Customer Reviews

Best Hikes With Children Catskills & Hudson River Valley

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

 

 

Great concept for a book. The hikes themselves look great. However, be warned, there appears to be major problems with the driving instructions - at least the two we followed.

1. Page 40: Hike #1: Pine Meadow Lake - The book states "From New York City, take the Thruway (I-87) north to Exit 15." This is in error. The correct exit is 15A - NOT Exit 15!!! Taking Exit 15 (as we unfortunately found out) will take you in the wrong direction. What this means is all the directions to Harriman State Park from New York City are wrong in this book.

2. Page 118: Hike #22: Hudson River At Staatsburgh Mills Mansion State Park. The book states "From New York City, take the Thruway (I-87) north to Exit 10." This is a REALLY bad mistake. The correct exit is Exit 9. Going to Exit 10 as the book directs (and we followed) takes you to the wrong side of the Hudson river!!!

Incidentally, these are not new or recently-revised exit numbers.

These were the only two sets of directions we followed so far and both were very wrong. Needless to say we are very disappointed in the book - especially one that is so newly revised. There needs to be a lot more attention to detail and fact checking by the authors.

Are there any more mistakes? Who knows? I guess we'll find out the hard way. It's not to much fun following their driving directions to the letter and then getting lost with a 5 year old in the backseat.

This book has the potential be a 4 or 5 star if it weren't for these profound problems.

This book is written in an offhand, casual way and uses unofficial maps that do not provide clear guidance. Our family including 2 young kids misread an instruction and ended up lost in NY's Harriman State Park. We came close to spending the night in the park, if we hadn't had our cell phones, coverage, and a very helpful ranger available who came to our rescue at nightfall. The ranger said he had rescued many (tens) of people from the park who had used this book and that his office had called the publishers to address the issue. I recommend that you DO NOT USE THIS BOOK.

I've taken some awesome hikes with my kids based on this book. I've also gotten incredibly frustrated and lost, when the information on the page and the reality on the ground have diverged completely. Since this book was originally published in 1992, the far Western Catskills have experienced several devastating floods that have closed some roads and trails for good. So get this book -- but triple check everything online before you set out to hike.

In the age of instant maps via the internet, I will put aside the complaint about any poor directions. Overall, I have enjoyed the hikes in the book. We have hikes with very young children and with teens. Each hike is outlined well, with idea for keeping the young folks interested (though I find that my kids are very good at keeping themselves interested along a trail). I am thankful for the season guide, the altitude guide, and other details that are significant when hiking with children. I only wish there were guides for more regions, especially in the southern states.