Cottonwood, Idaho is a very small town in a very beautiful part of the U.S. It’s located on Highway 95, a humdinger of a road stretching the length of Idaho’s Panhandle. Thankfully for my nerves, the part we drove was not a twisty, plunge-y part of the highway, but if you like twists and plunges, U.S. Route 95 has plenty of them along its 538 miles.

More or less on a dare, I did drive us down a cliff, to Lewiston, on this old part of U.S. 95 — now, understandably, bypassed. Chandler has pictures, no doubt, but I focused very intently on the tarmac.

Cottonwood is about an hour southeast of Lewiston, and for most of the trip we were in the Nez Perce reservation. It’s gorgeous country. What lured us both in this direction, however, was a view of a different kind:

“Whaaaat?,” I can hear you ask.

My road trip buddy Chandler features roadside attractions on her travel blog “Drawn the Road Again,” and I focus on pet-friendly stuff — the World’s Largest Beagle is where the Venn diagrams of our blogs overlap.

The Dog Bark Park Inn is the creation of owners Dennis Sullivan & Frances Conklin, a couple of endless ingenuity and charm. The biggest feature is the World’s Largest Beagle, a bed-and-breakfast in the shape of a giant Beagle dog. Next to it is a smaller, but still giant, Beagle:

Even the smaller Beagle is massive (please note Chloe, for scale, down in front), but I believe his only purpose is to gaze off at another Beagle, containing a retreat for the owners…

…and also a fire hydrant, which is slated to shelter a porta-potty for summer visitors.

You’re starting to get the idea — this is indeed “a noble and absurd undertaking.”

As you can tell from the pictures, there are two decks, one below the Beagle and the other off the Beagle’s left flank, up a short flight of stairs. Both are comfortable places to sit, either to seek shade, or to enjoy the soothingly endless view to the north (at night, turn out the porch light and enjoy the stars). Behind the Beagle’s hock are the steps leading upwards to the entrance; this also gives you a taste of the view from the upper deck.

It’s also a remarkably pleasant bed-and-breakfast. There’s only one suite, and it’s inside the largest of the Beagles. It contains a very comfortable queen-sized bed, in the Beagle’s belly, along with a petite but useful kitchenette, a dining table, and a good-sized bathroom. A ladder leads up the neck of the Beagle to a tiny room with two windows (the Beagle’s eyes) and a chair that folds out into a single-bed-sized foam mat (if you’re traveling with a young ‘un, they’d likely fit on the shelf that is, from the outside, the Beagle’s nose, but Chandler opted for leaving the mat on what is, essentially, the Beagle’s chin).

The queen-sized bed, featuring Dennis’s excellent chainsaw art. Those (human) treats on the bed are shaped like dogs, and, like everything else provided by Frances, delicious.

Here’s a close-up of the treats; you can also see some of the other goodies Frances provided, including homemade muffins, with berries she and Dennis gathered, and homemade granola, specially nut-free for my sake.

Not shown is the small fridge full of thoughtful and tasty items, like a cheese and fruit plate, yogurt and milk for breakfast, and many beverages. There is more than one restaurant in Cottonwood, we discovered, but between the picnic we’d packed at Frances’ suggestion, and the generous nibbles she provided, we were perfectly content.

Speaking of contentment, I’ve mentioned that the bed was comfortable. The shower was just what you’d want in a shower, temperature- and water-pressure-wise. There is wifi, but it’s iffy, and there’s no TV — but this is a place that cries out for you to put down your electronic devices and work on a puzzle or read a book (many of both are provided), and listen for the first coyote yelps. They’re out there, and it’s a remarkable experience to listen to them from the middle of a large Beagle.

I took literally dozens of pictures at the Dog Bark Park, but it would be unfair to deprive you of the fun of discovering its other delightfully goofy bits.

Okay, just one more:

We were getting ready to leave, the next morning, when I noticed yet another Beagle dog….

We paid our own way at the Dog Bark Park Inn. I will always let you know when someone else foots (paws!) the bill. At just under $100/night, plus a one-time $15 pet fee, the Big Dog is less expensive than the various La Quinta inns we stayed in elsewhere on this particular road trip, and it’s a heck of a lot more fun.