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Top Trails Yellowstone & Grand Tetons: Must-do Hikes for Everyone Review

Wilderness Press made its name in outdoor publishing by focusing on the High Sierra of California and later the rest of the Golden State. Their "Top Trails" series similarly is focused almost entirely on California. But if any wilderness area is deserving of coverage in the Top Trails series, the greater Yellowstone ecosystem has to be included. Now in its second edition and with a single author, this book gives you a quick overview of some of the best hikes in both Yellowstone and neighboring Grand Teton National Parks.

The Top Trails series does not aim to be comprehensive. Rather, this book is designed to list the best trails from short "family friendly" day hikes to longer overnight excursions. In the category of the former, almost all of the really popular hikes in the park are included here: Mammoth Hot Springs, Observation Point view of Old Faithful, Artist Paint Pots, Tower Falls and the fossil forest all get full write ups. If you hike any of these trails, you will also share them with hundreds of others on any given summer afternoon. This is not necessarily a bad thing: these places are popular for a reason. Slightly longer treks up Washburn peak, and hikes to various waterfalls also appear in this book and several very long day hikes (or overnight backpack trips) are featured. In all, it is a good selection. Distances, natural features, and wildlife viewing are all equally balanced.

My only complaints about the book are that several of the hikes are one way affairs requiring a shuttle. Shuttle hikes are fine, but if you are traveling any great distance to Yellowstone you will not be bringing two cars and hitch hiking is not all that easy. Also, the hike selection discusses fishing a lot. I'm good with that. Indeed, during my three summers in Yellowstone, I went fishing every chance I could. But I would have included the hike to Cascade and Grebe lake in this volume because of the opportunity to catch (and release) a unique Grayling found only in these lakes in the park. Still, this is a fine book. Reading it, I found myself remembering adventures from years ago and wondering when I would be able to schedule another visit.

Top Trails Yellowstone & Grand Tetons: Must-do Hikes for Everyone Feature

ISBN13: 9780899975009
Condition: New
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Top Trails Yellowstone & Grand Tetons: Must-do Hikes for Everyone Overview

With trips from Mammoth Hot Springs to Old Faithful, from the Absarokas to the Gallatin Range, and from Jackson Hole to the Teton Crest Trail, Top Trails Yellowstone & Grand Teton National Parks has all visitors need to enjoy the ultimate in natural and geothermal wonders--tranquil backcountry lakes, panoramic summits, glacier-carved canyons, steaming geyser basins, vast meadows teeming with wildlife, and much more. Award-winning author Andrew Dean Nystrom has selected the 45 best trips in the area, ranging in length from a half-mile stroll by some of the park's most colorful hot springs to a 30-mile trek past intriguing thermal features and wildlife galore.

The second edition features expanded coverage of the new Laurance S. Rockefeller Preserve addition to Grand Teton National Park, family and kid-friendly hikes, legally soakable hot springs (with ratings) in both parks, moonlight hiking, and how to secure hard-to-get in-park lodging and campsite reservations.

Winner of a National Outdoor Book Award for best adventure guidebook in 2005, and a best-selling Wilderness Press title.
At-a-glance information shows which trips have the best hiking, mountain biking, trail running, horseback riding, and more.

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Customer Reviews

Not Very Accurate - Sarah Jones -
My fiance and I just got back from a trip to Yellowstone. Luckily we brought 2 guidebooks because this guidebook definitely needs a backup.

Pros:

I like how the author finds various types of trails in each area of the park.
The summary chart in the beginning makes it so easy to navigate the book.
Some of the trails I really liked - like the Cascade Canyon and Jenny Lake trail in the Grand Tetons and the South Rim trail in Yellowstone.

Cons:

We found some mistakes that I would consider quite misleading:

Concerning Huckleberry Springs - which is according to the author a well-known swimming hole in the Grand Tetons, the description in the book needs some work. Crossing Polecat Creek was extremely difficult - very high, rapidly-flowing water. Then when we get to the end of the trail we searched around for 15 minutes trying to find exactly what the author was describing as the "five star soak". I think I might have found it, but it was right next to the hot spring itself. If you go into Yellowstone, there are so many warnings about NEVER EVER going into the hot spring because the water temperature could rise unexpectedly, so I'm surprised anyone would actually soak here. There certainly wasn't anyone there when we were there last week (the week of July 4th). Needless to say, we did not get in the water.

Concerning the Boiling River - the book states the trail opens in mid-June. The other guidebook we had states mid-July. Guess which one is right.

Concerning the Tower Fall trail - The book states that you can walk all the way to the bottom of the canyon. However, the trail down to the bottom of the canyon was destroyed in 2004. It's a long way to go down only to stop halfway.

Maybe these updates are on the book website... I don't know because I didn't notice that the book had a website until AFTER the trip.

Nice and useful book - A. MILL - East Windsor, NJ, USA
Detailed review for every hike with good maps and a lot of useful symbols. exactly what I was looking for. Just be advised that the book is in black and white only, no color at all but that's not a big deal.

Exactly what we wanted - LJSN - Pennsylvania
We purchased this book based on the great reviews and it didn't disappoint. The details are accuate and helpful, often moreso than the signage on the trails. One of the more memorable hints was to take a short side trip up a hillside on the Fairy Falls trail to view the Grand Prismatic Spring. We certainly had a much better view than those standing right on top of it on the boardwalks, especially with the sun shining. Bravo Andrew!

*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Aug 25, 2010 03:51:08

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Wednesday, August 25, 2010