The Best Hikes of Pisgah National Forest [Paperback]

C. Franklin, III Goldsmith (Author), H. James Hamrick (Author), Shannon Hamrick (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2000

This guide details almost 100 of Pisgah National Forest's finest trails, selected for their views, the waterfalls they visit, and the diversity of plant and animal life present. Softcover. Still sealed in wrap. Fine condition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: John F. Blair Publisher; First edition (September 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0895871904
• ISBN-13: 978-0895871909
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 5.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #206,020 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pushing the Frontier of Hiking Guides, January 20, 2006

By 

David Prager "redhawk" (Winterville, GA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Best Hikes of Pisgah National Forest (Paperback)

Cutting a long, diagonal swath through the mountains of western North Carolina, Pisgah National Forest offers some of the finest mountain hiking in the eastern United States. Covering the entire national forest, this guide will help you find a great trail to hike regardless of what your definition of great is.

This guide describes 112 national forest trails ranging from a flat, easy 0.5 mile loop to a rugged 12-mile hike one-way through Linville Gorge. The guide is organized around the major hiking areas in the national forest including Black Balsam Knob, Max Patch, Mt. Mitchell, Davidson River Valley, Linville Gorge, and Avery Creek. Each area features an excellent, detailed map copied from a USGS Topo map, driving directions (including landmarks) to the trailheads, and a detailed description of the trail. Additionally, the authors of this guide give GPS coordinates to designate trailheads, major intersections, and points of interest. With the increased popularity and availability of GPS navigation systems on the trail, the GPS coordinates add a nice touch that most guides still do not offer. This feature places this guide on the cutting edge of all hiking guides.

Perhaps the strongest point of this guide is its versatility. In addition to the GPS feature mentioned above, this guide describes both individual trails and possible routes for loop hikes. These day loop hikes are given in addition to descriptions of the longer backpack trails in the forest, namely the Mountains-to-Sea Trail and the Art Loeb Trail. Hikes located near the Blue Ridge Parkway are listed separately along with a list of hikes suitable for children and a list of easier trails suitable for the elderly. All of these features and the pocket-small size of the book add up to a guide that can be used by everyone no matter what kind of hike you desire in the Pisgah National Forest.

In summary, I have a bookshelf full of hiking guides, and this guide is perhaps the best guide I have ever encountered. If you are planning a hiking trip to western North Carolina, this is the guide you want in your pocket or in your backpack.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great hikes with accurate descriptions, September 6, 2000

By 

"marketplacemp" (Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Best Hikes of Pisgah National Forest (Paperback)

This is an execellent book that provides helpful descriptions of each trail and how to find them. Especially helpful that it uses USGS maps instead of printing their own. I highly recommend this book.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great Guide, Wretched Maps, July 5, 2009

By 

Edwin Gardner (Charleston, SC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Best Hikes of Pisgah National Forest (Paperback)

A hiker in the Pisgah Forest for over 40 years, I was delighted to find many new destinations and great campsites in this guide that I had never known about. This is a unique resource that makes the marvels of Pisgah - one of the secret gems of the eastern US - accessible to many folks for the first time. The maps, however, are something else again. I'm a professional cartographer, and I can confidently say I've NEVER encountered worse trail maps. To be able to use this guidebook at all I took all the authors' maps and recreated them in a more intelligible form. It's a shame to see a very good guidebook spoiled by a complete lack of appreciation of good mapmaking practice.