Staying in the Dog House

Cottonwood, Idaho is home to an unusual B&B, built in the shape of a giant beagle. The owners of Dog Bark Park have a business on site where they carve dog shapes with chainsaws and sell their wares. At night, though, you have the place to yourself if you book the B&B. I booked it recently as a joke (would my husband possibly foresee a weekend in a giant dog's stomach?) and they allow dogs, so we could bring ours, making a nice weekend outing from Boise.

The B&B has an okay breakfast with home made pastries and a variety of other items. The room offers a mini-fridge and coffee pot, and there is an attached bathroom and an upstairs in the dog's head where kids could stay (though the ladder up there is steep). The room is comfy and without a TV or phone, offering instead a variety of games. (I recommend Quiddler, a card game).

About 5 hours north of Boise, Cottonwood itself doesn't offer much to do. However, there are places in the area for hiking, and on the way up and the way down, we saw some great things. we turned onto Seven Devils Road south of Riggins and drove 18 miles up to a trail head where we could do a short hike and have an incredible view of the Seven Devils range, pictured here from that viewpoint. Here, the dogs got to play in the snow in mid-July and the hiking weather was sunny with a cool breeze. We also stopped and got out to play in the Salmon River here and there, and saw two very huge fish hanging out in the river current.

If you stay in Cottonwood, you can also visit the Wolf Research & Education Center in nearby Winchester. Take a tour morning or evening to try to get close to the remaining two members of the Sawtooth pack, or see the new pack rescued from the crazy woman in Owyhee County recently.

We were also lucky enough to see some deer and a wild coyote on this trip. We ate dinner both night sin nearby Grangeville, which also offers an old time drive in. Overall, a nice (kitchy, humorous) relaxing weekend with the dogs, in a giant wooden dog.