound from where? and when?
Waynesboro va around Sept 20.
Sent from my ALCATEL ONETOUCH P310A
HooKooDooKu
09-01-2015, 14:01
Are dogs also banned in the tourist parts of the Smokies? Or is the dog ban only for the back woods?
GSMNP Pet Regulations (http://www.nps.gov/grsm/planyourvisit/pets.htm)
It basically breaks down to dogs ON A LEASH are permitted in front country areas but not back country areas. There are two hiking trails that are an exception:
Gatlinburg Trail (trail between Gatlinburg and Sugarland Visitor's Center),
Oconaluftee River Trail (trail between Cherokee and Oconaluftee Visitor's Center)
I'm hiking sobo on the at soon and was wondering if anyone knew how I could bypass SMNP cause they don't allow dogs. I do not want to kennel or shuttle my dog. Can I get some info on how to bypass the smokies please
Sent from my ALCATEL ONETOUCH P310A using Tapatalk
Why not take the BMT?
Why not take the BMT?
the BMT also goes through the Park...............
madeformisery
09-04-2015, 14:46
the BMT also goes through the Park...............
So dogs are allowed on that trail?
Sent from my ALCATEL ONETOUCH P310A
So dogs are allowed on that trail?
Sent from my ALCATEL ONETOUCH P310A
no............
what im saying is since the AT goes through the Park and the OP can't take a dog through on that trail, and the suggestion was to take the BMT instead, but if the BMT also goes through the Park, it would make sense that dogs are not allowed on that trail as well............
that's the part of the BMT that goes through the Park............rest of trail Im not sure of except in national forest parts, dogs are allowed.............
madeformisery
09-04-2015, 15:27
Yea that's the same thought I had, confused for a minute. I'm Ok with hiking the road if I have to.
Sent from my ALCATEL ONETOUCH P310A
that's going to be a long walk comprising of various roads in that area...........
you could probably hitch your way across..............
Slo-go'en
09-04-2015, 21:23
that's going to be a long walk comprising of various roads in that area...........
you could probably hitch your way across..............
The OP apparently hasn't looked at a map yet :) I'd guess at least a week, ten days if one were to walk the whole way. They'll just have to pick option 1, 2 or 3 when they get there.
onecamper
09-11-2015, 22:16
10 month old dog? Not old enough to be a trail dog, imnsho.
squeezebox
09-12-2015, 02:48
Way cheaper to shuttle or kennel than to road walk. What about road walk safety issues?
Way cheaper to shuttle or kennel than to road walk. What about road walk safety issues?
Like what? Plenty of people walk /jog along roads every day just fine, not to mention all the trails that have road walking sections.
I grew up near the smokies, then is no feasable way to walk around the park. The road on the north end of the park that the trail croses is Interstate 40. Your not going to be road walking that. Using a kennel service and you walking thru the park or getting yourself and the dogs shuttled around the park are your only real options here. Not trying to be an ass about it, but I also dont want you planning on options that arent going to pan out for you.
Slo-go'en
09-12-2015, 17:08
There is a way to bypass I40, but it means taking a dirt road which crosses into the park for a while and you have to go around south of the park, through Cherokee. I suppose they could get away with that. Still, one heck of a road walk. I wouldn't want to do it. Much of it probably doesn't have any shoulder and has many blind corners.
Ya, could walking around be done, Im sure there is some way to do it, but you would have to spend more time planning out that then you would the entire rest of your trip. Road walking around also more times then not you wouldnt have places to be able to camp. Plus id say it would probably take around 2 weeks to walk around. If the op chooses to try to do it I wish them the best of luck, but I would never try it and Im from that area and know it that area well.