Customer Reviews

Day Hiker's Guide to California's State Parks (Walking California Series)

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California has a huge state park system with over 250 units, far more than any other western state. Some of these parks like Humbolt Redwoods, Big Basin Redwoods, and Anza Borrego Desert State Park rival national parks in size, scenery, and recreational opportunities. Each has a unique local history and McKinney's 'Day Hiker's Guide' describes the background of many of these parks. In it you will learn about Jack Mitchel who led tours in his namesake Mitchel Caverns, John Pfeiffer's homestead in Big Sur, and the efforts of Henry Cowell and Joseph Welch to preserve the big Redwood Trees in Felton north of Santa Cruz. It is all very interesting, and well worth the read.

As a hiking guide, however, I can only give it 3 stars. The problem is that in describing so many parks, McKinney actually does a disservice to the major park trail systems. With few exceptions, only one hike is described in each park. This means that the .6 mile nature trail at Marina State Beach and the "mile or so" trail of Caswell Memorial Park gets almost equal time with the nearly 100 miles of trail in Humbolt Redwoods and the many hiking opportunities in Anza Borrego. Too many scenic hikes at the preeminent California Parks are simply left out. So buy this book for the colorful read, but be sure to carefully check state park maps before you hit the trails. In many places you will find far more than McKinney's book would imply.