Foghorn Outdoors Tom Stienstra's Bay Area Recreation: Get Outside with the San Francisco Chronicle Outdoors Columnist and Member of the California Outdoors Hall of Fame [Paperback]

Tom Stienstra (Author)

Book Description

Series: Foghorn Outdoors | Publication Date: January 20, 2004

Best-selling author and outdoors columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle, Tom Stienstra presents an activity-driven guide covering the San Francisco Bay Area. Foghorn Outdoors Tom Stienstra's Bay Area Recreation provides informative descriptions of the Bay Area's best recreational areas rated on a scale of 1-10, recommendations on the best coastal and summit hiking trails, mountain bike rides, campgrounds, freshwater fishing, and more. This book includes detailed park maps, mile-by-mile driving directions, helpful icons, information on fees and facilities, and online references for easy planning and booking.

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Avalon Travel Publishing (January 20, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1566917409
• ISBN-13: 978-1566917407
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,412,946 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Dry, June 24, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Foghorn Outdoors Tom Stienstra's Bay Area Recreation: Get Outside with the San Francisco Chronicle Outdoors Columnist and Member of the California Outdoors Hall of Fame (Paperback)

Way off base. My experience with following the suggestions in this book were rattling. Detail with some opinion (good as well as bad) instead of enormity of listings would be much more valuable.

For the price, I'd recommend going to Bay Area Backroads internet site.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Bay Area Recreation, August 11, 2005

By 

MedCenter PhD "Ann" (Palo Alto, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Foghorn Outdoors Tom Stienstra's Bay Area Recreation: Get Outside with the San Francisco Chronicle Outdoors Columnist and Member of the California Outdoors Hall of Fame (Paperback)

I really like this book. It inspired me to start hiking again. I live in a beautiful area but never explored it until I picked this up. Most hiking books about the Bay Area are written in tiny print and they are bland. The author doesn't really take a stand on what he/she likes or why. Stienstra writes well and simply and he obviously loves hiking. I have already given this book to one friend and I have bought another of his books as well. This is the first time I have ever reviewed anything online - but it's a good book, and that's worth touting.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good for filling in the unknowns on the map., July 27, 2006

By 

Justin Driemeyer (Stanford, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Foghorn Outdoors Tom Stienstra's Bay Area Recreation: Get Outside with the San Francisco Chronicle Outdoors Columnist and Member of the California Outdoors Hall of Fame (Paperback)

This is not the best book for picking a primary destination hike. However, that's what the internet is for. What this book is extremely useful for though is giving you a quick rundown on that green blob you're considering making a sidetrip to now that you have some extra time, as this has a section for every significant parkland around in the bay area - what makes the area special? When should I visit? And what are the highlights and how do I see them? While it's true that the internet serves equally well for this purpose, I often find myself needing that information while driving to or from another spot, when the internet is not easily available. In addition, the directions and suggestions of this guide have so far proven accurate and extremely useful.

I must note however that the guide is best at information for hiking and fishing, as those tend to be the author's inclinations. While there is some biking information, there is very little on riding, climbing, kayaking, etc. If you are interested in detailed information on anything other than hiking and fishing (aside from a quick is it allowed and, for boating, where can I rent equipment), consider another book (or there's always the net).