Customer Reviews

Hiking Grand Canyon National Park

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

 

 

To me, this is the Grand Canyon book to get if you are planning on hiking the trails. It has great illustrations of the trails and elevations. You can easily follow the trail illustrations from one trail to another because they tell you the page number of the connecting trail. The textual descriptions are excellent and very easy to follow. The trails are broken up logically and are easy to piece together for extended trips into the canyon. If you are looking for a book with telephone numbers of who to call for reservations and all that, this is not the book. Fine with me because that information is always changing and isn't that what they made the internet for? The size is a bit large to be considered a pocket book but is easily packable. The size actually helps with the illustrated maps as it makes them what I consider to be perfect for trail use. I prefer to make copies (which I did not do if it is a violation of some copyright) of the trails I am going to hike and leave the book behind. The copies are handy for the inevitable rain that always comes. Put them in a zip lock bag with the one you need on top...this book does not stress much about people being physically prepared to hike the canyon. If they don't physically prepare, what makes you think they bother to read before they hit the trail? I have yet to see a sick person on the trail with a book about the canyon in their hand. The book does rate each of the trails with regard to difficulty. I have several books on the Grand Canyon and for planning and hiking the trails, this is the one I would recommend over all the others.

This is considered the definitive guide for hiking in the Grand Canyon and the strong points of this book are worth noting. The maps are excellent, as are the descriptions of how to get to trail head. However, the book is incomplete in certain areas and outdated. The Grand Canyon has implemented a shuttle system to stem the horrific crowds (I don't see much improvement) and hikers now can't drive to the South Kaibab trail or Hermit's Rest trail. The directions in this book are therefore rendered confusing due to the new restrictions.

Most importantly, the authors neglect to stress that in order to successfully complete long hikes at the Grand Canyon, you must be physically prepared. Several times a year I hike to Phantom Ranch at the Colorado river and then back on the Bright Angel Trail. This is nine and a half miles one way with an elevation gain of 5,000 feet. Oftentimes I pass many sick, debilitated and unprepared hikers who quite obviously didn't do any physical preparation for this hike. Physically fit people should be able to do it in 3-4 hours coming up, but many are stuck on the trail for 12 hours and suffering. This could be avoided by exercising and hiking for months in advance in order to enjoy and relish the spectacular experience. Another fabulous challenge is doing a rim to rim hike, but only for those FIT.

The author does detail the debilitating and life-threatening heat conditions that exist in the Canyon. I recommend to anyone planning long hikes *not* to attempt them in the summer! Temperatures frequently exceed 110 degrees and heat exhaustion and/or heat stroke can result. The best months to hike in the Grand Canyon are October, November and April.

The Grand Canyon (even with the terrible crowds) is a sublime experience and Phantom Ranch is the best part of the canyon. Forget the mule and use your own two feet. It's a magical experience, a great hike and one you will want to do again and again!

We used this book exclusively to pick the trails we wanted to attempt. The book was very helpful, explaining details such as elevation change, estimated hike times to various points on the trails, and ratings of the trails' difficulty. The book also included directions to each trailhead, and other information such as weather and hiking conditons. We had our 6 and 9 year olds with us, and the book contained a listing of easy to difficult day hikes for families. I found this book very valuable in preparation for our daily hikes into the Grand Canyon.

The overview and locator maps proved very useful. Posting the elevation gain and loss (as well as a plot showing where these occured) was very helpful in negotiating the trails. Precautions and general hiking information in the front sections of the book were very thorough.

I purchased this book while planning the production of a DVD Hiking Guide (which is now also available on Amazon Jon's DVD Hiking Guides - Grand Canyon National Park).

I own several hiking books on the Grand Canyon and consider this one to be the best. Many trails are discussed; the descriptions are enjoyable to read and informative (providing some information on flora/fauna & geology). It talks about Grand Canyon weather, hiking with children, potential hazards, first aid, emergencies..in short, essential information on how to hike safe.

Shuttle services, lodging, campground information, physical conditioning...this and more is covered in this book. Two thumbs up!!

P.S. The review by Candace Scott complaining that the book doesn't address the physical conditioning needed, and certain trail heads not being accessible by car is (at least as of this current 2006 edition)..to put it bluntly, wrong. There is a section on Physical Conditioning. And this book plainly identifies trail heads that are not accessible to private vehicle year round, showing also during which months they are open to vehicles.