It was an overcast Sunday in July, so naturally we decided to pack up the Renegade, pop out the roof panels despite the chance of rain, and head to the beach! Lucky loves the water, so I'm always on the look out for opportunities for him to swim. After some Googling, we discovered that Lake Kegonsa State Park has a dedicated dog beach.
We used the map provided by the gate attendant to find the parking lot closest to the dog beach, and then we clambered out of the car and towards the trail head. The path is well-marked, and it's a fairly short walk through the woods, over a creek, and out to a clearing with a few picnic tables. Just past the clearing is the dog beach and a well maintained dock.
The beach might be more appropriately called a dog launch, as it's roughly the size of a small boat launch. There isn't much room for dogs to play and run around on the sandy section that is the beach. And while the clearing that leads to the beach is mostly grass, it wasn't clear to me whether the dogs were supposed to be running free in this area or on leash. Luckily for Lucky, there were only two other dogs there swimming at the time and for swimming, all you need is water and Lake Kegonsa has plenty.
PROS:
It's a lake that your dog can swim in!
It's easy to get to from Madison!
It's easy to get to the dog beach from the parking lot.
CONS:
The actual beach itself is quite small. On a nice summer weekend day, it could get quite crowded with dogs and their owners.
While your dog is allowed to be off-leash while on the beach, I didn't get the impression this was also true of the grassy clearing by the beach. This was a bummer for Lucky who enjoys running and chasing between dips in the lake. Restraining his energies to just being in the lake made our trip a little less enjoyable.
Want to know more about hiking with your dog at Lake Kegonsa State Park? Order your copy of A Dog Lover's Guide to Hiking Wisconsin's State Parks now!
Through the University of Wisconsin Press site.
Through Bookshop.org.
And if you must, through Amazon.
Now THIS is a dog beach . . .
