🏆Top 10 India
Outlook Traveller Pet Friendly 2025
🌿4,500 ft
Jungaliyagaon, 12 km above Bhimtal
🐾Leash-Free
Private Fenced Lawn Per Cottage
Emerald Trail is, by any honest measure, among the best pet-friendly stays in India. Outlook Traveller named it one of the Top 10 Pet Friendly Retreats in the country in 2025. Multiple independent reviewers, across more than a decade of visits, use the same phrase in different ways: this is what a genuinely pet-friendly property looks like when the owners mean it, not when they've just added a no-pet-fee checkbox to a booking form.
The property sits at 4,500 feet in Jungaliyagaon, 12 km uphill from Bhimtal Lake on the Jungaliya Gaon road — far enough above the tourist infrastructure of Bhimtal that the road effectively ends a couple of kilometres past the property. Four acres of terraced grounds: fruit orchards (malta, apricots, oranges, peaches, plums), farmland, a library, solar panels, rainwater catchment. Every cottage has its own fenced private lawn, which is the specific feature that makes this property different from every other "pet-friendly" stay in the hills.
🐾 What makes Emerald Trail genuinely different
Fenced private lawns per cottage — your dog is off-leash in an enclosed space, not sharing it with strangers. A dedicated dog menu (chicken stew with vegetables is mentioned specifically by one reviewer). Dog beds and bowls provided free at no extra charge. The property's four resident Bhutiya dogs — Rosie, and her daughters Piya and Mini, plus Ringo — are friendly with visiting dogs and can be moved out of shared areas if needed for reactive visitors.
The property layout
Three stone cottages (two smaller side-by-side, one larger at the far end of the lawn) plus a colonial-style main bungalow with four bedrooms, a drawing room, dining area, and common verandah. The bungalow has wooden flooring that multiple reviewers specifically mention for its old-world character. Each unit has solar-powered hot water, and the food throughout is described consistently as home-cooked and generous — "we were never able to finish it" comes up across multiple independent reviews.
The resident dogs — important for visitors with reactive dogs
Emerald Trail has four resident Bhutiya dogs who live on the property and are free-roaming. Bhutiya dogs are a Himalayan working breed — larger, confident, and territorial by instinct. They're described as friendly with visitors across multiple reviews, but if your dog is reactive toward other dogs or needs time to settle without competition, mention this at booking so the team can manage introductions appropriately. The resident dogs can be kept separate during your stay; the private fenced lawns per cottage help with this.
Getting there
12 km uphill from Bhimtal on the Jungaliya Gaon road — about 20 minutes by car from Bhimtal Lake, and approximately 1.5 hours by taxi from Kathgodam railway station (the nearest railhead for trains from Delhi). The Kathgodam Shatabdi from New Delhi arrives at 11:40 AM, making it a practical day-trip arrival. By road from Delhi via Moradabad and Rampur the journey takes 6–7 hours depending on traffic.
Practical details
Eco-resort: solar heating, no generator noise, genuinely quiet. No luxury amenities — rooms are comfortable and well-maintained but this is a homestay, not a hotel. Food is home-cooked, simple, and highly praised; dietary preferences (veg/non-veg, spice level) are accommodated. Bonfire on request. Library, indoor games, paragliding, boating and river picnics available nearby. Best season: October to June — mild summers (30–35°C) with cool air, winters cold but manageable. July–September (monsoon): the grounds turn intensely green; road conditions should be checked before travel.
