50 Hikes in the Adirondacks: Short Walks, Day Trips, and Backpacks Throughout the Park, Fourth Edition [Paperback]

Barbara McMartin (Author)

Book Description

Series: Explorer's 50 Hikes | Publication Date: May 2003

This classic guide to hiking in the Adirondacks has been extensively revised and updated and now includes 5 new hikes.

Barbara McMartin has been hiking in the Adirondacks for decades; her family, for generations. She has distilled her vast experience into the 50 hikes offered here, representing a cross-section of the wilderness and wild forest: rugged peak climbs, gentle trips to distant waterfalls, bushwhacks to wild rivers. In all she describes 360 miles of trails to caves, uninhabited lakes, wetlands, cliffs, and fire towers across the Park's 6 million acres.

The hikes range in length from 1.5 to 13.5 miles. Each hike description includes a topographic map, mile-by-mile directions, and information on distance, difficulty, terrain, and hiking time. An overview chart makes it easy to pick a hike for every ability. Throughout, McMartin provides commentary on the natural history of the region, along with colorful incidents from Adirondack history. 50 black and white photographs, 51 maps

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Barbara McMartin has written or contributed to more than 20 books on the Adirondacks, including the 11-volume Discover the Adirondacks series. McMartin has served as a consultant to the Adirondack Council and the Adirondack Park Agency; as editor of Adirondac magazine; and as a member of the Forest Preserve Advisory Committee to the Department of Environmental Conservation. She lives in Canada Lake, New York.

Product Details

• Paperback: 264 pages
• Publisher: Countryman Press; Fourth Edition edition (May 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0881505404
• ISBN-13: 978-0881505405
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #245,485 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars How to get there?, October 28, 2005

By 

jde - See all my reviews

This review is from: 50 Hikes in the Adirondacks: Short Walks, Day Trips, and Backpacks Throughout the Park, Fourth Edition (Paperback)

I've used this book for about 10 hikes over the last few years. It has been a helpful resource in planning day hikes. I rated it so low for two reasons.

First, as one of the other Amazon raters pointed out already, the "How To Get There" section which directs readers to the trailheads is indeed very vague and has caused me much frustration. The author does provide a map of the actual trail itself -- very helpful -- but never a street map for how to arrive at the trailhead.

Two, if you're a right-brained person then the book's lengthy trail descriptions might work for you, but I am not and I instead want to see facts, maps, etc. instead of reading pages of the author's reactions as she walks the trail. No offense, but I find myself skimming through her history lessons thinking, "Get to the point! I just want to know where to turn!"

Maybe I should have at least given this book a 3, but trying to find a trailhead based on the book's description has been so aggrevating at times I'm being vengeful.

28 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed!, July 28, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: 50 Hikes in the Adirondacks: Short Walks, Day Trips, and Backpacks Throughout the Park (Paperback)

My boyfriend and I just returned from a day hike in the Adirondacks yesterday and we were so disappointed with this book for numerous reasons. First, the directions given to the actual hike were very vague and I had to spend almost two hours on the internet beforehand trying to get specific directions to the trail. Basically, what should have been a one hour drive ended up being two. Second, once we were on the hike we found this book hard to follow and distances were off. Trails that the book claimed were present were not and specifics of landmarks, bridges, streams, etc. were also absent, leaving my boyfriend and I to "guesstimate" what location the author was actually referring to. About 4 miles into the hike, we put the book in our backpack and there it stayed. Despite this we still had an enjoyable hike, however, if you are thinking of purchasing this book...take the author's advice and BRING A COMPASS since a lot of the trail directions in the book rely on N, S, E, and W. Also, be prepared to spend some time hunting for specific directions and try to hook up with someone who knows the trails since we missed the "climax" of the hike due to the book's poor directions and out of date landmarks. An updated edition of this book should be published.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One Of The Experts On Lesser Known Gems!, August 9, 2002

By 

Martin A Hogan "Marty From SF" (San Francisco, CA. (Hercules)) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: 50 Hikes in the Adirondacks: Short Walks, Day Trips, and Backpacks Throughout the Park (Paperback)

Barbara McMartin is one of those few resident Adirondackers that has supplied the world with great information, anecdotes and history about lesser known trails in the Adirondacks. Keeping to the less over-run trails, the reader is treated to beautiful trails to remote mountaintops, caves, fire-towers, unique wetlands and historic sites.

This newer edition is only slightly different (three more hikes), but it includes great topo maps, directions, trail and destination descriptions and just a ton of interesting local folklore to keep you going. A great find.