Customer Reviews

Day Hiking Olympic Peninsula: National Park/Coastal Beaches/Southwest Washington (Done in a Day)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I picked up this book yesterday at the mountaineers bookstore after patiently waiting for it for weeks and I'm happy to say the wait was most definitely worth the wait.

This title is a great revision of the classic '100 hikes' series perfectly geared for the modern hiker. The text is much more concise and direct with much clearer maps and directions. Gone are the Harvey Manning style trail reviews that often turned into personal meditations where meaning and fact had to be gleaned with much care. As is evident by the title, the focus is also entirely on Day Hiking, with a scant minority of the hikes exceeding 10 miles round trip. This is in sharp contrast to the classic hikes series in which most volumes were heavily slanted toward multi-day backpacking treks. This probably bodes well for the old series staying in print as it will still have a definitive niche. There is also a much greater emphasis given to year round hikes with many low elevation destinations included in the whopping 125 hikes listed in the book.

My one complaint would be that the snazzy 'hike overview chart' at the beginning of the book misses out on a few helpful details that would make finding a desirable hike quickly easier, specifically these details would be elevation gain, specific months accessible and the subjective star rating of the hike's overall quality that. All these details are of course available for each hike in the meat of the book. What is included in the overview chart are things such as whether or not the hike is accessible year round, what scenic features each possesses, and subjective difficulty level on a 1-6 scale. Amusingly only one hike rates a 6 for difficulty which translates to "beyond strenuous".

Overall a great launch to a new series. I'm highly looking forward to the Snoqualmie & South Cascades editions (both written by a different author) and hopefully many more to come after that!

I have been patiently waiting for this book to release ever since Father's Day of 2006. I met author Craig Romano on the trail and he featured individual pictures of me and my dad in two areas of this guide. At first, I wanted to pick up the book for its sentimental value but as I began to look through the pages I realized that there were a plethora of trails to choose from. I came across trails I have never seen written up in any guide book including the Theler Wetlands in Belfair, Twanoh State Park near Union and Penrose Point State Park. The driving directions and trail descriptions are highly accurate and there is a quick breakdown of each hike outlining the difficulty, open seasons, corresponding maps and accessibility. Each hike has been meticulously researched and it is evident that a great amount of time and effort went in to making this book as accurate and descriptive as possible. Out of all of the Olympic Peninsula trail guides I have read, this is quite possibly the best out there.

I purchased this book along with Erik Molvar's "Easy Day Hikes Olympic National Park" and between the two of them I was able to quickly locate and choose the exact hikes that not only fit my schedule, but my difficulty level, and time frame. I would recommend this to anyone planning a trip to the Olympic Peninsula.

This was the perfect book to take with us for our trip to the Olympic peninsula.
We didn't have the equipment to go camping in the back country so we wanted a book with one day hikes.
All hikes are accurately rated (how nice they are and how difficult), descriptions are useful, you get some maps.
It was just what we needed.

I purchased this book before a 10 day hiking trip to the Olympic Peninsula and it is great. All of the hikes we did in the book were good (even hikes he only gave 1 star - if it is in the book at all, it is an enjoyable hike) and the write-ups give you a surprisingly good idea of what the hike will be like. The book is also more current that others that I purchased. For planning, it has a map in front that tells you what is near to what and what sort of terrain trails will cover.

Each section contains a summary (rating of 1 star to 5 stars, difficulty, length, elevation gain and maximum altitude, and the suggested season); maps; how to drive to the trail; and an "Extending your trip" section with suggestions for add-ons to make the hike a little longer or a little more interesting.

Overall an excellent book, and the only guide you need to plan your trip. I highly recommend it.

This was a very useful guide for us with only a few days to spend in this spectacular area. Trail guides were generally accurate and descriptions wothwhile.

Yet another Craig Romano classic! I love Craig's writing style, concise and to the point, but interesting and detailed at the same time. Craig never misses a detail, and my hiking group (PNW Leisure Hiking), my family, and I use this book as yet another valuable resource for our hikes. These are clearly hikes "done in a day," and each of the hikes is a gem of the Olympic Peninsula. One of my favorite tidbits from Craig's books is that the author tends to list hikes that are rarely (if at all) found in other hike books. We've been able to get off of some of the over-populated trails this way. All in all, this book is a must-have for any serious Washington hiker.

This series is amazing! This is my go-to book for the Olympics. I never hike without the one for the particular region ( I have almost the whole series). They have color maps of where the hike is located plus a cheat sheet in the front of the main draws of the hike (wildflowers, waterfalls, views etc) which is so helpful on top of in-depth information on the hike and tips for hiking in the area in the front! I think its one of the best books for the area.

This great guidebook covers an amazing number of day hikes (up to about 14 miles) not only in Olympic National Park but all around the peninsula and the west side of Puget Sound. I appreciate the difficulty and "payoff" ratings and the careful directions to the trailheads and to the ultimate destinations. The maps and photos are a wonderful addtion. The books is stoutly constructed to survive may outings stuffed into your pack. Trying all the hikes will keep you busy for many seasons!

We are new to the area and we were recommended to this guide by friends, who are avid hikers. Craig Romano provides a clear and interesting summary of each hike, with suggestions for all levels of fitness. We are looking forward to exploring the Olympic Peninsula for years to come with the aid of this guide.