Canyon Country Parklands: Treasures of the Great Plateau (National Geographic Park Profiles) [Paperback]

National Geographic Society (Author), Scott Thybony (Author)

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This collection is put together like a National Geographic magazine, with the stories all focusing on the 130,000-square-mile wilderness dubbed "the Great Unknown" by Major John Wesley Powell in 1869. Now shared by Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona, this area includes dazzling mesas and buttes, soaring stone pinnacles and arches, and daunting deep canyons and cliffs. Presented in the magazine's personalized reporting style with National Geographic's infamous color photos, this is a book worth having if you're headed to these parks--or have good memories of a visit there. A 16-page special section covers the diversity of plants and animals in the area.

Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: National Geographic; 2nd edition (March 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0792273532
• ISBN-13: 978-0792273530
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 6.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,681,889 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A very good overview of the Colorado Plateau region, July 23, 2002

By 

Jerald R Lovell (Clinton Township, Michigan United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Canyon Country Parklands: Treasures of the Great Plateau (National Geographic Park Profiles) (Paperback)

I am a Colorado Plateau freak, I must confess. As this book so excellently shows, every nook, every niche of that region is festooned with some new, arresting wonder, or so it seems.

Canyon Country Parklands is first remarkable for its photography. I have seldom seen the essence of this beautiful region captured so well. Indeed, many of the photos catch that magical light that seems to leap from the rock walls themselves. Even those parks long photographed, such as Zion National Park, attain a new height in beauty through the pictures in this book. A magnificent effort!!

The text is very readable and captures much of the magic of this region as well. I especially recommend the sections on Plateau wildlife and on the High Plateaus. The maps are also useful in reconnoitering one's position in this never-ending tableau of light and rock. You will enjoy this book to hilt, and its reasonable price makes it a remarkable bargain.