Explorer's Guide 50 Hikes in Southern Virginia: From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean (Explorer's 50 Hikes) [Paperback]

Leonard M. Adkins (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 9, 2007 | Series: Explorer's 50 Hikes

A thoroughly revised and updated edition, with four new hikes.

The Roanoke Times calls Leonard M. Adkins "a great hiking writer," and for this edition of Explorer's Guide 50 Hikes in Southern Virginia he has thoroughly updated all of the hike descriptions. Working in concert with the administrative personnel of the many national forest ranger districts, state parks, national wildlife refuges, wildlife management areas, and national parks, he re-hiked many of the trails, and four of them are so completely different that they qualify as entirely new outings. Closed services and facilities have been deleted, new ones have been added, and relevant Web sites are now included in the contact information. 50 full-color photographs, 51 maps

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Leonard M. Adkins is a writer who has been awarded the National Outdoor Book Award, the Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Award, ForeWord Magazine’s Book of the Year Award, and others. The author of more than 100 newspaper and magazine articles about the outdoors and travel, he has written more than a dozen books, including Explorer's Guide 50 Hikes guides to Maryland, West Virginia and Northern and Southern Virginia, Explorer’s Guide Maryland, and Explorer’s Guide West Virginia. He makes his home in Catawba, Virginia.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Countryman Press; 2 edition (May 9, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0881507288
• ISBN-13: 978-0881507287
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #841,602 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #46 in Books > Travel > Specialty Travel > Senior Travel

More About the Author

Leonard M. Adkins, profiled by Backpacker magazine, and referred to as "The Habitual Hiker," has hiked more than 19,000 miles exploring the backcountry areas of the U.S., Canada, Europe, and the Caribbean. Almost every hiking season finds him on some new and exciting adventure. He has thru-hiked the full length of the Appalachian Trail five times (and lacks less than 700 miles of finishing for a sixth), traversed the Continental Divide from Canada to Mexico, followed the Pacific Northwest Trail through Montana, Idaho, and Washington, and walked Canada's Great Divide Trail. Other long-distance journeys include Vermont's Long Trail, West Virginia's Allegheny Trail, and the Ozark Highlands Trail in Arkansas. His adventures in Europe include a trek of the Pyrenees High Route from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean along the border of France and Spain and an exploration of Iceland's interior.

The off-season is spent writing books and articles. Leonard's words and photographs have appeared in Islands, Caribbean Travel and Life, Blue Ridge Outdoors, Backpacker, Colorado Daily, Mid-Atlantic Country, Charleston Gazette, and other newspapers, magazines, and websites. He is currently the hiking columnist for Blue Ridge Country, writes the outdoors column for the bi-monthly Roanoker magazine, and blogs about hiking trails at www.blueridgeoutdoors.com.

Leonard is the author of more than a dozen books on the outdoors, nature, and travel, and his Wildflowers of the Appalachian Trail (photographers Joe and Monica Cook) received the National Outdoor Book Award, ForeWord Magazine's Book of the Year Award, and a Virginia Literary Award nomination. The Appalachian Trail: A Visitor's Companion was honored by the Society of American Travel Writers Foundation with a Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Award.

Leonard is not just a writer; he takes an active part in all of the books he produces. He walked all of the trails he writes about in his hiking guides with a surveyor's measuring wheel to insure accurate mileage and descriptions. For his travel books Maryland: An Explorer's Guide, West Virginia: An Explorer's Guide, and Adventure Guide to Virginia, he visited all of the places he describes: bed & breakfasts, restaurants, historic sites, museums, golf courses, bookstores, antique shops, amusement parks, beaches, hiking, biking, canoeing, kayaking, rafting, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just as fun to read as to hike, September 9, 2002

By 

"jami5668" (salem) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 50 Hikes in Southern Virginia: From the Blue Ridge Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean, First Edition (Paperback)

The local Roanoke paper poublished a review of this book, calling Leonard a "Great Hiking Writer." I agree. Yes, he tells you how to get to a hike, how difficult and long it is (he walked all of them with a surveyor's measuring wheel; how many other guidebook writer's do that!), and how much vertical rise you will need to negotiate. But, he also informs you of the history of the area you will be walking through and of the lives of the plants and animals that make their homes there.
I thought I was well-versed on the places to hike--and he covers those--but he also pointed me to some places I had never heard of. All in all, it beats any other book I've used for hiking around the southern part of the state. There are hikes as short as a half-mile to multi-day treks. And there's even a bit of humor thrown in from time to time.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This book has some great hikes, August 28, 2005

By 

Barnes and Noble Junkie (Barnes And Noble, Midlothian, Virginia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 50 Hikes in Southern Virginia: From the Blue Ridge Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean, First Edition (Paperback)

If only this book was laid out like Hiking In VA. The maps are not as good, and there are no elevation profiles, but the hikes and their descriptions are wonderful..

I have utilized this book with the Hiking VA book to come up with some exceptional hikes.. I recommend the triple crown hike #33, But do Dragon's Tooth as a day hike. Park on 624 and do the 5 mile round trip. If you have 2 cars, park the other one on 220 (near Roanoke). After doing Dragon's Tooth, grab your backpack and head North on the AT, to get to 220.. Plan a good 2-3 days.

Other great hikes are the day hike to Buzzard Rock, as well as the hikes around Mount Rogers. Combine the info in this book with that in Hiking VA and create your own trip. But whatever you do, you have to hike the Pine Mountain trail.. It is awesome..

The Appomattox hike is also great as you see some things the everyday visitor misses..

Over all an exellent book. The hikes are super, and while the maps could be slightly improved it is still a great guide.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book!, June 1, 2004

By 

ben (Southern Virginia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 50 Hikes in Southern Virginia: From the Blue Ridge Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean, First Edition (Paperback)

I live in Southern Virginia and hike often, but have to admit I never knew about many of the places the author writes about. I wish I had had this book years ago as it's great being able to discover all of these new places. I also like the way he writes. Hike descriptions are easy to follow and there is a ton of information on what you are going to see, why you should go there, and sometimes almost poetic phrases about the beauty and natural world of the place. The book cover says the author has won several writing awards and it's easy to see why. This is not just a dull "turn left, ascend 300-feet, turn right" kind of guidebook. I look forward to many happy outings using the book.