Customer Reviews

Hiking Glacier and Waterton Lakes National Parks (rev)

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

 

 

A wealth of information is contained in this book. Every trail, from short walks to goat trails, are mentioned, many in extreme detail, including key points along the trail, elevation loss and gain, maximum elevations, a difficulty rating, and even the appropriate topo map for that region. Wonderful narratives explain the highlights, and the occasional lowlight, of each trail from beginning to end. I especially liked the backcountry camp guide included, listing the scenic value of each site, as well as other useful information about like the number of available sites.

My only major complaint is the lack of "canned" extended trips. Only 4 extended trips are mentioned. But armed with this book, a map of the park, and a little persistance, you can carve out a path that will fit your hiking level, and enjoyment requirements.

This is a must have for any hiker in Glacier National Park. We used it extensively while hiking in Glacier on a photographic expedition for our Glacier Hiking website. The discriptions give you the information you need to plan your trip. Bob@bobulrich.com

Written in the familiar Falcon Guide format with elevation profiles of hikes, but otherwise pretty bland. Vicky Spring's recreation guide to the park (from The Moutaineers series) is much better.

I used this guide to plan a 16 day backpacking trip in and around Glacier National Park. I spent several months planning the trip during the winter, and of the 3 books I used, this was by far the best resource. When I left for my trip I ended up leaving all the other books at home, but I made sure that this book was in my pack. Molvar has done an outstanding job and it is apparent that he has spent quite a bit of time exploring this area.

Why is it that such a spectacular hiking location has so little documentation? Are there really only a couple viable guide books? Well, we selected this one, and while not our favorite format, it passed a fairly difficult pragmatic test. With 2/3 of the park closed due to fire we were still able to select outstanding hikes and make good comparative decisions with this book and a topo. The descriptions of the hikes are very good, the maps aren't bad (ridges are shaded and glaciers hatched, no topos) and the profiles (e.g. mileage vs elevation plots) provide very important information for a park where vertical gain is one of the central attractions and ridges must be traversed for nearly any destination. Photos are sparse and do not help as much as one would like with trail selection (few shots of destinations or views left me saying - `I have to see that, it will be well worth the 16 miles' - which is what I want from hiking guide photos) but on the whole this is a very serviceable book that was the primary guide to our great Glacier experience.

I bought both this book and the guide to Glacier NP by Vicky Spring. This book is more current, but I didn't like it quite as well. The author does a good job describing each hike, but he offers few opinions about which ones he likes best or would recommend, like Vicky does. This book's maps are also lousy compared to the dimensional drawings in the other book. Don't get me wrong, however, it's still a good book, just not the best.

This is a weak hiking guide on all fronts. Glacier is one of the most stunningly gorgeous places in North America, but you'd never know it from this book. The black and white photographs are indifferent, at best, and the driving descriptions to each trailhead leave much to be desired. I know your national thought is, "How can I get lost in a National Park?" Well, you can get lost using the driving routes contained in this book. There are few warnings about the perils of encountering a grizzly on the trail (I know, I've had this happen to me at Glacier). The author suggests carrying pepper spray, but against a 2,000 pound animal, that won't do the trick.

Glacier deserves better than this rather boring and amemic effort.

Compared to other hiking guidebooks, especially those produced by the Mountaineers, this one is disappointing. The maps would be more helpful if they were topographic (showing contours), and a great many of the black and white pictures in the book are poorly reproduced, making the hikes look dark and unappealing.

This book is a great guide for planning backpacking trips in Glacier Park. Don't purchase the 3rd edition, though! They've left out the valuable elevation profile charts that the revised edition contains.

While the imformation in this book is correct, one gets no sense whatsover of which hikes are recommended. This book is as interesting as telephone book. One must speak to someone who knows the Park to figure out what hike to go on.