California's State Parks: A Day Hiker's Guide [Paperback]

John McKinney (Author)

Book Description

Series: Day Hiker's Guide | Publication Date: June 24, 2005

California’s glorious natural wonders are preserved in its state and national parklands, and chronicled here in a guide by John McKinney, hiking columnist for the Los Angeles Times for 18 years. McKinney, known to his readers as “The Trailmaster,” has identified the finest hikes that each parkland has to offer. In California’s State Parks, McKinney has selected 150 of the best hikes in state parks, preserves, beaches, wilderness areas and historic sites, from the well known Anza-Borrego Desert State Park to lesser-known gems such as Manchester State Beach. McKinney’s rousing descriptions of each park will inspire both first-time California travelers to explore the state by foot, as well as California residents in search of new trails. Also included are maps of each park, fun facts and natural and human history, scenic and historic photos, and the distance and elevation gain of each hike.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

John McKinney is the author of a dozen books about walking, hiking and nature, including a series of day hiking guides to California. For 18 years he wrote a popular hiking column for the Los Angeles Times, and he now writes articles and commentaries about hiking for national publications, and promotes hiking and conservation on radio and television.

Product Details

• Paperback: 356 pages
• Publisher: Wilderness Press (June 24, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0899973868
• ISBN-13: 978-0899973869
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #478,777 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Buy for History, not Hikes, January 6, 2006

By 

Fritz R. Ward "dayhiker" (Crestline, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: California's State Parks: A Day Hiker's Guide (Paperback)

California has a huge state park system with over 250 different sites. This is far more than any other western state in the US. The system also includes some real gems. Humbolt Redwoods State Park and the Anza Borrego Desert are both national park quality retreats and many other state parks could make similar claims. McKinney's book is a great introduction to those parks with any sort of backcountry to explore. It also contains lots of colorful local history, sharp black and white photographs, and is a fun read.

The reason this book only gets three stars is that it actually shortchanges all the parks have to offer. McKinney devotes pretty much equal time to each park usually describing only one or two hikes. But some of these parks have extensive trail systems. Big Basin Redwoods State Park, for example, has over 60 miles of trail and McKinney really only covers a small portion of these in the book. The same can be said for San Jacinto Mountain State Park, Anza Borrego and many other wonderful destinations. So while this book is a good introduction to the state park system, it is hardly comprehensive.

As a final note, readers should be aware that while this book has a different cover and publisher, it is essentially a new edition of the old Olympus Press Book by the same title. McKinney has added only a half dozen new destinations to this edition and some of those are not yet open to the public.

6 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A "must-have" for hiking enthusiasts visiting or residing in California, August 14, 2005

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: California's State Parks: A Day Hiker's Guide (Paperback)

Hiking expert John "The Trailmaster" McKinney presents California's State Parks: A Day Hiker's Guide, a traveler's guide packed cover to cover with everything a nature-loving vacationer could hope to know about day-hikes in California's state parklands. Divided by geographical region, the trails in California's state parks are illustrated with black-and-white maps and carefully described in terms of length, difficulty, directions, what to expect while hiking and more. An index allows for quick and easy lookup of individual trails, and black-and-white photographs offer a visual introduction to natural splendors. California's State Parks: A Day Hiker's Guide does not concern itself overmuch with information unrelated to day hike trails, where to find them and what to see on them, leaving such matters to other guides. A "must-have" for hiking enthusiasts visiting or residing in California.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Day Hiking, Bummer the Parks are Closing!, July 10, 2011

By 

Julie (Los Olivos, CA, United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: California's State Parks: A Day Hiker's Guide (Paperback)

Great book with plenty of information about the massive California State Park System. Of course now that many are slated to be closed, hopefully only temporarily, we are chomping at the bit to go hiking!! One word of caution - if you buy this book, know that it only covers hiking trails - it does NOT include information about the park itself such as directions to the park, operating hours, facilities, etc. Also, as this is a day hiker's guide, most of the trails are short. The maps and trail descriptions are all easy to follow and there is even a little history about the park. It does give directions to the trail head and mileage. The only downside is a lack of difficulty rating, but so far those we've done have been quite easy and relatively short.