Customer Reviews

Foghorn Pacific Northwest Hiking: The Complete Guide to More Than 1,000 Hikes in Washington and Oregon (Foghorn Outdoors: Pacific Northwest Hiking)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This book is good to use as a general reference but is also frustrating to use because it lacks some critical details. On many remote hikes it lists major road junctions but not the mileages from the main road--i.e., is it 50 miles from the main road or five miles? Also, while the descriptions of the hikes are very well written they can also be misleading because the author has not actually completed a lot of the hikes. For example, The Black Canyon Trail in Eastern Oregon does offer solitude but it is also riddled with rattlesnakes and range cows! The latter does not make for a very nice wilderness experience.

As a general reference for the Oregon/Washington area this book has a lot to offer. Reasonably thorough descriptions and ratings for a lot of trails. The few regional key-maps included are awful. In fairness to the authors, that's a lot of hikes, but these maps are really useless and inaccurate. Also, beware that the references to USGS 7.5' quadrangles can be erroneous as well. Don't order maps from your USGS supplier until you confirm the ones you need from another source. I'd recommend this book to someone who's not sure where they want to go yet. Once you decide, a more detailed guide for the specific area would be preferred. But it's an informative way to get started if you're unfamiliar with the region.

Width rather than depth.

A lot of good hikes, none of them really wrong, but directions are sometimes poor and there is a lack of detail.

It would be better if there was a weather guide - can we expect snow there in June for example?

The most annoying thing is although there are 1000 hikes, they are numbered from 1 in several sections, so it is hard to find e.g. Tiger Mountain, 74, by skimming through looking for 74.

Buy it (I have, and I borrowed it first) but buy more detailed books or hikers maps to guide you by.

A few people determined this book has "less detail" than other guidebooks for narrower areas. To quote my 7-year-old: Duh! Most guidebooks on our shelf cover 50 hikes, 100 at the most. This one has more than 1,000 in two states. Do the math. I think this guide is designed to be a far-reaching reference work, giving all the info you need to pick a hike, whether you're in Blaine or Klamath Falls. It's a bummer it doesn't have pics and maps for each hike, but it does have everything you need to know, and better yet, tells you where to find out more. I've used two editions of this book for five years and can say it does have some things none of my other guides have: "User" categories for every trail, telling whether it's open to dogs, mountain bikes, horses or just hikers. Accurate contact and permit info (this guide is updated every couple years, it seems; most guides maybe every 4-5 years. And the name of each map (USGS and even Green Trails) for each and every trail. It also has a lot of trails you won't find in other guides, i.e., near cities and in the 'burbs. I've found the trailhead descriptions to be quite accurate and the trail notes very helpful, often entertaining. All things considered: We have lots of other guides with color pics, fancier graphics, etc. But when we're leaving the house for a couple weeks on the road, this it the ONE that comes with.

I love this book. I've been in the Pacific NW for 3 years and have been impressed with all the hikes I've chosen in this book. It catalogs the hikes by location, so you can easily narrow down your list of choices based on how far you want to drive or what region you want to drive to. It also has a rating system for each hike, one for difficulty and the other for scenery. I've found both to be reasonably accurate. This is THE book to get if you want a comprehensive guide to hiking in the Pacific NW.

I have used this book several times since moving to Oregon four years ago and have been unpleasantly surprised on more than one occasion. Although it does provide a large scale review of hikes in the pacific northwest, it fails to give accurate and reliable directions. In locating trailheads, I have found the mileages listed to be off by more than a few miles. Additionally, I have found trail directions to be completely wrong. For example, in one Goat Rocks Wilderness Area hike, the book tells readers to "take a left at the fork in the trail," when the correct direction was to take a right at the fork. The book is a good starting point for learning about beautiful areas worth exploring, but I would never rely on it for planning a hiking trip. If you do decide to use this book, ALWAYS consult a map before your hike.

Never had any problems with directions myself. I have come across a few trails in this guide that are hard to get to -- sometimes impossible. Reason: There are *1100 trails* in it. This is both the strength and weakness of these all-in-one gides. Some trails are bound to be washed out or in ill repair at any given time. That's why all the Foghorn books suggest -- in fact, urge -- that you call the contact number before you go. Prudent advice. No guide can be updated every 15 minutes. Anyone who's not a complete wilderness neophyte knows that. For me, the most frustrating thing about the book is the map grid system, which doesn't make much sense. But overall, it's a good NW trail inventory with a good index. Great for quick reference -- and contact info to check on the trail. Anybody who needs a search party on a road should consider staying home.

Never got the book. I orders 3 things, got one. This is the first time I have ever had problems ordering from Amazon.

A great resource for our summer trips to the Pacific NW. The contact info and trail notes are valuable as is the mileage. I personally think it's not realistic to mention the estimated time for the hike since everyone has their own pace and pauses. It would be nice to have elevation gain but with a map you can estimate that yourself. The trailnotes give you a good overall idea of the hike and whether it suits your taste. I purchased this "used" but it was like new and a great bargain.

I have gone through three editions of this, one so battered it eventually was bound by rubber band. I have hiked dozens of trails out of it and never had a problem with accuracy (all in Washington, mostly in the north and central Cascades with some in the Goat Rocks area and Olympic Peninsula). The reason I love it is that I can flip to the region map, find the trails that are in the area I have in mind, flip to those, quickly find the ones rated highest for view, see how long the trails are, find decent short descriptions of the trail, figure out quickly how to get there, and plan my trip. Of course you take a separate map. You never rely on a guide book alone for trail directions. But this is a great overview of my area, the best one I know, and I've been using it for 10 years.