Bicycling America's National Parks: California: The Best Road and Trail Rides from Joshua Tree to Redwoods National Park [Paperback]

David Story (Author), Dennis L. Coello (Foreword), Dennis Coello (Author)

Book Description

Series: Bicycling America's National Parks | Publication Date: May 2000

From the snow-capped peaks of the Sierras to the towering coastal redwood of Muir Woods, California's national parks are renowned for their splendour. Touring these national treasures by bike has become a favourite way to leave luggage-laden cars and busy roads behind and enjoy the hidden byways of these parks more fully. As Edward Abbey wrote., "a man on a bicycle will see more, feel more, enjoy more in one mile than the motorised tourist can in a hundred miles". Bike along the rugged coastline to the graceful beaches of Point Reyes, spin through the wild dunes of Death Valley, or pedal past the rock formations and climbers of Joshua Tree. Rides range in length from a two-mile warm-up in Manzanar Historic Site to a breathtaking Yosemite tour of nearly 100 miles. Each ride description includes a detailed map, tour directions, information about the trail or road surface, sights along the way, and the length and difficulty of the ride. In addition, a trip-planning appendix for each park tells you where to stay or camp, do your laundry, eat, buy supplies, and repair or rent a bike.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

David Story writes about bicycling and adventure travel for national magazines and is the author of Mountain Bike Southern California. He lives in Santa Monica, California.

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Backcountry Guides; 1 edition (May 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0881504254
• ISBN-13: 978-0881504255
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,058,332 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Unique, Concise, Thorough, endlessly Readable Guidebook., February 27, 2001

By 

Alan Koslowski (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bicycling America's National Parks: California: The Best Road and Trail Rides from Joshua Tree to Redwoods National Park (Paperback)

I just returned from a mountain biking vacation to Joshua Tree National Park, Mojave National Preserve, and Santa Monica Mountains National Recreational Area and this guidebook proved indespensible. It contains almost all information necessary to plan your trip and somehow manages to be both concise, thorough and readable.

Story introduces each chapter with a brief description of the geography and history of the park. Then Story lists several rides within the park, each accompanied by detailed descriptions (including technical and aerobic difficulty, best time of year to ride, overall length of trail, etc.) and maps. Though some road bike routes are included, most trails are for mountain bikes. Each trail I rode was accurately described. Each chapter also contains boxes describing the fauna (animals) and flora (plants) you'll likely encounter within each park.

This book isn't just a cycling guide, it contains virtually all the information you'll need to plan your trip. Story concludes each chapter with information about local lodging, camping, bike shops, grocery stores, and restaurants (his recommendations are first rate). He also provides helpful contacts (park visitors centers, etc.) which should be able to provide any other information you might need. Story has also eliminated the extraneous elements so many other cycling guidebooks seem to contain (elevation maps might be visually enticing, but let's face it, they aren't necessary).

What is really remarkable about this book is Story's terse, engaging writing. The abundance of information this book contains is presented in readable, often witty language. He doesn't just describe, he gives the reader a feel for each park and the surrounding communities (when applicable). Unlike most guidebooks I've read (which usually contain flat, predictable humor), Story's humor actually works; it isn't "laugh-out-loud" funny, but wry, witty humor that always relates to and never detracts from the subject matter.

The only improvement I would suggest for future editions is to provide a general map of each National Park. The trail maps only feature a small segment of the park where the trail is located. It is sometimes impossible to decipher where each trail is located within the entire park itself. This is particularly difficult for visitors not familiar with the area (like me). It was sometimes impossible to tell from the maps where the most convenient place to stay (closest lodging to the trails) is. The next edition should provide a map showing where each trail is located relative to the entire park. Before visiting a park, you should obtain a complete map from the National Park Service (Story does tell where to obtain these).

Story has set high standards with this guidebook, the first in the "Bicycling America's National Parks" series. It's the kind of book you'll enjoy reading even if you don't plan to hit the trails anytime soon. Story's writing is so engaging that finishing the 300-pages is effortless (300 pages may sound long, but it really isn't). This book is a must read for any cyclists interested in visiting the National Parks of California. I can't wait to read the subsequent guidebooks for other states.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great guide and an even better read!, September 29, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Bicycling America's National Parks: California: The Best Road and Trail Rides from Joshua Tree to Redwoods National Park (Paperback)

This book must be the first of its kind--a guidebook about bicycling in the national parks. The author shows that the common misperception that bicycling is not allowed off-road in national parks is just that-- a misperception. This book features some outstanding road rides as well as mountain bike rides. I think the descriptions of the parks themselves and the rides therein are well-written and clear. The author gives the kind of information you'd want to know before setting off on a ride, and does it in a colorful, sometimes very deadpan funny way. There's also some cool trivia about the parks and good, useful information about where to buy supplies, repair your bike, do laundry, take showers, camp, and other stuff like that. I think this is a book that shows you how to take part in the most fun sport in the world (bicycling) and do it in some of the most spectacular places in the world (the national parks of California). A must for any travelers to the national parks who want to get out of their cars and explore. (By the way: it's not just for hardcore bicyclists--there are numerous family and beginner-level rides as well.)

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book, but beware ..., September 12, 2007

By 

Harold Marcuse "professor of German history" (Santa Barbara, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Bicycling America's National Parks: California: The Best Road and Trail Rides from Joshua Tree to Redwoods National Park (Paperback)

I agree with the other reviews that this book is informative and engagingly written, with excellent and thoroughly researched paved and back road routes. However, I noted two cases in the Yosemite descriptions where the author confused left and right. In ride 74 at the bottom of page 264 he writes that you "turn left (south) and then xleftx RIGHT! immediately again onto narrow Crescent Meadow Road. That one is obvious when you're there, but the other is crucial: In ride 70, in the middle of p. 258 "...before arriving at a meadow. It seems like you should go left, but stay to the right of the meadow." Nope--you must indeed go to the LEFT of that meadow to follow the described route (and the overall loop is to the right), while the right fork soon turns into barely recognizable cowpaths that eventually dead end in the woods. I mention this mainly because he makes such a big deal of it, and want to warn cyclists using the book to take the directions with a hint of caution.