Customer Reviews

California's State Parks: A Day Hiker's Guide

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

 

 

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.

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.

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.

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.