I hiked this trail on June 11th and the wildflowers were unbelievably breathtaking.  The hike is not easy, it has a definite incline and you will get a workout but that's part of the fun, right!? I went early morning and at the summit it was quite chilly but the hike up was very pleasant and made the incline much easier, as I was coming down I noticed people were very sweaty, and looked a bit over heated so I would suggest getting there as early as you can.  The parking was also completely full when I was leaving vs I had easy parking upon arrival around 7:30am.  I did the hike alone with the exception of my dog companion who is 13 and he did great on the hike just don't forget to bring lots of water for the pooch!  He ended up drinking all of his water and MINE!  Bring a meal to enjoy at the top, there were lots of friendly people at the summit enjoying the view and their food and pooches playing together.  I would highly recommend the shallower trip down, it was recommended to me but I didn't heed the warning since it didn't seem that steep going up, but the trip down was pretty slippery, I fell a couple of times and I saw others fall also, in addition, injured my big toe from the constant pounding going down (it really seems more steep on the way down than the way up) so enjoy the longer yet more shallow route going down, I think it would be worth it plus I hear the flowers extend longer that direction. This is a beautiful hike, plan around 3 hours, which includes time to take pictures and stop for a couple of crazy gorgeous views (plus add a little time to linger at the top) Also, I think this hike is closer to 7.5 miles round trip (and that's the shorter version) than the 6 that is advertised. ENJOY!

Dog Mountain is an awesome hike with some amazing wildflowers at the top.  I was blown away at how many flowers there actually were.  Keep in mind that the trail is starting to get a bit over grown with Poison Oak.  Luckily we didn't get any, but it is currently green and can be tricky to pick out of the bushes as you walk by.  Wear pants and bring some water.  Check out the video!

Attempted to make it to the trail on a Sunday morning, arrived 8:00 a.m. The parking lot was full with a queue. Not wanting to park along the side of the highway due to warnings about doing so on this site, we headed instead to Hamilton Mountain a few miles west and had a lovely time. Lesson learned.