Barkside of the Lake: A Dog’s Guide to the Lake Guntersville Area

Hi there, hoomans and fellow furry friends! Our names are Wednesday and Pepper, we’re Pembroke Welsh Corgis. And we’re here to tell you about our favorite place on Earth: Lake Guntersville, Alabama. Our non-existent tails are wagging just thinking about it!

First off, let us tell you… this place is HUGE. I’m talking 69,000 acres of water and over 900 miles of shoreline. Do you know what that means? That’s 900 miles of sticks, sniffs, and adventures waiting for us dogs! We have spent time trying all of the fun and different ways that this area is dog-friendly, and we came up with this guide to help you convince your hoomans to bring you to Alabama’s largest lake. We are going to walk your way through telling you the purrfect spots to stay, eat, swim, play and much more. 

First things first! Stop by the Visitor Center at 1601 Gunter Avenue in Guntersville to grab a bandana to wear on all of your adventures! Peak us wearing ours below. 

Pawsome Places to Stay

First things first, where are us pups allowed? You might be surprised that there are several spots! All of the areas major hotels are pet friendly. That includes Lake Guntersville State Park Lodge, Home2 Suites, Hampton Inn-Guntersville, Wyndham Garden Lake Inn, Fairfield Inn, Hampton Inn-Albertville, Microtel and both Albertville and Arab’s Quality Inns. For all hotels that are pet-friendly, click this link here. If you’re more the outdoor type like us, camping is the best way to stay Lake Guntersville. This area has well over 1,000 campsites that puppers like us can stay within the outdoors. Click this link here to see our campgrounds.

Where Our Pawrents Can Eat & Bring Us Too

While our pawrents may not give us all the hooman foods, we do enjoy smelling all of it. There are several spots with patios that are friendly for us to sit and beg for food. City Harbor has several spots including Nash’s, La Esquina Cocina, Kilwins, Another Broken Egg and even the bar on the end, Levi’s on the Lake. We love to hop over and walk the boardwalk there! Some other dog-friendly patios include Wintzell’s Oyster House, Fire by the Lake and Bootlegger’s Italian Cookhouse. Probably our top stop we visit is Jules J. Berta Vineyards and Winery. Enjoy the smells friends!

Sweet Treats for Us

Speaking of begging for food… How about pup cups? There are several local coffee shops where your hoomans can grab their caffeine, and we can get a prize too. In Arab, Four Knights Coffee in their downtown offers pup cups. In Guntersville, you can grab one for 50 cents at Moody Brews. Drive through options include locally owned Scooter’s Coffee and Starbucks too. For something unique, visit Hola Michoacan in Guntersville for pupciscles made from real fruit safe for us. 

Dog Parks to Let Out Energy

The sugar rush is setting in with pup cups! Now we got to let all of this herding energy out, after all we are corgis. There are two great dog parks near Lake Guntersville. The first is the Guntersville Dog Park located off Sunset Drive behind some ball fields. Use this link here for directions. The next spot is over in Albertville at Sand Mountain Park. They have a small dog park for pups like us, and they have a large dog park for the big boys and girls. Both of these are open sunrise to sundown. Or if you are staying at campgrounds, most of them have dog parks that can be used to stretch your little or longs legs.

Events to Explore

Lake Guntersville State Park has a BARK Ranger program where you can put your sniffers to the test and take the pledge. You even get a certificate! Click the link below to look out for dates coming soon. As corgis, we love seeing other hoomans out and about. So, going to all of the local festivals adds to the fun! The Lake Guntersville area is filled with pup-friendly events year round. Some to consider are the Boaz Harvest Festival that happens the first weekend in October. Made on the Mountain Fest in Albertville is a great event that showcases the local talents of musicians and artists, and it usually happens in the spring time. SugarFest in Arab is always a great time on the Saturday of Labor Day. Downtown Guntersville hosts the Spring Fling in April and the Fall Fest in October. While these are just a few, there are a ton more that happen. Just learn more by clicking this link to the event calendar.

The Best Walks

Nothing gets us more excited than when our hoomans grabs our leashes to head out for a walk. And they have ALL the walking and hiking trails around Lake Guntersville. Each city park has miles of paved trails if you are wanting more casual and laid back. However, with three state parks filled with 70 plus miles of hiking trails, you can stay gone all day sniffing the wildlife. The team at Marshall County Tourism and Sports just created a hiking and paddling guide, and you can find the digital version here. The paved trails are on the guide too!

Unleashed Adventures

Looking for under the radar activities? There are plenty of those for us pups! Have your pawrents rent a boat with Val Monte Marina. They have a wide range of pontoon boats for rent that will give you the best day ever! For other boat rentals, click here. Speaking of on the water activities, swimming is purrfect. The beaches at Sunset Drive and Lake Guntersville State Park are pup-friendly and the best way to cool down. If your pawrents like a cold one, the patios at Main Channel Brewing and Seidr Brewing are great for us to tag along and enjoy our hooman’s company. Last but not least, public art is a fun adventure for us. The Downtown Boaz murals are so colorful and bright. We can even pose in front of a beautiful butterfly for photo-ops. 

Pawliday Fun

If you are visiting during the holidays, then you don’t want to miss the Christmas lights. Frazier Farms in Albertville has a drive up light show where you stay in your car and tune into your radio to watch the show sync with the music. Another great spot would be to walk the Christmas in the Park at the Arab City Park during the month of December.