Customer Reviews

A FalconGuide to Death Valley National Park (Exploring Series)

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

 

 

I have been a fan of Falcon Guides. I was dissapointed to see that it doesn't include the usual charts of elevation gain and loss on hikes nor an overall rating of elevation gain and loss. It is confusing how it combines drives and hikes. I was also dissapointed that it seems to focus on drives rather than hikes.

I have a number of the Falcon Guides and have generally found them very helpful. This one has the hikes and drives all mixed up together. I took it to Death Valley recently and found it essentially useless. We ended up using the National Geographic topo map and the free material provided instead. If you want a hiking guide, this is not it. It doesn't provide the regular info. that the Falcon Guides usually do, such as an elevation map for the hikes, etc. I plan to donate it to the library and get something else for the next trip.

I gave it 3 stars before taking to Death Valley and Amazon wouldn't let me change the number of stars upon my return.

This book describes 30 activities in and around Death Valley National Park. Most involve driving, often with 4WD, but some involve short-distance hiking. This is probably a good book to take if you're going to spend 3 or 4 days in the park, especially if you have 4WD or at least a high-clearance vehicle. The hiking selections, however, are quite sparse, and have very limited information. For example, there is no information on elevation changes, and the crude maps don't even have any topographical lines. This is a good guide for logistics as to what to see in the park, primarily from a motorist's perspective. Be aware, however, that this is by no means a hiking guide.

Hard to find any dedicated Death Valley books at a physical bookstore. Bought this book based on the reviews left here. Surprised by the slim size of the book, as compared with guides to some of the other national parks (only 143 pages vs. 250+ for Moon's Yosemite guide). However, does the job for a driving tour of the park. If you're looking to do more on foot, look elsewhere.

Excellent guide to the most easily accessible sites in the park, with great maps. I especially appreciated the fact that each section of the guide had its own map so that routes could be readily seen. Highly recommended - if you bring only one guide to Death Valley, this would be it.

Lots of great information crammed into this little book! This is a "must-have" if you really want to explore Death Valley somewhat off the beaten path. I live in Las Vegas and have been to Death Valley many times, but still learned quite a bit from this book. This book is useful for the toruist wanting to see everything from inside the car, to the adventous 4x4er looking for something out of the ordinary, to the enthusiastic hiker looking for total solitude. Highly recommended!

Death Valley guidebooks can be difficult to find at the bookstore and library. This one provides good information for one planning a trip to the park - and planning is necessary since Death Valley is the largest park in the lower 48 states.