Dog-Friendly Adventures in Gorges du Verdon

We spent three days in the Gorges du Verdon with our golden retriever Simba – hiking, paddling into the gorge and testing our dog training skills. If you’re planning a trip to the Verdon region with a dog, here’s what worked, what didn’t, and what surprised us.

Getting There: Plan the Drive Carefully

The highway ends (going from the direction of Geneva) somewhere after Grenoble until Sisteron and then you go via mountains – which meant the trip took significantly longer than Google Maps claimed it would. So plan accordingly. That means fuel and food too. Outside of summer and public holidays, you won’t find much along the way, and France runs on its own schedule: restaurants open at noon, close at 2pm, reopen around 7pm (I went that road too often on empty stomach, I learned my lesson finally!).

Since it was a public holiday weekend – it also meant roadside fruit stalls, lavender fields, tiny villages, and an unreasonable number of stops for local food. One lesson learned the hard way: we passed Maison de la Pistache on the way down – a proper pistachio shop that looked incredible – but we were tired and felt like we were almost there, so we told ourselves we’d stop on the way back. It was closed. Unusual opening hours, not the ones you’d expect.

Oh and have you ever noticed how Provence smells in spring? It is ridiculous in the best possible way. Pine trees, herbs, flowering shrubs, warm grass, lake water, blossoms everywhere. There were these yellow broom bushes along half the roads we drove and every time we stopped somewhere the air smelled completely different again.

Where to Stay with a Dog: Salles-sur-Verdon

We stayed in Salles-sur-Verdon, right next to Lac de Sainte-Croix. It worked very well as a base with a dog. Easy lake access, hiking trails starting directly from the village, and canoe and pedalo rentals within walking distance.

For van travellers: the region has plenty of parking spots that work well as overnight stops: in nature, by the lake, beautiful locations. Many are signed “no RVs” but vans were accepted without issue.

Timing-wise, mid-May turned out to be almost perfect. We went during the Ascension long weekend expecting crowds everywhere, but the area was still surprisingly manageable. Warm enough for swimming and being on the water, but not yet the full summer heat.

Dog-Friendly Hiking in the Verdon

Most trails in the Verdon region quickly reveal whether you’ve done any cardio recently. The lakeside trail was the exception (starting from Les Salles-sur -Verdon).

Mostly flat, easy walking, water always nearby – great for hiking or cycling. Good after a long drive, and also useful if you’re traveling with people who don’t necessarily want every walk to become an alpine expedition (and traveling with me quite often becomes one). Dogs are allowed on leash, although it’s worth checking routes in advance because not all trails in the region are dog-friendly.

Important note: ticks are everywhere. We checked Simba after every walk and still found a few every time. Bring a tick remover, keep prevention up to date, and check properly after hikes – especially ears, paws, armpits, and between the toes.

Also: épillets.

If you know, you know. Tiny spear-shaped grass seeds whose sole purpose in life is to end up between your dog’s toes. Between the dry grass, rocks, and water, we ended up checking paws multiple times a day anyway.

The Famous Route des Crêtes

Route des Crêtes absolutely deserves the hype. It also deserves your full attention while driving.

The road runs along the ridge above the gorge with viewpoints every few minutes, but it’s narrow, steep, and shared with cars, camper vans, cyclists, motorcycles, and people who apparently fear neither death nor blind corners.

Some descents hit 11%, and by summer much of the route becomes one-way – and you drive the loop in a clock wise direction (we met many people that went the other direction and had to turn back).

Worth it though.

If your dog gets car sick, consider leaving them at your accommodation for this one. Simba sat this one out – the bends are relentless and I didn’t want to put him through 2.5 hours of that (we had 45 minutes drive to the start of the loop via the route going to the pass, then the loop around 1 h and then 45 minutes back). It was the right call. Build in stops at the viewpoints for yourself – they’re signed and genuinely spectacular.

Taking Your Dog on a Pedalo into the Gorge

The highlight of the trip was taking a pedalo into the gorge. There are plenty of rental places just by the entrance to the gorge and dogs are welcome (50 euros for 2 hours and ID necessary, I could pay by card). We came early in the morning, around 9:30 to avoid the crowd and the heat. It worked out perfectly!

You start on the open lake then gradually the canyon walls close around you and everything becomes quieter. The water turns an almost unreal shade of turquoise and you stay with your jaw dropped. At some point the gorge turns into a protected nature reserve and you can’t go further.

Naturally, Simba came with us.

Getting him onto the pedalo ended up being a good reminder of something I think about a lot with dog training: behaviours practiced in one context are not automatically understood everywhere else.

Luckily, “hop up” transferred perfectly.

We originally taught it for getting in and out of the van. On the dock, since the boat was a bit unsteady, he hesitated for a moment and needed a bit of guidance where to step – but entered like a pro. No panic nor awkward lifting-him-by-the-armpits situation. I was so proud!

We also used a life vest for him the entire time. Strongly recommended, even for dogs that swim well. I find very useful if there is a handle on the back, as it helps to bring the dog back to the boat after a swim. We’d spent a few short sessions getting him comfortable wearing the vest at home before the trip, which made the whole thing completely uneventful for him.

Be careful about the leash while on board as it can get messy very quickly. Also – don’t forget about the water and the snacks, for your pup and for yourself!

Moustiers-Sainte-Marie: a Quick Stop Worth Making

On the way back we stopped in Moustiers-Sainte-Marie, officially one of Les Plus Beaux Villages de France. We’ve visited quite a few villages from that list over the years and never been disappointed.

The whole place is built directly into the cliffs, with tiny streets climbing upward between stone houses, ceramic shops, and fountains. The village is famous for its faïence pottery: in the 1600s, a visiting Italian monk taught a local potter the secret of white enamel glaze, and the distinctive blue and white ceramics became sought after across France.

High above the rooftops hangs the village’s famous golden star suspended between two cliffs – supposedly linked to a Crusader knight returning home, although nobody really knows the true story anymore.

But: go early. We arrived around 9am and the village was quiet and empty. By 11 it was already filling with tourists.

What Travelling with a Dog Teaches You About Training

Trips remind me that the goal of a dog training is to have a great companion. Unless you’re competing in canine sports, no one needs a dog who can do twelve impressive things on cue. What you’re building through all that consistency – is a companion you can take everywhere and enjoy being with. What matters is whether your dog can function calmly and safely in real environments: a restaurant terrace / crowded trail / a canoe /cliff edge.

The restaurants. Every place we ate welcomed dogs, and every place contained at least one person deeply committed to feeding Simba something. A man placed a large piece of ham directly in front of his nose. Simba stared at it, then looked back at me and waited for the release cue. Teaching a dog not to grab food automatically sounds like a small skill until you travel with them regularly – then it becomes one of the most useful things you’ve built.

Steep trails and leash management. On the difficult sections I ask Simba to sit and wait, move ahead myself to the end of the leash, then call him through one section at a time. Simple system, but it only works if the dog trusts the process enough not to panic or pull. I often hike clipped into a waist belt rather than holding the leash by hand, which keeps both hands free on rocky terrain and removes the constant low-level tension battle.

Opportunistic training. A flat boulder, a bench outside a café, a narrow section of path – you use them, move on, and the day continues. Ten seconds of reinforcement in a completely new context is worth more than the same behaviour practiced for the hundredth time in your living room.

That kind of quiet cooperation – moving through a difficult environment together without drama, is probably my favourite thing about where we’ve got to with training. (We should probably try cani ninja at some point. He’d be insufferably good at it.)

To be clear, this wasn’t some flawless demonstration of perfect dog training. New places, new smells equals leash manners forgotten. The first time Simba saw the lake, he absolutely launched himself toward the water before we were ready. At one point on a trail he became deeply emotionally committed to investigating a particular smell somewhere off the path and refused to consider any alternative route for a solid minute.

And children remain his greatest weakness. If a child enthusiastically calls “doggyyyy!” from twenty meters away, Simba reacts like he’s just been summoned by destiny itself.

He’s a golden retriever.

Would We Go Back?

Absolutely.

The Gorges du Verdon somehow manage to feel dramatic and relaxed at the same time. Beautiful scenery, excellent hiking, very dog-friendly overall, and enough variation that you can spend several days there without repeating much.

Simba is trained using positive, reward-based methods. A lot of the planning and progression behind the training I mention here is tracked in woofLogs – our dog training companion app.

Frequently Asked Questions: Gorges du Verdon with a Dog

Are there organised activities for dogs at Lac de Sainte-Croix? Yes – 1 Vie 2 Chiens, based in Aiguines, offers a wide range of dog activities in the Verdon including cani-paddle, cani-kayak, dock diving, mantrailing, truffle hunting, and nosework, all using positive training methods.

Is Gorges du Verdon dog-friendly? Generally yes. Dogs are welcome in most of the area on a leash, including the lakeside trails, villages, and most restaurants. Some of the more remote hiking routes have restrictions, so it’s worth checking individual trails before you go. The pedalo and canoe rentals at Lac de Sainte-Croix also welcome dogs.

Can dogs go on the lake and into the gorge? Yes – dogs are allowed on pedalos and canoes from the rental points at the entrance to the gorge. A life vest is strongly recommended regardless of how well your dog swims.