If you and your dog are in good shape, a great place for you both to hike right now is the Valley View Trail on Cow Mountain.
Most months of the year, this trail easily gets blazing hot and the small streams that pass alongside and over it have long since dried up. But this month, the temperatures are cool enough to keep the trek more than bearable all day long, and there’s also plenty of water in the creeks for your dog to drink along the way.
The Valley View Trail is reached by a short drive from Ukiah beginning east on Talmage Road, taking a right on Old River Road and then a left on Mill Creek Road. After passing the ponds, you will come to a trail sign on the left and parking on the right near a port-a-potty.
After the sign, the trail heads straight up the mountain with few breaks. You are rewarded with great views of the valley for your climb, however. And in the spring, the trail is bordered with wildflowers, especially Shooting Stars, Indian Warriors and Sticky Monkeys.
However, spring also brings the ticks, and a dog can easily come home with more than two dozen crawling on them; but the ticks seem to be far less plentiful when it is cold and dry.
About a mile up, the trail levels out a bit at a spot that gives you the best view of the valley and the second bench you will encounter. Once you start heading straight up again and have the mountains at your left, you will come to a third bench.
If you stop there, you can keep the hike to about an hour. But if you have a couple more hours and plenty more energy to spare, you can continue on to the year-round waterfall on the Mayacamas Trail.
About 3.5 miles from the parking lot, after you’ve left the dense vegetation and the trail has flattened a bit, look for a trail that heads to the left and toward the water you can hear rushing below you.
There is no sign at the fork, but a short ways down you will hit the creek and finally a sign telling you that you’re on the Mayacamas Trail. If you head to the left, about a mile down you will reach the waterfall.
Words to the wise
• Leash policy: The Bureau of Land Management oversees Cow Mountain, and according to staff at the local office the official policy on dogs is they can be off-leash as long as they are under voice control.
“You need to be able to stop your dog,” said a staff member recently, explaining that since there are a lot of hunters and wildlife that frequent the area, your dog’s safety may depend on your ability to control them. If you can’t, using a leash that is six-feet long, or shorter, is recommended.
