Customer Reviews

Along the Trail with Lewis & Clark

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

 

 

As Executive Director of the National Lewis & Clark Bicentennial Council, I have the opportunity to review many guides now available to the Lewis and Clark Trail and indeed, Lee Enterprises' publication is a traveler's essential companion as they embark on their own journey of discovery of the epic expedition of Lewis and Clark. The text manages to guide as well as inspire readers' attention to the other excellent texts available for the study of Lewis and Clark and the other story: that of the Native Americans met and befriended on the journey. For road travel, the maps indeed have no equal for their attention to the detail required for following as closely as possible the actual routes of the expedition. If I could have wished for any additional mapping information, it would have been for one comprehensive fold-out map depicting the entire route juxtaposed on the appropriate Interstate, State and Forest Service roads. Additionally, the authors' embrace of othe! r significant sites and stories on the trail, suggested lodging and restaurants make this guide one that should always be in the set of "required Lewis and Clark reading" and close at hand while traveling the Lewis and Clark Trail.

The regular editorial content of this book has turned out to be everything I had hoped for -- a great companion to my interest in the Corps of Discovery, and a focal point for my longstanding hope to do some traveling of my own along the trail. I endorse Stephen Ambrose's praise of the vivid writing.

My only complaint: why wasn't I warned that this volume carries paid advertising in its pages? It may not matter to some people, but I have a peeve about *paying* to be "advertised at." When I buy a magazine, I expect it and know what I'm getting into. I'm in PR myself, so I'm no naif. But books are supposed to grant us a little refuge. Amazon, please consider alerting prospective buyers in cases like these.

Now that I've whined about it, let me admit that if I ever do hit the trail myself, I'll probably find many of the ads useful in their own right. The authors had the right to conceive and construct their work any way they wanted to, but I'd have appreciated a more forthright promotion of the final product.

Nightguy is right--the book shouldn't have ads. And, coming out next year, the 2nd edition WON'T have them. Also, Joseph Mussulman has been updating maps, Vicky Soderberg the touring information, and I've been fixing historical boo-boos. Glad to say there aren't too many, but our 2nd edition will be sharper. We will say again, right up in the front matter, that the maps and text are intended to be used with STATE HIGHWAY MAPS that give the detail we unfortunately don't have room for.

While there are but a handful of Lewis and Clark Trail guidebooks, usually locally written, with strong parochial interests, this one covers the entire trail, with evenhandness.

Combining the history with what to see today, what really makes this guidebook sizzle is the full color maps, highly detailed, featuring all of the significant (and some not so significant) Lewis and Clark sites.

Stephen Ambrose calls it "without question, the best guidebook to the Lewi and Clark Trail" and I agree.

While Stephen Ambrose wrote a most comprehensive book on the Lewis and Clark adventure, Barbara Fifer's prose in this "guide book" captures the flavor and the essence of this most important journey in US history. Mr. Ambrose, in his praise of Fifer's writing, said to her, "Young lady, you can write." Yes, I believe reading the book will support his praise. By the way, why did you not name Barbara Fifer as the writer?

We just finished our trip using this book as a guide. Most of the book was very helpful. The maps were good, but we were misled a few times because roads were either marked improperly on the maps or not shown on the maps at all. If you do plan on using this book as a guide for your adventure, and I recommend that you do, be careful to check maps. For instance, Spirit Mound is on Highway 19, but the book's map said Highway 12. And we never did find the Gass Election site. The only directions given in the book were "about one mile south of town." We spent about 2 hours trying to find it. With all that said, we still had a great time!

A friend and I took this guide and some others on the L&C trail last summer. This is a good guide and it has fantastic information on camping as well as very good maps. I agree with others who have criticized the ads- I bought mine in 2001 and also found ads. Additionally, the binding in my copy was weak and pages frequently fell out. If you are getting a number of guides, I recommend getting this one. However, if you're looking for only one guidebook, I found Julie Fanselow's book more helpful than this one.