Frommer's Best Hiking Trips in Hawaii [Paperback]

Pamela Wright (Author), David Thompson (Author), Michael Tsai (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 15, 2009 | Series: Frommer's Best Hiking Trips (Book 11)

Frommer's Best Hiking Trips in Hawaii is intended for people for whom a good hike is an integral part of their vacation plans. It highlights the "best-of-the-best" of Hawaii's many hiking choices, focusing on accessible day hikes for a variety of abilities, plus some of the country's most popular multi-day options. The book will follow Frommer's usual highly organized approach: clear, thorough instructions on how to prepare for their trip; detailed breakdowns of the hikes themselves with easy-to-understand route instructions; star ratings and reasons to go; and lots of maps. In addition, the book will provide accommodation and dining options geared to the outdoor enthusiast; GPS directions for trailheads; and a full-color naturalist’s guide for wildlife identification.

In addition to the hikes themselves, each chapter will contain: hike index, trailhead map, 1-2 page write-up on the unique characteristics of the area, and an accommodation and dining guide.

The hikes will cover the entire region, including:

• The many great walks on Oahu, including bamboo forests, stunning waterfalls, and routes within easy reach of Honolulu
• Lava flows, ancient footpaths and Hawaii's highest summit are all on The Big Island
• Maui’s popular jungle hikes, coastal scenery and crater walks
• The rainforests and spectacular cliffs of Molokai

The diversity of Kauai, including stellar bird watching routes and the classic Canyon Trail and Na Pali Coast

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

All you need for every step of the trip

Do more than explore the outdoors. This guide goes beyond the trails to let you discover the best of Hawaii's breathtaking natural beauty. It leads you to nearby attractions, comfortable places to stay, and satisfying places to eat so you can enjoy the best of Hawaii—indoors and out.

• 60 of the best hikes for every ability level, with planning information for everything from hour-long escapes to week-long itineraries

• Maps and step-by-step instructions for every route, including detailed directions and GPS coordinates to the trail heads

• A full-color wildlife viewing guide to help identify what you'll see on the route along the way

• Accommodation and dining recommendations located close to the trail

• Written by local experts who tell you what's worth your time and why

Find great deals, the latest travel news, trip ideas, and more at Frommers.com

About the Author

New England–based writers Diane Bair and Pam Wright don’t sit still for long. Whether they’re researching a story or traveling for fun, the duo is usually found outdoors, scrambling a mountain summit, snowshoeing to a frozen waterfall or checking out antiquities from the back of a camel. Co-authors of more than two dozen travel books and hundreds of magazine stories, Diane and Pam have very well-traveled laptops! They also burn through several pairs of hiking boots each year. They’re currently planning their next adventure, and their next trip to Hawaii.

David Thompson is the author of Pauline Frommer’s Alaska and a co-author of Pauline Frommer’s Hawaii. He lives, surfs and hikes in Hawaii.

Michael Tsai is an award-winning reporter and columnist for The Honolulu Advertiser and an instructor of English at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and Kapiolani Community College. In addition to climbing the highest mountains in Europe, Africa, and South America, he has explored nearly every public trail on Oahu.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Frommers; 1 edition (September 15, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470160578
• ISBN-13: 978-0470160572
• Product Dimensions: 5 x 0.6 x 7.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 1.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,365,950 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Dissapointing - don't buy May 6, 2011

By MajorTom

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I visited 4 islands (6 weeks) and did numerous trails, including some quite strenuous ones.

Forget the Frommer's guide, it's a waste of money:

1. Some of the best trails I did are not in there. I had one German guidebook (for all islands) and for each island one from the revealed series (Oahu etc. revealed). The latter showed me the best spots.
2. The trail maps are, friendly speaking, sub-standard. The look like the routes were drawn in zoomed google street maps: often next to no detail shown, i.e. you see more or less a blank page with a route superimposed!! I guess this is why despite many pages to view in the online preview on amazon (or google books), you will not find a single trail description with map! It shows they are quite aware of their lousy maps. I have never seen anything like that in a trail book.
3. The trails are rated with stars: that's a great idea and a plus! But: I did one of the top rated trails and have absolutely no idea, why this trail had a good rating. I guess the problem is that the ratings have no description explaining what's great about the trail. Maybe they have seen something I did not see - maybe there was something I should have looked for. I don't know, because the trail description does not say why it is supposed to be a great trail. For me it was a waste of time, caused by the Frommer's trail book.
4. It contains trails which do not belong into a trail book. Example: Akaka Falls Trail, Big Island. Every travel book and every free map you get on the island point out the falls, they are hard to miss. At the parking lot, there is a fix stable trail with hand rails left and right and no other place to go that brings you in 20-30 minutes in a loop round and passing the falls. Why is this in a hiking book?? You can't miss it, and you don't need a trail description (and wearing high heels are fine to use on this trail, too). I accidentally came across that description after I had visited the falls. Well, maybe the guide book is trying to substitute for a normal travel guide book? After all, it also contains places to eat and drink. But for a travel guide book, it misses lots of really relevant stuff - thus, if this is the intention, the desaster is complete.

My recommendation now that I've been there would be to not buy any extra hiking guide. I had the "island xy revealed" guides and was quite happy with the hiking I found there. Frommer's additional value to that was zero.