Activities For Dogs In South Carolina On Cold Days

The greatest benefit to this activity is easily accessibility. There are an absolute ton of beaches that sprawl the eastern shoreline from the islands and inlets of the Atlantic to the inland beaches that surround the lakes from Columbia to Bulls Bay. If you only have limited time, you can choose one that's closer to you. If you want a bit more adventure, find one with some unique features such as the shipwrecks and lighthouse of Morris Island or the dunes of Murrells Inlet. If you want to stretch it out even further, find a good spot near Myrtle Beach and get yourself a heavily discounted dog-friendly hotel or Airbnb to extend your stay.

When you do finally make it to the beach, take full advantage! Being able to have your dog off-leash means you can explore more places and stretch even further apart, which is the perfect recipe for games of fetch, which can be even more fun and challenging than they would be on standard grass. If you bring a towel and the water is warm enough, you can also convince your pooch (and maybe even yourself) to splash about in a way you're not able to during the summer months. Try to exercise every liberty you're given, as you won't have the opportunity once summer rolls back around again.

The first step is to find a city that caters to your specific holiday. After that, you'll want to ensure there are enough dog-friendly activities to make the trip worthwhile. Our best suggestion is searching online for "(insert holiday here), South Carolina" to get started. For instance, Rock Hill turns into Christmasville for four full days, with the after effects lasting long into the season. They have loads of nearby dog parks, a series of decorative windows to walk past and look at, outdoor seating to enjoy some hot chocolate, and even a few dog-friendly stores to walk around in. Aiken, SC is especially gorgeous as it features much of the same in terms of activities, yet tacks on a walk through the gorgeous and dog-friendly Christmas lights of Hopeland Gardens, as well as carolers, outdoor concerts and many more. Pick your city, find the base activities, then start booking a dog-friendly place to stay.

Once you've found your city and booked your dog-friendly accommodations (which can provide some adventure in itself depending on where you book), do some additional research to see what kind of other activities are within a reasonable distance outside of your initial city-based plans. Fill out your search with everything you can think of from dog parks to dog-centric bakeries (or "barkeries") and beyond, so you can get festive in as many ways as possible. Try to plan your days so you have enough time to both freely explore, adhere to specific activities, and relax. If you're still stumped for ideas, try to plan to go somewhere that will be full of dog-owners like a nearby event or dog-park early on so you can network and ask the locals what kinds of dog-friendly activities are going on nearby. That way you'll get the inside scoop and still have your original plans as backup should you fail to find supplemental activities. Once your planning is done, go enjoy the festivities!

Of all the places in Charleston you can visit with your dog, Magnolia Plantation and Gardens is easily one of the most historic, interesting, and accommodating. Outside of being the oldest public gardens in America, Magnolia is also super friendly to pets, allowing them to walk the grounds, ride the trams, and even go through the plantation house (if they're light enough to carry). If all that wasn't enough, it's safe to say it is easily one of the most gorgeous gardens you'll likely see in country. Plus, at $20 for basic admission, you get to see a ton of stuff, but you can also include additional tours and activities for about $8 a piece with five more options to choose from.

If you're looking for more than just one stop, check out King Street that runs through the heart of downtown Charleston. It stretches for about three miles from the tip of the city where it meets the Ashley River and nearby channel to where it turns back into a highway on the way out of town, providing a healthy stretch of dog-friendly shops to check out even though not all of it is as charming as the southern end. If you travel from north to south, you can even end your trip with a stop at the White Point Gardens which has a good amount of space to run (although not fenced) and a beautiful view of the water nearby.

Cold weather isn't just for November and December holidays, but October too, which means you can find plenty of great spooky stuff to check out. Our best recommendation is to take the Old Charleston Ghost Tour. Not only is it dog-friendly and highly-rated, but hosted and led by an extremely knowledgeable and experienced guide who has a considerable understanding of Charleston's history and the spookiness that exists there, as well as a few other parts of the world. It's only $20 for an hour and a half tour, is perfect for walkers of all types from kids to the elderly, and will give you the chills whether the night is cool or not!