Customer Reviews

Hiking the Columbia River Gorge, 2nd (Regional Hiking Series)

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If you love hiking and live in the Columbia Gorge area (or plan to pass through) this is a nice guide to have. I learned of hiking trails I didn't know existed and the Gorge seems to have plenty of them. Each hike is listed with a general description, the distance of the trail, how much traffic of people to expect there, the best season to go, the elevation gain and maximum elevation. A map is shown and directions to the hike are given along with detailed description of the hike. Many black and white photographs show views from the various hikes. My one disappointment with this book is that the Deschutes River trail that is branched off directly from the Columbia River Gorge is not mentioned in this book, because it is east of The Dalles; this book only mentions the trails from Portland to The Dalles.

There are few places on earth as majestic as the Columbia River Gorge, and fewer still with its wide variety of climate zones. At the west end one finds temperate mid-latitude forests of ancient fir, while at the east end high desert with scrub oak predominate. There are few places in the world where the weather varies as dramatically over such a short distance.

It's not just beautiful; it's also one of the great places in the Northwest for hiking and recreation. Kayaking, wind surfing, and fishing are among the recreational activities afforded by the gorge. And hiking; lots and lots of hiking.

Schneider's book describes all the well-traveled trails in the gorge, and many of the less-traveled ones as well. He describes the trails on the Oregon side of the river first, where most of the waterfalls are found. In his descriptions he moves from sites near the west end of the gorge to those nearer the east end. Then he takes us across the gorge to the Washington side, following the reverse direction from east to west.

Schneider describes the trails by name, and gives numerical descriptions as well as directions to the trail heads and points of interest along the way. He also provides a rough estimate of the difficulty, along with altitude and distance. I've hiked about half the trails he describes, and generally find his descriptions to be accurate, though there are a few instances in which he over estimates the trail's difficulty.

I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to become more intimate with this rugged and majestic landscape. It's useful for both the beginner and more advanced hiker. There are lots of similar books on the market, but I think Russ's is one of the best.

My, then girlfriend now wife, and I spent 2 days in the Columbia Gorge this was one of two books that we had on the area and this was the one that we used the most. I just wish it would tell you what the waterfall on the cover was.

We hiked in the Columbia River gorge in October 2010 - I was glad to have this book with me.