On the first Saturday of September, as the White Mountains begin to trade their summer green for the first hints of autumn, a different kind of hiker will gather in the Town Square of Waterville Valley, New Hampshire. They'll come on four legs and two, tails wagging and leashes in hand, for the Guided Pup Hike — a relaxed, hour-long morning stroll that has become one of the newest rituals of the resort's summer season.
The hike, scheduled for Saturday, September 5, 2026, from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m., is part of Waterville Valley Resort's Summer Starts Here programming, a weekly calendar of family activities that runs from June 20 through September 7. Participants meet at the Clever Critter Base Camp at 33 Village Road in Town Square, then set off together on an easy, family-friendly hiking loop designed for all ages and activity levels. It's rain or shine, and the only real requirement is a willingness to start the day outdoors.
The event's own description is cheerfully inclusive: "Start your morning on the right paw with Waterville Valley's newest pup club for dogs and their humans!" The hike is pitched as a chance to meet other dog owners, socialize a pup, and enjoy fresh mountain air in good company. And notably, dogs are not required — the resort is quick to add that "everyone is welcome to join the walk and enjoy the company of fellow outdoor enthusiasts and four-legged friends." For those without a canine companion, the morning still offers a chance to borrow a little joy from someone else's.
The Guided Pup Hike is a natural extension of a place that has worked hard to earn its reputation as one of New Hampshire's most dog-friendly villages. Waterville Valley's resort association proudly markets the town as a destination where four-legged family members are as welcome as their humans. Three of the valley's inns — the Silver Fox Inn, the Snowy Owl Inn, and the Valley Inn — keep pet-friendly rooms, and the town's network of trails welcomes leashed dogs year-round. The Village Trail, tucked behind Town Square beside Corcoran Pond Beach, winds along Snow's Brook and connects through a tunnel to the wider Waterville Valley trail system. For those who want to extend the morning, the Mad River Path offers a gentle two-mile loop with minimal elevation gain, river views, and plenty of spots for a dog to cool off in the water.
The hike's meeting point is itself a recent addition to the valley. The Clever Critter Base Camp, which opened in Town Square, offers a wide selection of toys and treats, and it features a self-serve dog wash station where muddy adventurers can be cleaned up after a splash in the pond or a romp on the trails. Just outside the shop sits the Dog Stick Library, where pups can borrow a stick for playtime, with the gentle honor-system rule that a stick should be returned if one is taken. Even the town's other businesses get in on the hospitality, keeping dog treats at their registers for four-legged visitors who have to wait outside.
The pup hike is one thread in a much larger tapestry of summer programming that fills the valley's calendar. The same Summer Starts Here lineup includes guided waterfall hikes on Wednesdays, fairy house building and s'mores-and-campfire nights on Fridays, guided nature adventures and lawn game nights on Saturdays, and tie-dye in Town Square on Sundays. In the evenings, live music drifts from the Town Square gazebo, and because Waterville Valley is an open-container town, visitors can settle in with chairs, snacks, and a beverage from the Jugtown Country Store while their dogs lounge at their feet.
The valley's modern identity is rooted in the vision of Tom Corcoran, a two-time Olympic skier who served as a selectman for the town for 35 years and was inducted into the U.S. National Ski Hall of Fame. Remembered as the visionary and master developer of the resort, Corcoran's influence helped shape Waterville Valley into the year-round destination it is today.
The Guided Pup Hike, then, is more than a simple dog walk. It's a small, friendly ritual in a place that has spent decades reinventing itself and that has now decided that its newest residents, or at least its most enthusiastic visitors, deserve a welcome of their own. The resort calls the pup hike part of "Waterville Valley's newest pup club," and the phrase captures the spirit of the thing: a club with no membership fees, no pedigree requirements, and no need to bring a dog at all.
For those who do come with a pup, the morning offers something increasingly precious in a busy world: an hour set aside simply to walk, to meet neighbors, and to let a dog be a dog in the mountain air. For those who come without, it's a chance to see the valley through the eyes of its happiest residents. Either way, on the morning of September 5, the trail behind Town Square will fill with the sound of boots on packed earth, the jingle of collars, and the occasional joyful bark — proof that in Waterville Valley, the best way to start a day is on the right paw.