Customer Reviews

Grand Canyon's North Rim and Beyond: A Guide to the North Rim and the Arizona Strip

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

 

 

I purchased this book for my girlfriend as visiting the North Rim has been a dream of hers for many years. The pictures are breathtaking and the book is filled with tons of valuable information. I will have to take her to the North Rim this next year! Very good book, a must read/view if ever planning a trip to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.

Only 10% of Grand Canyon visitors visit the North Rim. This may be a good thing for those of us who find the patio of the North Rim Lodge to hold the best wooden rustic chairs in the West for enjoying a great view, a picnic, or a book--hopefully, a book about the Grand Canyon. If readers wanted to read about the North Rim, they've had few choices, until now. This book brings out why the North Rim is so different from the South Rim. Its canyon views are different, its forests and meadows are different, its human history is different, and its lack of traffic is different. This book also explores the Arizona Strip lands you'll pass through on your way to the North Rim.

I'm happy the folks giving this book 5-star reviews got so much out of it, but for me its overly-broad generalized approach was a disappointment. There is little here (and in some cases less) information about the North Rim trails and destinations that can't be found in one of the park's official North Rim trailhead guidebooks. Actually, there's a bit less, as maps for individual trails are omitted. The bulk of the book is padded out with sidebars and history lessons, discussing explorers and historical events that are interesting in and of themselves, but of little use to someone who actually plans to hike this area. For areas of the Arizona Strip other than the National Park, such as Pipe Spring National Monument, Toroweap Overlook and the Vermilion Cliffs, the book perhaps serves as a useful "Hey, there is something over here here" guide, but too often defaults to "consult ranger station literature for more information" just as it gets interesting. There is, sadly, absolutely nothing about back country, obscure and permit-only gems of the Arizona Strip, such as the gorgeous "Wave Formation" of the Vermilion Cliffs. It reads as if the author had written a large number of historical articles over the years for magazines and newspapers, and one day decided to cobble them together into a book.

If you're a complete newcomer to the North Rim, then this book will fill you in and at least give you a general idea what to expect. If you've been to the area before and are hoping for more of an in-depth, insider's guide to this fascinating area, well, it's probably best you keep looking.

Book gives great directions to get the best views from this section of the Grand Canyon. Tells about parking and many scenic overlooks you don't want to miss.