Dog Friendly Road Trip to Pine, AZ from Phoenix area

This past weekend, we escaped the Phoenix heat to the town of Pine, AZ not to be confused with Pinetop, they are different places altogether.  Pine is just about an hour and a half drive from South Scottsdale.  It's about 20 miles north of Payson and very close to the town of Strawberry.  We've recently lost our dog sitter because he's grown up, gotten married, and moved away. Our pup, George, is a senior and no good with pet hotels ... so we brought him with us.  

Pine was roughly 20 degrees cooler than Phoenix.  It's got the best view of the stars that I've seen.  We accidentally had an overnight in Pine a few months back with friends on the way to a camping trip.  Long story, but we had engine problems and spent one night camped out in a parking lot in Pine.  At one point I looked up and was blown away by the view of the stars.  So brilliant.  I fell in love with the town and knew I needed to go back.

Anyway, back to last weekend's trip.  Because we brought George, the dog, with us, we decided we wouldn't go anywhere that he couldn't come with.  I was so pleased with how dog friendly the town is and how friendly people in general were.  

The stay.  We stayed in cabin 2, Juniper, at Pine Creek Cabins.  You can reserve it through Airbnb.  If you've never used Airbnb before, I've included a discount link below.
The Cabin was perfect for us, and importantly, dog friendly! It had one bedroom, 1 bathroom, a living room with a TV, and a small kitchenette that had a coffee maker, mini-fridge, sink, and microwave.  We spent most of our time on the back patio.  There was a large grassy area out back.  If we were to go again we'd probably bring some yard games for hanging out there.  There are other cabins there too, so this would make a great destination with multiple families as well.
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Airbnb Discount Link

Pine Creek Cabins on Airbnb

As much as we liked hanging out at the cabin, we wanted to check out some of the local eateries and watering holes.  I reached out to three different places that interested me, and all three had dog friendly patios.  Huge win!

Pinewood Tavern

The elote was amazing.  They had two patios to choose from. Great music playing too.

Old County Inn

If you were only looking on Google maps, you might think this was a small hotel because of the name - but it's actually a restaurant and bar.  There is a second building here that seems to be part of the Old County Inn, called the Tap Room.  If we ever go back, sans the dog, we'd check it out.  They had live music playing and it looked right up our alley.  The restaurant itself was very family friendly.  

The Randall House

We didn't get to actually eat here, but it was super cute from the outside, very very close to the cabin, and they were so friendly with me when I inquired about it having a dog friendly patio that I didn't want to leave them off the list of places to take your pup.  Looks like a great place for breakfast and lunch.

If you take a trip out there with your dog, I'd love to hear your experiences!
We wanted to do some hiking too, there are plenty of trails, but it ended up raining a bit and then looking like rain when it wasn't actually so we didn't hike.