Frommer's Yosemite and Sequoia/Kings Canyon National Parks (Frommer's Yosemite Sequoia/Kings Canyon National Parks, 2nd ed) [Paperback]

Stacey Wells (Author)

Book Description

Series: Frommer's Yosemite Sequoia/Kings Canyon National Parks, 2nd ed | Publication Date: March 15, 2000

Frommer's Puts the Parks in Your Pocket. All the up-to-date practical information and candid insider advice you need to have the perfect park vacation…in an easy-to-carry size—and at an unbeatable price! Your Complete Guide to the Parks:

• Spectacular natural wonders, from majestic Yosemite Falls to Kings Canyon's towering sequoias
• Great places to stay, from luxury park lodges to family-friendly gateway motels—plus a complete campground guide for each park
• A fully illustrated nature guide to help you spot local wild-life, birds, trees, wildflowers, and more
• The best hikes, from easy wilderness strolls and ranger-led walks to overnight backcountry adventures
• Where to eat and stock up on supplies—both in the parks and gateway towns
• Detailed, accurate park and trail maps

Frommer's. The Name You Can Trust. Find us online at www.frommers.com

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Six million visitors a year traipse through the 1.6 million acres of Yosemite and Sequoia/Kings Canyon national parks, drawn by the mountains and meadows, waterfalls and wildflowers, rugged geology and staggering vistas. Yosemite Valley is where most folks flock, to view the awesome hunks of granite and waterfall spectacles, but the Valley represents just the merest fraction of what there is to see. The Frommer guide offer insights on the best views, car campgrounds and primitive campgrounds, best day hikes, waterfalls and picnic spots, best meals, supply stores, and places to take the kids. But the real guidance begins with detailed descriptions of hundreds of lakes, meadows, trails, and drives, plus all the particulars on lodges, motels, campsites, permits, and places to eat. If you want to explore the vastness, see fewer people, and inhale less exhaust, it's worth reading up on the options. --Stephanie Gold --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Stacey Wells, a native Californian who grew up in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, now lives in Oakland, CA, and survives city life by making weekend trips to the Sierra.

Product Details

• Paperback: 190 pages
• Publisher: Frommers; 2 edition (March 15, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0028636252
• ISBN-13: 978-0028636252
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 4.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,026,056 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars as good as a pocket guide can get, July 17, 2003

By 

+++ (OR, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Frommer's Yosemite & Sequoia/King's Canyon National Park (Paperback)

Yosemite is one of my favorite places. I fall in love with this majestic park on my first trip there, and try to spend at least several days every year hiking Yosemite trails. I also like Sequoia and Kings Canyon, which are great parks for hikers and backpackers. Since I am not new to these parks, I was curious how the judgement and advice of this book would agree with my own impressions. I was pleasantly surprised. In this book, Frommer's made an outstanding example of how good a pocket-size guide can be. It has only 170 pages on three parks, and yet all essentials are covered - how to get there, what to see, where to stay, it has maps of the parks and of the hiking trails, it has lists of the best views accessible from the road and ratings of hikes, it has information for backpackers (based on the personal experience of the author). In my opinion and experience, the ratings of trails are very accurate, and descriptions of hotels and restaurants are unusually unbiased. In fact, I could not find a single one which I would not agree with. All ratings/descriptions maintain positive attitude, but it is very easy to read between the lines, e.g., if the book says that a certain restaurants has "a simple but adequate menu" and does not give it a single star, it means that it is a crappy and overpriced snack bar, but it will help you to survive until you get to a better place; when it says that the place is excellent and gives it three stars, then it is really good. One can surely find more detailed books on day hikes or backpacking in Yosemite. However, no other travel guide gives so much practical information and good advice in a condensed form. If you are planning to visit Yosemite for a day or two and do not know where to start, I cannot think about a better book to recommend.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Handy and succinct guide for new visitors, December 30, 2005

By 

410 - See all my reviews

This review is from: Frommer's Yosemite and Sequoia/Kings Canyon National Parks (Frommer's Yosemite Sequoia/Kings Canyon National Parks, 2nd ed) (Paperback)

This guide is very succinct, affordable, and accessible. It's not at all comprehensive, yet is still one of the most useful guides to the region due to its brevity and organziation. Plus it covers both Sequoia/Kings Canyon and Yosemite.

Planning: A nice job is done. There is a lot of detail on roads into the parks and hotels, information lacking in the more specialized hiking guides. It covers most of the big park highlights you don't want to miss if you're only visiting the region once or twice. This is not the sort of guide that will tell you where to find solitude and remote regions. It is also one of the best guides to have if you don't want to rough it the entire trip. I like to space long backpacking treks with a visit to a nice restaurant-this guide offers a lot of variety on this end. The same goes for hotels, if you're not into backpacking or looking for a place just after getting on/off a plane.

Hiking Trip Descriptions: Pretty minimal. This book spotlights the more popular trails but does a fairly decent job of highlighting don't miss items.

Maps: Non-topographic but highly readable. The printing is crisp and highly readable. Useful for planning short day trips.

Overall this is a pretty useful guide. As the price is great you can easily buy this to supplement a more specialized hiking guide and map. Note that Frommer seems to put out a new edition every couple of years. I don't think very much could have changed, so an older edition will do just fine.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars whaddaya want fer a penny?, February 17, 2009

By 

Jeffrey R. Palmer - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Frommer's Yosemite and Sequoia/Kings Canyon National Parks (Frommer's Yosemite Sequoia/Kings Canyon National Parks, 2nd ed) (Paperback)

The book was in satisfactory condition and came in a timely manner