Stop 00 · Dog lodge & trail co. · Wren Creek, Colorado7,240 ft
Cabin boarding and small-group trail days in the Colorado foothills. Pickup at 7:30, six dogs to a guide, and photos of your dog on your phone by 3:30.
Dog lodge & trail co. · Est. 2014
Latest pupdate · 3 min agoDomino, Larkspur Gulch. Carried this stick for 2.1 miles. Refused all offers.Click anywhere up here to throw Scout the ball.
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Stop 01 · Basecamp7,410 ft
Basecamp is four acres of meadow and ponderosa pine at the end of Ridge Spur Road, with eight cedar cabins, a fenced half-acre yard and a lodge where a keeper sleeps every night.
Each cabin has a raised bunk, radiant floor heat and a window at dog height. Siblings bunk together. Nobody sleeps on concrete, and nobody spends the day in a run, because overnight guests join the day groups for play, walks and naps.
Tonight at Basecamp
Six of eight cabins taken. The next free night for two cabins is Thursday.
Front desk, kitchen and the keeper’s room. Dinner is served here at 6, each dog from their own bowl.
Eight cedar cabins with raised bunks, floor heat and a camera for the 7 pm bedtime photo.
Half an acre of grass behind a double fence, with shade sails, a digging pit and a wading trough.
A quarter-mile loop along Wren Creek for the evening sniff walk. Headlamps after dark.
Home of the Trail Wagons: climate-controlled vans with one crate per dog.
Our back gate opens onto the Larkspur Gulch trail, so most Trail Days start on foot.
Socialisation for puppies from 10 weeks to a year, in small groups with calm adult dogs to learn manners from.
A day at our private lake lease, with fitted life vests and swim coaching for nervous paddlers.
Small-group hikes on foothill trails, door to door, with a creek break and a nap back at Basecamp.
Peak days for dogs who are still going at dinner. Four dogs per guide, and one Trail Day first so we know their pace.
A cedar cabin of their own, two play sessions a day, an evening sniff walk and a keeper who sleeps on site.
Stop 03 · Plan a day8,150 ft
Tell us about your dog and we’ll lay out the day from pickup to drop-off, with the trail rating and the price. Share it with whoever’s paying.
Stop 04 · Sun to sun8,520 ft
A Trail Day from the dog’s side of the window, and what happens at Basecamp after dark.
Pickups across Wren Creek, Elk Meadow and Cottonwood Flats, one crate per dog.
Groups of six head out on long lines. The guide has read the weather twice.
Water, biscuits and the day’s first roll in something.
Back at Basecamp. Most dogs are asleep within twenty minutes.
Free play on a fenced half acre with shade sails and a digging pit.
Photos of your dog arrive on your phone, with a note from the guide.
Brushed, paws checked, and tired in the good way.
Your food, your portions, from your bowl if you pack it.
Each dog in their bunk, sent home before your own dinner.
One slow lap of the creek path by headlamp.
Radio low. A keeper sleeps in the lodge, forty feet away.
A quiet check of every cabin with a red light.
Breakfast, first play, and the day dogs arrive at 8:30.
Stop 05 · Pupdates8,960 ft
Every dog gets at least six photos a day. This is today’s feed so far.
Live · Basecamp
Domino border collie mix
Carried this stick for 2.1 miles. Refused all offers.
Larkspur Gulch · 3 min ago
Maple duck toller
First to the lake, and first back for the photo.
Kettle Lake · 11 min ago
Rio & Taz shepherd mixes
Matching bandanas, matching opinions about squirrels.
Basecamp · 19 min ago
Yeti samoyed
Went in white. Came out a little less white.
Kettle Lake · 27 min ago
Sage & Boone cattle dogs
Group photo, take nine. Nobody blinked this time.
Hatchet Peak trail · 38 min ago
Bruno chocolate lab
Retrieved the bumper 31 times. We stopped counting. He did not.
Kettle Lake · 46 min ago
Kiva aussie mix, 4 months
Puppy Scouts, week three. First time over the log. Nailed it.
Basecamp · just now
Waffles & Fig corgi and terrier
Short legs, big mileage.
Larkspur Gulch · just now
Bodhi springer spaniel
Hydration station, creek edition.
Wren Creek · just now
Nova shepherd mix
Waiting very patiently for the next biscuit.
Elk Meadow trail · just now
Meadow Yard six dogs at once
Afternoon zoomies. The frisbee did not survive.
Basecamp · just now
Penny mixed breed
Shoreline sprint. Personal best.
Kettle Lake · just now
Stop 06 · Guides9,330 ft
Five people, five trail dogs, a stack of first-aid certificates. Every guide is trained in pet first aid and CPR before they lead a group.
Founder and lead guide
11 years in canine search and rescue
I spent eleven years finding lost dogs on mountains. Trailhound is the opposite job, and I like it better.
Summit Days lead
7 seasons on Front Range peaks
If the clouds stack up over the divide by ten, we turn around. The summit will still be there.
Puppy Scouts lead
Certified trainer since 2017
Puppies learn more in three good hours than in three anxious weeks.
Splash Days and lodge manager
Former lifeguard, 6 summers at Kettle Lake
Half my Splash dogs couldn’t swim when they started. Now they won’t get out.
Night keeper
Veterinary technician, sleeps at Basecamp five nights a week
I do the 2 a.m. rounds. Mostly it’s snoring.
Stop 07 · Safety9,710 ft
What we need from you before the first booking, and the rules we keep without exceptions.
Six dogs per guide on Trail Days, four on Summit Days, five puppies to two guides on Puppy Scouts.
Every dog wears a GPS tag on the trail, and each guide carries a satellite messenger for places without signal.
Above 85°F at the trailhead, or on a red-flag fire day, the hike becomes a Splash Day at no extra cost.
From July to September, Summit groups are below the treeline before the afternoon storms build.
Guides carry bear spray, and dogs stay on short lines wherever moose have been seen that week.
Wren Creek Animal Hospital is on call around the clock for our dogs.
A keeper sleeps at Basecamp every night, with rounds at 11 and 2.
Stop 08 · Trail register10,080 ft
Hikers sign the register at the trailhead. So do our families.
Aug 14
Moose Bernese, 4
Summit Days
Moose came home and slept for fourteen hours. The pupdate had him on a ridge I’ve never had the legs for. Regular walks are ruined for him now.
Sep 2
Pepper heeler mix, 2
Trail Days
Pepper is scared of men in hats. Theo worked that out in ten minutes, took his cap off and sat in the dirt until she came to him. She now runs to the Trail Wagon.
Jun 28
Lou & Gus dachshunds, 7 and 9
Basecamp, 9 nights
We were abroad for a wedding and got a photo at seven every evening: both of them in one bunk, every night, though they had two. By night two we’d stopped checking our phones.
Jul 19
Juniper husky, 6
Splash Days
Juniper wouldn’t put a paw in our lake. Three Splash Days in a vest with Cal, and she’s the one dragging the whole group in.
May 6
Ollie golden, 5 months
Puppy Scouts
We started Scouts at fourteen weeks. He has crossed a grated bridge, met a llama over a fence and comes back on the first whistle. Our vet asked who taught his recall.
Oct 3
Remy lab, 11
Trail Days, green loop
Remy is eleven with a dodgy hip. Priya takes the seniors on the flat loop and sends a creek photo every Tuesday. He still thinks he’s six.
Stop 09 · Questions10,420 ft
Not on public land. Dogs hike on 15-foot long lines clipped to the guide’s hip belt, which leaves room to sniff without chasing a deer to Kansas. Off-leash play happens in the fenced Meadow Yard and at our private lake lease.
A free two-hour trial at Basecamp before any first booking. One of our guides watches how your dog handles the group, the yard and the Trail Wagon, then recommends the right day. Some dogs start on Splash Days; a few start one-on-one.
Above 85°F at the trailhead, on a red-flag fire day or when the air quality is poor, the hike becomes a Splash Day or a yard day at no extra cost. In storm season, Summit groups are off the ridge by noon.
Puppies under seven months, yes. After that, group days need dogs to be spayed or neutered. Intact adults can board in a private cabin with one-on-one walks.
At least six photos of your dog by 3:30 on a day trip, or by 7 pm for overnight guests, with a line from the guide on how it went. Pupdate Pro adds a short video and more photos for $8.
Every guide is certified in pet first aid and carries a full kit. For anything more than a scrape, we call you and drive straight to Wren Creek Animal Hospital, nine minutes from Basecamp and on call around the clock.
Yes. Basecamp is open 7:00 to 6:30 on weekdays and 8:00 to 5:00 at weekends. Pickup is free within 15 miles, though, so most families let the Trail Wagon do it.
Cancel up to 48 hours before a day trip or a stay and it costs nothing. Holiday weeks need seven days’ notice, because the cabins have a waiting list.
No. We like cats very much. Cats do not like trails.
Stop 10 · Book10,760 ft
Send a request and a guide will call within one business day to set up the free Sniff Test and confirm your dates.
Request
Pick dates and tell us about your dog.
Sniff Test
A free two-hour trial at Basecamp for first-timers.
Confirmed
Dates confirmed by text and email.