60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: Minneapolis and St. Paul: Includes Hikes in and Around the Twin Cities [Paperback]

Tom Watson (Author)

Book Description

Series: 60 Hikes within 60 Miles | Publication Date: April 28, 2007

This authoritative guide to Twin Cities hiking details 60 of the area’s best trails, most of which are within an hour’s drive of the metro area. This second edition is completely updated and includes new trails, photos, trailhead coordinates, and updated maps. ithin the seven county "metro" area that encompasses the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, nearly 1,000 beautiful trails lie within these urban borders. Minneapolis was recently named "the most athletic city in the nation" in the February 2006 issue of Men’s Fitness and this is the only hiking guide for the Twin Cities

Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for previous edition:
"...an excellent and enthusiastically recommended planning resource for Twin Cities area hikers and outdoor enthusiasts looking for exercise, variety, and fun."--Midwest Book Review

About the Author

Tom Watson grew up enjoying Minnesota's great outdoors. He's an active freelance photojournalist with many outdoor articles and photos in national publications to his credit.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 280 pages
• Publisher: Menasha Ridge Press; 2nd edition (April 28, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0897325990
• ISBN-13: 978-0897325998
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #301,856 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #7 in Books > Travel > United States > States > Minnesota
  • #57 in Books > Travel > United States > Regions > Central

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Decent writing, lists, and layout; terrible directions, July 23, 2008

By 

Chris Flood (Oakland, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: Minneapolis and St. Paul: Includes Hikes in and Around the Twin Cities (Paperback)

I need guidebooks like this to do two things for me: 1) help me pick a hike and 2) get me there. Everything else is fluff for me. While "60 Hikes within 60 Miles..." delivers decent writing and a good layout (fluff) and has done an excellent job so far in helping me pick out hikes in the area, it has really failed in getting me to my selected destinations. If you want the grueling details (and maybe some tips if you've already purchased the book), then read on. Otherwise, bring a map.

For example, Hike 42 tells you to simply take the "Monticello exit" off I-94, follow signs "to the left" and get on County Road 35. There are two Monticello exits, only one of which is clearly marked as the exit for CR-35. Unfortunately, this is the wrong exit. Only if you take the second Monticello exit do the directions make sense, but there is no way you would know this from the book.

The directions for Hike 41 tell you to take the "93rd Street" exit off I-94 into Maple Grove. There is no "93rd Street" exit. Instead, you want to take the CR-30 exit (aka "Maple Grove Parkway"), which does happen to be 93rd Street, but you would not know this from the interstate unless you had a map other than rudimentary diagram provided in this book.

Finally, Hike 22 tells you to get off I-94 at the "Rogers exit" and get onto CR-150. Unfortunately, at the end of the exit, your only choice is to get onto 101 or return to the interstate. You can use a bit of common sense and head left on 101, and, staying straight, eventually end up on CR-150, but anyone who wants to stick hard and fast to the directions given will be lost immediately upon exiting the freeway. Moreover, although the pictured map correctly showed CR-116 as the next turn, the directions themselves say to turn onto CR-166, a sloppy typo that does not make me believe these directions are going to get any better anytime soon.

The directions for Hike 46 tell you to take a right off US-169 onto State 47 North. However, to get onto 47 North, you stay straight (no right turn), simply avoiding the left hand turn required to stay on 169. It is actually easier to make a right onto 47 South (NOT North) just before this, and then get off onto County 17 North at the next exit. The park entrance is directly off 17, and 17 also continues north to provide easier access to Hike 47 as well.

I've only done six hikes so far, and the directions on five out of the six have been unsatisfactory. I hope they get better, but from now on I'm bringing a serious map.

Other than these issues, I like the simple, clear layout, the lists of hikes sorted by length, terrain, etc. at the beginning of the book, the summaries of hikes in the gray boxes, and the astute commentary about the hikes through out the book. If it weren't for the horrendous directions, I would have given this book four or five stars, but for me a book like this must be able to get me where I'm going. So far, "60 Hikes within 60 Miles..." has not.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Mostly a good book...., April 11, 2010

By 

Kristine "Kristine" - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: Minneapolis and St. Paul: Includes Hikes in and Around the Twin Cities (Paperback)

This book has very good information, but like another customer commented, getting to the hikes is one of the primary uses for a book of this type. My biggest "complaint" is about the regional map inside the front cover of the book which shows where all 60 hikes are located. The map markings, hike locations, highway and road names, etc. read left to right on the page. Unfortunately the top of the page is not geographical NORTH as one is accustomed to seeing on most printed maps. The map has been printed and labeled showing east as the top of the map. If you turn the book so that NORTH is in the more familiar top postion of the map, then the markings, names, etc. are rotated 90 degrees clockwise and near to impossible to read. This is really a bummer, since it is the ONLY map in the book that shows the location of all 60 hikes on one individual map. I had (but lost) the earlier edition of this book years ago and referred to the regional map often, but don't remember the map being this difficult to read. It's hard to believe the author and an editor thought this map was at all logical and easy to understand!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great variety of hikes around the Twin Cities, February 11, 2010

By 

Galileo Galilei (Frostbite Falls, MN USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: Minneapolis and St. Paul: Includes Hikes in and Around the Twin Cities (Paperback)

Hikes sorted by length (less than 3 miles, 3-5 miles, 5-10 miles, over 10) and other criteria of interest. This is a great readable book for kids to explore hiking trails and for parents and adults to get an idea of what the hike entails. I can find hikes within a 10 minute drive or can explore new areas not far outside the Twin Cities. This is the kind of book I use for the "what should we do today? let's go for a hike!" level of planning I depend on when I get a free afternoon with the kids.

I agree with the other reviewer that the driving directions aren't great - but that's what MapQuest and my GPS are for! The book also does not provide hiking boots or water - you'll need to supply those yourself as well.