Camping at Smallwood State Park-A Fun Field Trip

ericamargaret5
Sep 21
2 min read

Updated: Nov 15

Smallwood State Park

As you all already know, Mabel is our most recent rescue and also our most reactive. We were JUST getting the hang of having three dogs, and along came Mabel and tossed up the routine. We found her in October, and after the fall and winter of training and socializing her, we felt like it was time to take her on a small, quick camping trip just to expose her to the experience

We booked one night at a campground about 2 hours from the house at Smallwood State Park in Maryland. Neither of us had been there before, but it was one of the few places I could get a one night reservation at the last minute, so why not?

We geared up and got on the road around 1:00 so we could be there right on time for our 3:00 check in and I was thankful for the pretty drive out there. The drive, in my opinion, is an integral part of the trip. As soon as we hit the road, in my mind, we are on vacation. So if the drive is scenic and pretty, I really value it, and this was a pleasant drive to an area of the state that I had not been to.

My main concern driving there was whether the campsites would be spread out and if they were going to be a lot of dogs. Mabel was very reactive at that point and we were a little worried about taking Mabel out for her first trip. We also knew that we had to keep getting her out there in the world or she would not learn.

But, it turned out that was needn't worry because the campground was nice and small (so not a ton of people or dogs), and the campsites were spaced out. There were lots of trees around each site so the dogs did not have direct sight lines to other dogs, campsites, and people.

After parking and setting up the camper, we went for a walk down to the water where we got to see the tail end of a fishing contest. In the other direction from our campground was a loop through some woods and a field that we enjoyed walking through on Saturday and Sunday morning.

The night was quiet. The morning was quiet, and this was an uneventful trip. In my book, an uneventful camping trip with all of the dogs is a perfect camp trip.

Mabel was definitely was tired and overstimulated by the time we were ready to leave, so doing just one night ended up being a good idea.

If you need to do some mini camping trips with your dogs before a big trip, this could be a great place for you to practice!!