Hiking the Great Basin: The High Desert Country of California, Nevada, Oregon, and Utah (Sierra Club Totebook) [Paperback]

John Hart (Author)

Book Description

Series: Sierra Club Totebook | Publication Date: March 1992

Completety revised and updated. this definitive guidebook covers the vast, rugged landscape of the Great Basin region, an arid land broken by hundreds of mountain ranges (with peaks rising to as high as 14,000 feet), breathtaking canyons and cliffs, pine forests and aspen groves, lush-banked streams, even waterfalls and lakes.

Veteran hiker John Hart offers a wealth of information on this spectacular region, including:
-- Geology, ecology, desert plants and animals, history, and environmental concerns
-- Detailed descriptions of some 90 routes -- from easy nature walks to advanced cross-country treks
-- Tips on camping, supply points, weather, desert roads and driving conditions, and water sources
-- 47 detailed maps

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Completety revised and updated. this definitive guidebook covers the vast, rugged landscape of the Great Basin region, an arid land broken by hundreds of mountain ranges (with peaks rising to as high as 14,000 feet), breathtaking canyons and cliffs, pine forests and aspen groves, lush-banked streams, even waterfalls and lakes.

Veteran hiker John Hart offers a wealth of information on this spectacular region, including:
-- Geology, ecology, desert plants and animals, history, and environmental concerns
-- Detailed descriptions of some 90 routes -- from easy nature walks to advanced cross-country treks
-- Tips on camping, supply points, weather, desert roads and driving conditions, and water sources
-- 47 detailed maps

Product Details

• Paperback: 406 pages
• Publisher: Sierra Club Books; Revised edition (March 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0871566397
• ISBN-13: 978-0871566393
• Product Dimensions: 6.2 x 4.4 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #545,401 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars good things come in small packages!, January 18, 2000

By 

[e-mail] - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hiking the Great Basin: The High Desert Country of California, Nevada, Oregon, and Utah (Sierra Club Totebook) (Paperback)

This is a book that packs a lot of worthy information into a small book that is easy to backpack. You will need detailed topo maps as those in the book are for overview only, but the hikes are exquisitely detailed and accurate. Many of the trips are in the less well-known areas of Nevada and Eastern California and will please those who like to hike without meeting anyone else. The author encourages readers to find alternative routes to destinations and, although most of the trips are to peaks, there are some easier canyon hikes. Longer trips definitely need experience and route-finding abilities.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Indispensable but needs updated edition, February 7, 2004

By 

Eloi (Ely, NV USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Hiking the Great Basin: The High Desert Country of California, Nevada, Oregon, and Utah (Sierra Club Totebook) (Paperback)

John Hart is the real deal, and anyone hiking the Great Basin needs this book. His mileages are accurate and so are his descriptions of routes. The only criticism I offer is that the book is a bit dated--for example, there is an easy-to-follow use trail to Morey Peak instead of the XC route description JH offers. Also worth noting is that JH must have a very low-slung vehicle. Driving a garden-variety SUV (1996 Jeep Cherokee) I have never had any trouble on any of the roads he describes.

Happy Hiking, M

5.0 out of 5 stars agree that updated version would be great, but still the best, April 28, 2011

By 

Jeff Perreault - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hiking the Great Basin: The High Desert Country of California, Nevada, Oregon, and Utah (Sierra Club Totebook) (Paperback)

I would totally agree with the 4-star reviewer that an updated version would be nice, but ya got what ya got. To me this was not only the definitive book for the lesser traveled areas of the great basin, but unfortunately remains so because nothing else has supplanted it. Many of the hikes described are, my guess, still as isolated and untrodden as they were when I first bought this book sometime in the early '90's.