Hiking Death Valley National Park: 36 Day and Overnight Hikes (Regional Hiking Series) [Paperback]

Bill Cunningham (Author), Polly Cunningham (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

From the wide-open salt flats of Badwater Basin, where you'll find the lowest point in the western hemisphere, to narrow, twisting canyons with walls beautifully sculpted by wind and water, Death Valley National Park is a land of intrigue and beauty, making it a wonderful place to explore. Hiking Death Valley National Park describes thirty-six hikes that will lead you to scenic spots within the park, including salt flats, canyons, mining sites, springs, and towering sand dunes. Armed with plenty of water, a good hat, and a desire to explore, you are all set for an adventure that will inspire you to visit again and again.

 

For more than twenty-five years, FalconGuides® have set the standard for

outdoor guidebooks. Written by top experts, each guide invites you to experience the adventure and beauty of the outdoors.

 

Look inside to find:

• Hikes suited to every ability

• Accurate directions to the trailhead and detailed trail descriptions

• GPS-compatible trail maps

• Mile-by-mile directional cues

• Difficulty ratings, average hiking times, and best hiking seasons

About the Author

Polly and Bill Cunningham are lifelong hikers and wilderness advocates. They have collaborated on several other FalconGuides, including Hiking New Mexico's Aldo Leopold Wilderness, Hiking New Mexico's Gila Wilderness, Hiking California's Desert Parks, Hiking Anza-Borrego State Park, Hiking Joshua Tree National Park, Hiking Mojave National Preserve, Wild Utah, and Wild Montana.

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Falcon; 1st edition (October 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0762744634
• ISBN-13: 978-0762744633
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #710,148 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Fine Chapter of a Larger Book, October 21, 2007

By 

Fritz R. Ward "dayhiker" (Crestline, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Hiking Death Valley National Park: 36 Day and Overnight Hikes (Regional Hiking Series) (Paperback)

Death Valley is the second most visited national park in California after Yosemite. I am absolutely amazed by this figure every time I visit Point Reyes National Seashore, Sequoia, and the rest of California's spectacular parks. Nonetheless, there is stark beauty to be found in the desert, and Death Valley has more of it, and the history to match, than just about any other place. Indeed, Death Valley is often a top vacation destination for many European tourists who have never experienced a true desert.

If you want to experience Death Valley, currently the largest national park outside of Alaska, driving tours are an important start. There is a lot you can see from your car. But if you really want to experience the park, hiking is your best bet. From short walks along Salt Creek and the historic Harmony Borax Mining Flats, to longer excursions up desert canyons, Death Valley has a lot to offer. This book by Bill and Polly Cunningham details 36 trail routes all with detailed descriptions and decent hypsometric relief maps to guide you on your way. They include some of the classic hikes in the park and a few challenging cross country routes.

If you are planning to visit Death Valley, this is a nice little book. But to really get a feel for the southwestern deserts of California, you would be well advised to get the authors' Hiking California's Desert Parks. This book is simply a reprint of the chapter on Death Valley found in the latter. So, if you are just planning a visit to Death Valley, by all means get this guide. But if there is even the slightest chance the experience will turn you into a desert rat, then be sure to get their more comprehensive volume.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Adequate, but far from an ideal hiking guide, February 1, 2009

By 

The Belgo "lebelgo" (Walnut Creek, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hiking Death Valley National Park: 36 Day and Overnight Hikes (Regional Hiking Series) (Paperback)

Being a little obsessive about preparing for some hiking trips, I bought this book although I also own Ann Marie Brown's "Day Hiking California's National Parks" and Bert Gildart's "DVNP: A Guide to Exploring the Great Outdoors." The one advantage this book has over the other two is that it describes 36 hikes, as opposed to 21 in Brown's book and about 10 in Gildart's book, which mixes in hikes with drives. What I found sorely lacking in this book, as opposed to Brown's book (and other hiking books I own), is the lack of some basic information that I think most people want to know when trying to select which hikes they want to partake in during their trip. For example, Brown always starts off by listing the starting elevation and the total elevation change during the hike. I would think that's something most people would want to know beforehand. The crude elevation charts and maps in this book only show marks at 1000 foot (or even greater in some cases) intervals. Also, other than a very brief list of the authors' favorite hikes on page 130, there is little to help a potential visitor select one hike from another. Unlike Brown's book there is no rating of the quality of the hike, nor of the crowd level.
Therefore, this book might be helpful for someone who lives in the area, and plans to do lots of hiking in this park--probably over a period of months or years. This book does, after all, include a larger number of hikes. For someone with just a few days who plans on doing just a few hikes, however, this book would be less helpful. I hope that in subsequent editions, the authors will see fit to add ratings scales and trail elevation data--something which should be relatively easy to obtain in these days of light portable trail GPS's.
Finally, although the title states "36 Day and Overnight hikes," I'm not sure which hike(s) the authors feel are overnight hikes. According to the authors' own estimates, the longest hike they discuss, time-wise, takes 7-10 hours (Telescope Peak). Camping isn't really discussed for any of these hikes, other than a mention of a "somewhat protected tent site 2.6 miles in" from the Telescope Peak trailhead, and a 2 sentence description of campgrounds on page 18.