Customer Reviews

50 Hikes in Northern Virginia: Walks, Hikes, and Backpacks from the Alleghany Mountains to the Chesapeake Bay, Second Edition

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I own the second edition of this book, so I don't know how it differs from the third. This is a great book, and I couldn't recommend it strongly enough. As a former DC-area resident who still returns frequently, I find this book indispensible for planning nearby hikes.

Yes, he does have a somewhat expansive view of what constitutes Northern Virginia (is Newport News considered northern Virginia?). He explains that he had originally planned a 50-hikes in Virginia format, but found too many good hikes to narrow the list down to one book, hence the division into Northern Virginia hikes and Southern Virginia hikes. If your definition of "Northern Virginia" is confined to the DC metro, then "60 hikes with 60 miles, Washington DC" by Paul Elliot is the book for you. For those who like to escape the beltway exhaust, this is the book for you.

As other reviewers have noted, the book contains both well-known hikes as well as some hidden gems in areas you might not have thought of before. As might be expected, the majority of the hikes cluster in the Blue Ridge mountains/Masanutten mountain/West Virgina border area, but there are still a surprising number listed for the Piedmont and Tidewater zones. Each hike comes with a topo map and descriptions brimming with notes about the local flora, fauna, and historical tidbits. There are also several black-and-white photos of the areas you'll visit to tantalize you with the views you will see.

There is a very helpful table in the front of the book that list each hike by distance and features (Waterfall present?, Camping possible? Good for Kids?), to easily enable you to pick a hike that fits your agenda. While most hikes can be done as dayhikes, there are a few overnighters thrown in for balance.

What this book is not:
1)It is not a comprehensive overview of hiking northern Virginia. This is more like a "Highlights book". There will be no duds in here. For those wanting a comprehensive book (though not as user friendly),get Allen de Hart's Trails of Virginia: Hiking the Old Dominion instead. I find I like this book much better the de Hart's offering.
2)It does not contain in general any trails that are involve DC or Maryland. The C&O towpath will not be found here, except as a brief portion of a trail in the Harper's Ferry area
3)It is not a guidebook for the Appalachian Trail. The AT is featured prominently in several of the hikes. For those looking to hike the AT specifically, there are better resources out there.

Overall, this book is the best balance between readability, map detail, selectivity, and variety that I have encountered for hiking the northern Virginia area. I consider it vastly superior to other books I have owned in the 50 Hikes series as well.

I live close to many of these hikes, but never knew about them. Yes, there are some that just about everybody knows, but this book also takes you to places that are really overlooked. I like many things about the book: the chart in the front that lets you know about the hikes at a glance, how it is organized by region, and how the author tells little stories about the history, plants, and animals of the area you are going to visit. I own five other hiking guides to hikes in and around the area, and this one is, by far, the best of the lot.

We've only hiked twice using information from this book, and it's been good. The only complaint I have is that we have not been fully informed about all of the good camping sites, which we are pencilling in. Also, being new at backpacking (after 20 years at least), the moderate rating is more like strenuous to me, carrying 30 extra pounds of weight. Nevertheless, this book has given us more detail than the information from the PATC books and we're grateful for that. Perhaps there will be a more current version in the future.

I almost bought this book, until I realized not a single hike described is actually in Northern Virginia, where I live. All the hikes are in Virginia, but "Northern Virginia" generally refers to the areas areound Washington, DC, say as far south as Stafford and as far west as Leesburg. These hikes are in Shennandoah National Park, western VA, and the Chesapeake Bay areas.

Leonard Adkins has written and compiled one of the best hiking guide books for the Northern Virginia area, filled with accurate maps, directions and trail history. With hikes from just a couple of miles to three day backpacks it has something for everyone. I've hiked ninety percent of the trails in this book and haven't been disappointed by one of them. This is a must have if you hike in the NOVA area. I haven't found another guide as well put together as this is. Leonard Adkins also has several other guide books covering the Mid-Atlantic that are every bit as good.

I had bought Adkins' 50 Hikes in Maryland, so I thought I would give this one a try. He did it again for me. Short hikes, long hikes, overnighters--there is something here for everyone. And again he does it in an easy style of writing. As a response to one of the other Amazon.com reviews of this book; Adkins tells of general camping areas, but does not point out specific sites. He does this to help preserve and protect areas from overuse. Get this book--your feet will be happy and your eyes will enjoy the places it brings you.

Just bought the third edition of 50 Hikes in Northern Virginia and I'm thrilled with what the author has put together. I'm not sure why the previous reviewer complained so much about the choice of hikes, almost all of them are within a couple hours' drive of the DC area. And what great hikes--the ones closest to DC include a walk along Bull Run, in Manassas National Battlefield, and Prince William National Forest. There are the old standbys, like Old Rag and Stony Man in Shenandoah, but also some little known ones a bit further west on Massanutten Mountain and near the Virginia/West Virginia border.
I like that Mr. Adkins hiked all of the trails with a surveyors measuring wheel to insure accurate mileage, and that he provides the total accumulated elevation you will gain--not just the distance from the lowest to the highest point. Best of all, it's just a well written book with lots on info about what you will see and what took place in the area. By far the best of the hiking guides I've bought for this area. The hikes range from short easy ones, to all day jaunts, to extended multi-day trips.

50 Hikes In Northern Virginia is a superbly written and presented compendium of outdoor hiking trails that range from the rugged summits of the Allegheny Mountains to the gentle shores of the Chesapeake Bay. There are hiking opportunities for the novice, the experienced, the young and the not-so-young. An overview chart provides information on each of the fifty hikes at a glance. Each hike description includes directions to the trailhead, a detailed account of the route, a topographic map, and entertaining infobits on historical and natural points of interest. If you are seeking an outdoor adventure in what Northern Virginia has to offer, begin your planning with Leonard Adkins' 50 Hikes In Northern Virginia!

A really good book. It's amazing that the price of junk food is rising and that books on hiking are being given away, (.01). Go figure.

Though the title of this book is a bit misleading, this hiking guide is very good at picking out easy, medium and challenging places to hike in the Old Dominion. I bought this third edition to replace an outdated first edition that I had. I also have 4 of his other books. The author has extensive hiking experience and it is evident from his descriptions that he really has hiked all of the trails in this book. He also talks about the areas in terms of history, flora and fauna, geology, etc. So I would recommend this book to anyone interested in 'busting some trail' in Virginia.