Dog Friendly City Guide: Phoenix, USA

Phoenix is a desert city that never quite lets go of the desert. Mountain preserves rise inside the city limits, red sandstone buttes sit a few minutes from downtown, and a dog that has only known city parks finds itself on trails through saguaro and palo verde with the skyline still in view. From late autumn to spring the place is close to perfect for a dog: bright, dry and warm enough for long mornings on the trail and long afternoons on a brewery patio. Summer is another matter, and the city's own rules say so, which is why the best Phoenix trips with a dog run from October to April.

Getting There With a Dog

Arriving from abroad, your dog has to meet the rules of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and they depend on where it has been. A dog that has spent the last six months only in dog rabies-free or low-risk countries must appear healthy on arrival, be at least six months old, carry a microchip a universal scanner can read, and travel with a receipt for a CDC Dog Import Form, one form per dog. The CDC suggests completing it a few days or up to six months before you fly. A dog that has been in any high-risk country for dog rabies in that time faces stricter requirements, and an unvaccinated dog from one of those countries will not be let in at all, so start with the CDC's own dog importation pages well before you book.

Most dogs arrive at Phoenix Sky Harbor or by car. The airport has animal relief areas after security in both Terminal 3 and Terminal 4, plus outdoor ones by the terminals: the Paw Pad outside Terminal 3 in the West Plaza, and the Boneyard just outside baggage claim on the west side of Terminal 4. Phoenix is a driving city, and a car is the easy way to reach the trailheads.

Where to Stay

Compare all three on our ranked dog friendly hotels in Phoenix.

Kimpton Hotel Palomar Phoenix Cityscape holds a B and is the one to book for a big dog, or for anyone who would rather not pay a pet fee. Dogs stay free, there is no weight limit, and most of the rooms take them. The room comes with a dog bed and bowls, treats are free, and the team will point you to walks and to an emergency vet if you need one. Your dog is welcome on the terrace and in the lounge, and the hotel sits downtown on East Jefferson Street, a short drive or a long walk from Hance Park's dog run.

The Hermosa Inn also holds a B. It was once the home of the 1930s cowboy artist Lon Megargee, and its casitas sit in gardens and desert planting with views of Camelback Mountain, with beehive fireplaces, private patios and his paintings on the walls. This is a rare hotel that lets a dog come along to the bar, the restaurant, the terrace, the lounge and the garden, so dinner at LON's need not mean leaving anyone behind. Rooms have a dog bed and bowls, dog walking can be arranged, and the staff will suggest walks. The fee is $100 a stay, and the inn takes one dog of up to 50 pounds.

Embassy Suites Phoenix Biltmore, ranked D, is the practical choice on Camelback Road for two dogs. Most rooms take dogs, there is a dedicated dog space and a garden, poo bags are supplied, and dog walking can be arranged. The fee is $125, non refundable, plus a $50 a day deposit.

Eat and Drink

Phoenix eats outdoors for most of the year, and the patio is where dogs belong here. Original Gravity, a craft beer bar and scratch kitchen on North 12th Street, lists its dog friendly patio alongside its twenty rotating taps, so a pint and a plate come with the dog under the table. Downtown, Pedal Haus Brewery answers the question on its own page: leashed dogs are welcome on its patio on Roosevelt Row, in the middle of the arts district, which makes it an easy stop after a stroll past the murals.

The Main Ingredient Ale House on North 7th Street has an expansive outdoor patio and says plainly that dogs are welcome, and it is a relaxed neighbourhood place for a long lunch. Further north, 32 Shea works out of an old 1980s photo drive-through and turns from espresso bar by day into a small dinner lounge after three. Its lush, dog friendly patio, with a fountain in a Zen garden, is the reason to go.

For a bigger, louder afternoon, O.H.S.O. Paradise Valley near Tatum and Shea calls itself a family friendly, dog friendly restaurant, with its own beer and spirits and a patio for happy hour. And in Arcadia, Sip Coffee & Beer on East Indian School Road is a coffee shop by morning and a tap house by evening, where its regulars note that dogs are welcome.

Walks and Parks

The city looks after more trail than most dogs will ever finish, and its hiking and trails pages are the place to start. Papago Park, minutes from downtown, has no animal restrictions and the gentlest walks in town. The Hole-in-the-Rock Trail is only 0.2 miles, wrapping round the butte to a wind carved window over the city, and the Crosscut Canal Trail runs 1.4 miles along a wide canal bank past the Desert Botanical Garden and the Phoenix Zoo.

South Mountain Park/Preserve covers more than 16,000 acres across three ranges, with over 100 miles of trail. The National Trail and the Ma-Ha-Tauk Trail, which shares its name with one of the park's three ranges, are the two to look for on the trail map. Dobbins Lookout, at 2,330 feet, is the highest point open to the public and looks out over the whole Valley.

North of downtown, the Piestewa Peak and Dreamy Draw area opens into dozens of miles of multi-use trail through quiet desert valleys. Dogs are welcome on the L.V. Yates Trail and the loops around the Phoenix Mountains Preserve, but the city prohibits them year round on the Piestewa Peak Summit Trail itself.

On the northern edge, the Sonoran Preserve covers more than 9,600 acres with 36 miles of trail from three trailheads, and Deem Hills adds almost 1,000 acres of desert known for its dark volcanic rock, with the Deem Hills East Trail on the hill and a dog park beside it.

When a dog needs to run free, the city's off-leash dog parks are all fenced with double gates. Steele Indian School Park has 72 acres of grass and shade trees in central Phoenix with small and large dog parks, open from 6am to 10pm, and downtown Margaret T. Hance Park sits on top of the I-10 tunnel, 32 acres with its own dog park, the Japanese Friendship Garden and the central library around it.

A Day Out

Start early at Papago Park while the rock is still cool. Walk the Hole-in-the-Rock Trail for the view, then follow the Crosscut Canal Trail along the water towards the Botanical Garden and back. Drive into town for lunch on the patio at Original Gravity, and give the dog the hottest hours back at the hotel.

In the late afternoon, head downtown to Roosevelt Row, look at the murals, and settle on the Pedal Haus patio as the light goes. If there is energy left, finish at the Hance Park dog run, which stays open until 10.30pm, a short drive from the Palomar.

Good to Know

Heat is the rule that matters most. Under the city code, dogs are not allowed on Phoenix trails when the temperature is above 100°F, and on any warm day the city asks you to carry water for the dog, choose a trail to suit its age and breed, and stay on the marked path, away from cactus and wildlife. A leash six feet or shorter is required on the trails, and outside fenced dog parks the Phoenix leash law applies at all times. Dogs are prohibited year round on every Camelback Mountain trail and on the Piestewa Peak Summit Trail. The dog parks close in turn through the summer for turf recovery, so check the city's dog park page before you go; they admit only licensed, vaccinated dogs over four months old, no female dogs in heat, and ask that children under twelve stay outside the fence, and Maricopa County requires dogs in the county to be licensed.