Customer Reviews

Explore! Theodore Roosevelt National Park: A Guide to Exploring the Roads, Trails, River, and Canyons (Exploring Series)

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

 

 

Super book ! I have used a number of guidebooks, so when someone offered to loan me a copy I was skeptical at first. Now I am ordering a copy of my own. This will really help me organize my upcoming North Dakota trip.
The writing was engaging and I think the author gave a good overall sense of the place. I think most people would want to go there for many of the aspects covered. I want to get into the history and hope to see lots of animals.
It was especially good to know that there are possible side trips that look like fun nearby. I almost always get to talk to other people who try to " make the rounds " of the National Parks so now I think I could give them some good tips that I read about.
Next time, I'm going to look at the Falcon book first because it was very clear and got me excited. Some of the others look good to start with but when you get down to it they get carried away with too many things that I think would be boring to most of us. It was easy to go to the index when I wanted to find something specific. And my son will probably get a kick out of the questions in the back.

My brother who lives in Minnesota is traveling with his family to the Dakotas this summer. So I have been doing a bit of research for him on sites to visit. I was delighted to come across this recent publication of perhaps one of the lessor known but yet very interesting national park in the Dakotas. What I like most about this book is the vivid picture it creates of the park. It enables me to vision what I will see and hear if I were to hike and drive through the park. The way the book is organized provides a pictoral flow to what one will see when touring both the north and south sections of the park. The maps provide a helpful macro view of the park and the clear directions in the text of the book make touring the park see quite manageable for a family.

I like the personal inviting writing style of the author and the many side bars that offer interesting historical accounts, information about the geography and geology, as well as, animal life on the high dessert praire. I look forward to sending the book to my brother and hope that he adds Theodore Roosevelt National Park to his summer travel plans.

This is an okay guide book, best for those for whom the very idea of traveling to North Dakota is mind-blowing, or for those who want a watered-down version of the same info available in the visitors center's kiosks. Definitely not very useful for hikers/backpackers or folks planning to actually do much at the park. In fact, slightly less than half the book consists of information on the park itself. The rest treats the surrounding area, the life of TR, ND in general, or simply repeats information given in other parts of the book. Many sections seem designed for an 8-year-old: "Is It Buffalo or Bison?"; "Are Prairie Dogs Really Dogs?"; the quiz at the back of the book to test your ability to read; etc.

I'm glad that Mr. Novey is enthusiastic about the park. But given that this seems to be the only guidebook out there dedicated to TRNP, it's too bad it wasn't done properly. Since there's not much else available, the book does have its uses. But you can probably find the same material after a few minutes with a search engine. If you plan to backpack the map here isn't sufficient. If you plan to drive the one they give you for free at the entrance is. Backpackers will need 2 USGS maps (together they cost a bit more than this book) or one National Geographic map (a bit less than this book) to cover the park.

Theodore Roosevelt National Park is a minor gem of the national park system. Something like half of its "visitors" do no more than stop at a rest area on I-94 that is nominally within the park, where they enjoy the vistas into Painted Canyon. Most of the rest go on a scenic drive through the South Unit, where they enjoy seeing a high density of Great Plains animals such as bison and prairie dogs. Fewer still visit the North Unit, about 90 minutes away, with distinct badlands and a somewhat different suite of animals. Only a few dozen make the difficult drive to the Elkhorn Unit, which protects the site of Roosevelt's cabin.

Novey has given us an enthusiastic invitation to visit the park, written at about a middle school reading level. He provides a little bit of information about everything, from wildlife and geology to driving routes and hiking trails. All this information is available once you're in the park, and most of it is also available on the park website ([...]). But here the information is helpfully collected in a book. The book has nice pictures, some helpful maps, and even a quiz at the end.

About two-fifths of the text talks about things to do elsewhere in the general region, which conveys the impression that there isn't enough to do at TRNP itself. That's probably right if you want only a driving tour. There are some pleasant surprises if you're willing to hike a few miles and not afraid of fording a shallow river.

There's enough information here to help you find those places. But I wish the book went into greater depth about the park.

We visited Theodore Roosevelt National Park over the summer as part of our Lewis and Clark explorations.

I was interested in TR primarily for the natural landscape and the animals -- especially bison. We had a great time, and if you are going to TR, I recommend the NORTH unit. NORTH. The south unit is nice. The north unit is spectacular. Just get out there and explore it. Go in the afternoon and stay till after sunset.

We did see bison, and deer, a coyote, prairie dogs, and lots more bison.

We used this Falcon Guide, and it had good pointers.

The tone of the book is a bit over-familiar...like somebody pinching your cheek at the family reunion -- I don't know how to describe it, but Levi Novey is not a conventional travel guide writer. I would have thought him a much older person, if I hadn't seen his photo on the back cover. I let my oldest read items out of the book for us -- it was just about his speed and "corniness" level.

The book gives you a bigger version of the National Parks Map, and a lot on things to see if you stick to the national park stopping places.

If you are going into the backcountry, of course you will want more specific guidebooks and better maps.

In the end -- I found the book to be accurate and interesting and good for families. Thanks, Levi Novey! We'll have lifelong memories because you lured us to TR.

*** I added 6 of my photos of the park to the review. You'll love TR --try the north unit!