in Beginners, Newbies, Noobz, etc (Moderators: imwjl, TheMayor1)

Greetings! I've recently started bikejoring with my husky mix. Essentially he pulls the bike instead of a sled. It definitely takes a bit of finness and I'm glad I was a solid MTBer before trying it out. This winter I'd love to find some trails that are somewhat groomed that also allow dogs, are not too technical (green and blue), and have decent trail visibility / are one-way only so we don't have any surprise collisions.

Any and all recommendations welcome and THANKS!!!
   - Anu

If anyone is curious what this all looks like I'll attempt to attach a pic of us from last winter

Looks like fun!  I would say that if the tread is  packed firmly enough that the dog's paws are staying on the surface, you're okay.  I wouldn't be surprised if you encountered other riders who thought you shouldn't be there, so I'd be prepared to calmly explain that the dog isn't hurting the tread and hopefully they accept that, but people can be irrational.  Someplace like Quarry Park that isn't officially groomed (and is frequented by plenty of dogs) is perhaps less likely to result in confrontation.  Though it may be difficult to navigate through those tight trails.

When conditions are right I bet that would be fun on the lake, Military Ridge trail, or some of the wider ungroomed trails in the state and county parks that allow bikes and dogs.

Dane County Parks has a pet area at Indian Lake County Park. The mountain bike, single Trek Trails I believe will be too narrow and too soft on the margins in order to be able to be towed by a dog and keep both the dog and the bike on the trail and not constantly carving out the sides. The cap city loop and commuter bypass which are paved would perhaps be ideal on certain days. They do eventually get plowed, but will offer a nice firm base to give the dog traction and they allow dogs with a permit.