We are fully booked for the 2022 season. Check back here later this year to learn when reservations for the 2023 season will open. We sold out in just a few hours for 2022. We’re glad stays in the World’s Biggest Beagle are popular, yet we wish there were enough nights for all requests. Dog Bark Park welcomes drop-by visitors to our gift shop and carving studio as well as for walking the yard to view our outdoor larger than life art installations. It’s a good idea to call ahead if you particularly wish to visit in our studio so that we can be sure to be available. Here’s to a dog’s life this spring and summer!
2022 Reservations open Jan 10, 2022
Our Availability Calendar for the 2022 season is now viewable by clicking on the prompt at the top page of our website. We’ll begin taking reservations on a 1st come 1st reserve basis starting 8 am Pacific Time on January 10, 2022. Things to know: a 2-night stay is required. 50% deposits will be drawn in April with balance due at time of arrival. Reservations can be made by phone or email. Thank you, and Happy New Year!
Roamer’s Travels – Episode 8 – Big Dog in Town
Sometimes even a dog needs to head to town on a little business. Here’s a glimpse of places we frequent in the commercial hub of Grangeville, Idaho which is a quick 14-mile 15-minute drive from Cottonwood. Grangeville is the county seat of Idaho County meaning there’s a court house, jail, lawyer & licensing offices, title companies and more. Most of these places are situated on Main Street which is also the shopping & restaurant hub of town.
We visit the Health Food Store 
often for granola ingredients. Our Prairie’s Best Fruited Granola is a favorite main breakfast feature for our Dog Bark Park Inn guests. The original recipe came from Frances’ sister in North Carolina in the 1970’s & has been modified over time as new healthful ingredients such as flax meal & canola oil have become readily available. Dried fruits such as pineapple & papaya are added for extra deliciousness.
We’re happy to share our easy to make Prairie’s Best Fruited Granola recipe. Just send us a message & we’ll get it to you.
Next, Roamer delivered some outgoing parcels containing dog carvings to the UPS shipping center for sending completed carvings to eager customers awaiting their new pets. 
And lastly, since it’s spring a stop at LeAnne’s Garden Center is a must for picking up more lovely flowering plants for Dog Bark Park. 
Roamer’s Travels – Episode 5 – Touring Town
This week Roamer’s travels are close to home.
First he visits the Cottonwood Post Office to send off some wooden dogs to customers. Dennis & Frances ship chainsaw carved dogs of many different breeds to folks who shop the Dog Bark Park chainsaw art gift shop to place an order for a dog carving or two. Delivery is usually in two weeks or less for the small-size carvings.
With a population hovering around 1000 people, it’s not hard to find parking near any city businesses nor are checkout lines encountered. Roamer always gets waves from people, too & he likes that.
Next stop was for a beverage and snack from The Habit, Cottonwood’s newest coffee café. It’s located on Main Street one block from the post office and just under a mile walk from Dog Bark Park.
Soup, sandwich & coffee specials are offered daily. There are some signature coffees including one called The Big Dog! When customers mention they are Dog Bark Park guests a special treat or discount is also provided.
One block towards Dog Bark Park Roamer stops at City Hall which houses the city clerk’s office, the police department, the library and a community hall for events, classes and meetings.
Cottonwood’s library, Prairie Community Library, operates in a bright newly remodeled space in the Community Hall. The library welcomes members and non-members to drop in to browse or use the computers. It’s a great place to hang out on a cold day or to cool off during the heat of a hot summer day. Open Tuesday and Thursdays and sponsors a summer reading program for children and other events. One browsing feature is a section devoted to books about Idaho and books by Idaho authors. Roamer boasts the library has a copy of Sweet Willy: The Story of Dog Bark Park.
Introducing Roamer, the Idaho traveling pup – Episode 1
Meet Roamer, the travelling pup who will be bringing weekly stories of his travels in and around Cottonwood, Idaho.
Each episode will feature scenery, activities and places in north central Idaho. This is the area from Riggins to Moscow, Idaho and from the Montana line to along the Clearwater River & up onto Camas Prairie at Cottonwood where Roamer lives at Dog Bark Park when he’s not travelling.
Dennis, Frances & Sprocket will accompany Roamer on his adventures to discover both popular and little known places.
Roamer’s Travels – Episode 1
On a recent spring day we headed for Pine Bar Recreation Area on the Salmon River. Pine Bar lies along the Lower Salmon River surrounded by semi-arid mountain peaks. It is a frequent put-in location for summer & fall floating the Lower Salmon via raft or power boat. Visitors can camp, fish, bird watch, swim or picnic here, too. But first, before reaching the river there were interesting stops along the way. Once leaving Hwy 95 three miles south of Cottonwood we turned onto Twin House/Graves Creek Road. After a few miles we leave the open prairie lands and begin descending into Graves Creek canyon along which flows little Graves Creek. 
A short distance down Graves Creek road, about 7 miles from leaving Hwy 95, we came to the Weis Rockshelter where there is a Nez Perce Nat’l Historic Park interpretive sign about the shelter which was backfilled after archaeologists excavated the site in 1962. Quoting from the sign:
Ancestors of today’s Nez Perce used this cliff alcove as a dwelling place for more than 8,000 years. The many tools, spear points, and fish and animal bones found here indicate a life of successful hunting and fishing. Inhabiting the area continuously for millennia, the Nez Perce can say of their lands, “We have always lived here.”
The artifacts unearthed at the time of the archeological dig are stored at the University of Idaho in Moscow, Idaho 90 miles north of Cottonwood. The dark area in the photo center is what is now only a shallow overhang of the rock after the alcove had been filled in to protect artifacts still present in the shelter. 
Episode 1 concludes with Roamer contemplating what life for a dog might have been like here 8,000 years ago. Certainly he would have had plenty of country in which to roam and most likely food enough to keep a pup happy.
Consider Birdwatching while visiting Idaho
Need a new hobby? Try bird watching. We live in a great place for it!
Have you ever considered bird watching as a hobby? It has much to offer. A recent article in the March issue of the The Ruralite magazine talked about the merits of Spring as a Prime Bird Watching Season. And here in the American West we have one of the best places in our country to view birds.
There are over 900 species of birds in North America. Over ¾ of them are found here in the West. For instance, 15 of the 319 species of hummingbirds are found in the West.
Some viewing areas near Cottonwood include: Tolo Lake , White Bird Battlefield, Pine Bar Recreation Area, & Fish Creek Nature Trails. Of course there are numerous bird species right at Dog Bark Park. Right now we are primarily seeing Robins, California Quail, Killdeer, Meadowlarks, Finches, Kestrels, & Doves.
Bird watching is a great activity which requires very little in the way of equipment (binoculars, spotting scope will do). A good guide book helps in identification. Here are two suggestions: Birds of Idaho Field Guide and Idaho Birds: An Introduction to Familiar Species.
Birds are everywhere. You don’t have to go far to enjoy this pastime. You can start right in your own backyard! If you develop a passion for this activity, then you can branch out to waterways, coastal areas, forests, fields, mountains and deserts.
Quoting from the Audubon website, “Outside your door, on your way to work, at the beach—birds are everywhere. Whether you’re a beginner looking for your first pair of binoculars or an experienced birder in search of identification tips, we have it all here for you. So go on, start exploring.”
Idaho has many possibilities to offer in the way of bird watching. “Its scenic landscapes and unique geologic features, with large lakes and wild rivers, rugged soaring peaks, heavily timbered forests, and high desert seas of sagebrush interspersed with oasis for migrating and wintering birds, combine to make Idaho a highly desirable, and under-appreciated, birding destination.”
These sites will also provide good information: Visit Idaho Website Birds of Idaho
Happy Birding! And thank you to VisitWhitebird.com for some of this article’s content.
