Customer Reviews

100 Classic Hikes in Colorado (Classic Hikes) 2nd Edition

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

While this is a book about hiking, the first thing that struck me as I read this book is the quality and quantity of the photographs. Every hike has at least one color photograph, and given that they are taken in Colorado, the scenery is spectacular. The book's pages are bright-white-glossy paper, so the colors really jump out at you. The pictures really give you a feel for what you are going to see on the hike and are thus worth many thousands of words.

The verbal content is excellent in its own right. The 100 hikes cover the entire state from the prairie in the east to Colorado National Monument in the west. Distance and difficulty range from a 1 mile nature stroll to 31.5 miles along the steep, rugged Continental Divide. The trail descriptions are not long, but words are used wisely and you will know about the area's history and what can be found on the hike when you are through reading. The hikes described in this book really live up to the "classic" in the book's title, as each one visits a special area, usually for scenery or geology, but sometimes for history. There are some very difficult hikes in Colorado (consider the mountains and elevation), but the author gives precise information (example: trail gains 1000 feet in the next 0.75 mile) that should allow you to steer clear of hikes beyond your ability. I recently visited Colorado and took a couple of the hikes described in this book. When I got done, I wished I had time to hike more of them.

As you can probably tell by now, I really enjoyed this guide. The book could be recommended for the pictures alone, but the hiking contents lives up to the title "100 classic hikes." Hikers planning to visit Colorado will find this guide a joy, but others might find it of interest as well. Enthusiastically recommended.

The color photographs alone make this a "must have" guidebook if you enjoy hiking in Colorado. Each hike is described in some detail with a ranking of how strenuous each trek is considered. The text is concise and to the point, but gives an adequate feel of each hike. There is at least one color photo for each journey and the photos are simply superb. Many such photos were the sole reason I decided to hike some of these mountains and I was never disappointed. You can literally spend hours just pouring over the incredible photos.

The quality of the book is superb. The pages are heavy glossy paper and the paperback binding holds up after major 1,000+ mile car journeys I've made with the book thrown in the backseat. If you buy one guidebook about hiking in Colorado, make it this one. I highly recommend it for the description of each trail and the stupendous photographs.

My son and I used this book to plan our first trip out west. The photos are beautiful, and the text is just great: accurate, well written, consistent, and contains just enough detail to make the book perfect for selecting the hike and locating the trailhead. It was a joy to read.
Just a couple of suggestions for the trail: plan for the fact that hiking times do not build in time for any long stops, and you may want to supplement the book with a topographic map for some of the longer and less-traveled trails.

This book does exactly what the other reviews say it does -- it gives overviews of some great Colorado hikes and good descriptions of the terrain. If you plan on hiking in Colorado often, this is an excellent place to start.

The book was helpful in helping us select hikes. Accuracy was a problem, on one hike the starting point was misstated by 5 mi. This coupled with virtually no trail markings in Colorado, made our hikes frustrating. The 'author' is a photographer who should have collaborated with someone for accuracy. Get better maps and descriptions of individual hikes before you set out.

Anticipation to take these hikes. A little disappointed in the directions on how to get to the trails, but with a little research I have been able to locate them