Customer Reviews

Afoot and Afield: San Diego County: A Comprehensive Hiking Guide

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Jerry Schad is a remarkably prolific outdoor author. He has written extensively on hiking in southern California including the wildlands within Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties. But San Diego is where Schad's heart truly lies and it shows in every edition of 'Afoot and Afield San Diego.' I have owned each one since the first in 1986 and this book just keeps getting better and better. The 4th edition (2007) features over 250 hikes and is sure to keep outdoor enthusiasts busy.

Most of the 30 or so hikes new to this edition are in the chapters dealing with Beaches and Bays and the Coastal Strip/Foothills sections. In the last 20 years San Diego County has made remarkable progress at putting aside open space for recreation and this version of Afoot and Afield chronicles many new preserves that have appeared over the last decade. New hikes include the Hosp Grove, a walk among Eucalyptus Trees just south of Oceanside, the addition of three new routes in Mission Trails Regional Park (along with the banishment of one path up Cowles Mountain), and multiple new trails in the Alpine/Jamal area.

While urbanized areas have seen many changes, the mountain and desert portions of the book are similar to previous editions. In Rancho Cuyamaca State Park, only one new hike was added, a pleasant jaunt along Cuyamaca Reservoir. Sadly, although the book has not changed much, the surrounding mountain landscape has. The 2003 Cedar fires destroyed much of the park and Schad's assessment that it will recover in a decade or two seems highly unlikely. As an aside, I was disappointed that Schad repeated the park claim and attributed the fire to "a century of fire suppression." That was, of course, part of the problem. But rampant mismanagement by the state park also shares the blame. Thinning, controlled burns, and spraying for bark beetles would have done much to mitigate the 2003 catastrophe. Happily, Palomar Mountain State Park has learned from the disaster that overtook Rancho Cuyamaca and is returning to active management of its resources, beginning with clearing away brush and downed wood. Because of this careful management, the many beautiful trails and cross country routes Schad describes on Palomar will be safeguarded for generations to come.

In conclusion, this is a very good guidebook. It retains most of the best features of earlier guides and all of the best hikes. I miss the little icons that appeared in previous editions, but the heading for each hike provides all the information you need in a concise, readable format. The trail sketch maps are also for the most part adequate, but you will want to supplement these with more detailed recreational maps where available. Still, this is the most comprehensive guide to San Diego County, a four season outdoor wonderland. If you want to explore the region, you would do well to get this book.

I love this book and have been using Jerry Schad's words of trail finding wisdom for years. If you are living or visiting in the San Diego area and you like to hike, Afoot and Afield is THE book you need.

Schad knows all the ins and out of San Diego county and mentions everything. This is not just a listing of all the well-known trails in the area - it's a complete description of everything with a trail. In my own local Mission Bay region, the book describes tons of long and short hidden trails, places I never would have found on my own.

The book is organized with general county information up front (geology, geography, trail courtesy and the like, everything pretty basic), with trail descriptions following by region. A large map up front helps you pick the region you want. There are trails described for Julian, the Laguna Mountains, Cuyamaca Park, Anza Borrego desert, Torrey Pines State Park, Palomar Observatory Mountain, Penasquitos Canyon and many gorgeous coastal, mountain and desert locales. There are also swimming holes and waterfalls to explore.

I enjoy the book's layout: pertinent user-friendly info is in a box, on top of each article (trail length, difficulty, best times to hike, etc). Directions to the trail head are consistently mentioned at the end of all trail descriptions, which is useful when you are driving to a new area. Hand-drawn maps and clear black/white pictures add to the usefulness of the text.

If anyone ever riffled through my own copy, they will see I've placed notes in the margins, underlined portions of text, and turned the copy into a workbook of sorts.

The Afoot and Afield book that started with San Diego has branched out to other areas. I also own and recommend Afoot and Afield in Orange County and Afoot and Afield in Los Angeles.

If hiking is your passion and you live in San Diego area, this book is an absolute MUST. The author takes us to beautiful, hidden places that we, as Scouts & NATIVES, have never been to. Excellent investment! There's not a better book-bang, for your buck.

This book is by far the best and most comprehensive book on hiking in San Diego. I have lived here all my life and have enjoyed every hike in this book. Before buying this book, I hiked most of the major places like Torrey Pines, Cowles Mountain, San Elijo Lagoon, etc. However, after purchasing this book, I have explored so many other parts of the county. I can't say enough about this book and how much I credit it for getting me back into shape!

Nearly every park in the County, and nearly every trail in these parks is listed in this book. It's quite comprehensive. I strongly recommend it for anyone interested in hiking in the area.

I was sad to hear that Jerry passed away last month. He has left a legacy that includes this book, now in its 4th edition. His passion for the outdoors is evident in his meticulous descriptions of the trails, as well as some earth science lessons. The book is jam packed with hikes, I usually copy a page out of the book and take it with me. Trail maps would make it a perfect guide, but at 457 pages it is a great resource if you are an avid hiker. Highly recommended.

Jerry's books are the best you can find. I purchased the first edition back in 1987, another in 2002 and recently the newest 2010 edition. These are great books for anyone who likes to go walking or hiking in San Diego. I have hiked some the trails as described but most often use them as guides to create my own version of a route. His description of the trails are clear and easy to understand and he provides all of the information you need to get on the trail before you get there.

Best book so far that I have found for San Diego hiking. Been trying many of them!

I've given this book as a gift to two people and now I'm going to buy it for myself. This book is very detailed and it guides you to some of the coolest trails/ hikes in San Diego.

This is a great book, detailing a large number of hiking trails in SD county. I've done a few of the hikes, and the details are very accurate. I look forward to doing many more.