Bicycling America's National Parks: Oregon and Washington: The Best Road and Trail Rides from Crater Lake to Olympic National Park [Paperback]

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

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2001 | Series: Bicycling America's National Parks

An adventure guide to the national parks of Oregon and Washington, featuring 58 road and mountain bike rides through the parks' most spectacular natural areas. Each of the 58 ride descriptions 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. He is also the author of Bicycling America's National Parks: California and Mountain Bike! Southern California. He lives in Santa Monica, California.

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Backcountry Guides (February 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0881504807
• ISBN-13: 978-0881504804
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #599,893 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #91 in Books > Travel > United States > States > Washington

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A superb addition to a great series, April 3, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Bicycling America's National Parks: Oregon and Washington: The Best Road and Trail Rides from Crater Lake to Olympic National Park (Paperback)

I purchased this book after reading a glowing review of it from the San Francisco Chronicle. I'm very glad I purchased it. This latest addition to the Bicycling America's National Parks series is informative, helpful, and truly captures the ambience of the different national parks it covers. It's not just national parks, but national recreation areas, and national monuments too, and you really get a sense of where the great bicycling opportunities are in places that also have national-caliber scenery and attractions. After reading the book, I'm definitely planning on using it for a Hells Canyon National Recreation Area trip later this summer. The chapters on Crater Lake, Olympic National Park, and Mount Saint Helens totally appealed to me, cause I've been to those places and wondered about biking there. The author does a great job of showing that the myth that you can't ride offroad in national parks is just that-- a myth. (All the rides are legal, though some do take place just outside park boundaries.) The book presents everything you need to know in a clear, often funny way. The pictures are great too. That's about all I ask from a guidebook.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Unique and Broad, though Slightly Incomplete Guidebook., October 21, 2001

By 

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

This review is from: Bicycling America's National Parks: Oregon and Washington: The Best Road and Trail Rides from Crater Lake to Olympic National Park (Paperback)

Story's first guidebook in the 'Bicycling America's National Parks' series (California) is an excellent all-around cycling guide (and general guidebook) for the Golden State. It's concise, thorough, and balanced, presented in personable, witty language. He includes a variety of road and mountain bike routes for virtually every riding level. His lodging, shopping, and especially dining suggestions are first rate. It includes almost all the information a would-be tourist (as I was) needs for a bicycling trip to CA. Story also throws in some nice tidbits about natural and cultural history of each park, as well as description of fauna and flora (plants and animals), and worthwhile less-known attractions.

This guide from Story features most of the same attributes as his previous guide. He includes a variety of rides that highlight the nearly infinite geographical and ecological diversity of Oregon and Washington. Once again, he includes abundant, but concise information and recommendations related to lodging and related travel info, presented in personable language (though he's not as consisently funny). As before, he provides a nice natural and historical background, serving to not just describe, but introduce the reader to each park (or recreational area).

There is one minor shortcoming, relative to Story's National Parks/California book. That guide contained abundant supplemental information related to dining and other special attractions within or near each park. While this guidebook has some info. of that nature, it seems much more sparse. This might be because many trails in Oregon and Washington are in fairly rural areas far from any major (or even minor) population center. This considered, this guidebook still doesn't seem as complete as his California edition, which provided that reader with virtually everything we'd need to plan our trip. This isn't to say this guide is poor, it just doesn't quite match up to the standards of Story's previous guide. Once again, it would be helpful if Story included a general map of each park (this was the only minor problem I had with his CA edition).

Even if it doesn't quite measure up to Story's California guide, Oregon/Washington is still far superior to most other cycling guidebooks available (even allowing for it's uniqueness). It's an indespensible tool for anyone planning a cycling trip to or near the national parks/recreational areas of Oregon and Washington. It's a perfect starting point, though you might want to research the areas more before heading out.