Hiking Illinois (America's Best Day Hiking Series) [Paperback]

Susan Post (Author)

Book Description

Series: America's Best Day Hiking Series | Publication Date: March 11, 1997

This is your complete guide to the most interesting and scenic day hiking trails in Illinois. No matter what part of the state you want to explore or how easy or hard a trek you want, this handy book will lead you to the right trail.

Hiking Illinois features the following:

- Detailed descriptions of 100 trails, including the length of trail, estimated time to hike it, and a difficulty rating
- 143 easy-to-read park and trail maps
- A map of each featured trail, with the points of interest labeled and their distances from the trailhead given
- Practical information on how to get to parks, the park hours, available facilities, permits and rules, and a contact address and phone number
- A convenient trail-finder grid, which provides a summary of each trail's features and location in the book
- A section on nearby points of interest, with contact phone numbers

Hiking Illinois makes it easy to enjoy self-guided tours of trails in scenic areas in the north, central, and south sections of the state. You'll discover beautiful trails in 59 featured spots, including Bell Smith Springs Recreation Area, Moraine Hills State Park, Beall Woods, and Mississippi Palisades State Park.

Author Susan Post is a professional naturalist and a native of Illinois who brings to life the history, terrain, flora, and fauna of each area. And her descriptions of nearby recreational and sightseeing destinations ensure that you won't miss anything on your trip.

Whether you live in Illinois or are just visiting, there's no better way to discover the natural beauty of the state than with Hiking Illinois.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Susan Post has worked as a research biologist for the Illinois Natural History Survey since 1978. As she's gone about her job, working on such projects as sampling streams for threatened and endangered plants and sampling soybean and horseradish fields for insect pests, Susan has crisscrossed Illinois and become well-acquainted with the natural areas of the state.

Susan is the coauthor of Illinois Wilds, a book that showcases the state's natural areas. She also has written numerous articles on the fauna and flora of Illinois for such publications as the Nature of Illinois and the Illinois Steward Magazine. An accomplished nature photographer, Susan had had her pictures published in a number of regional magazines, including the Forests of Illinois and Michigan Natural Resources Magazine.

Susan is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. She resides in Champaign, Illinois, and enjoys taking photographs, traveling, and collecting American folk art in her leisure time.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Human Kinetics (March 11, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0880115688
• ISBN-13: 978-0880115681
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,051,354 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #52 in Books > Travel > United States > States > Illinois

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book for planning your next outdoor adventure, October 10, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Hiking Illinois (America's Best Day Hiking Series) (Paperback)

This book is great for an outdoor enthusiast! It contains detailed descriptions of 100 trails located throughout Illinois, including a difficulty rating, estimated time required and trail length. A summary of this information is also displayed in a table, allowing users to easily identify a trail and locate it within the book. Each detailed entry includes directions to the site, rules and regulations, contract information, and maps of both the trails and the parks. In addition, other sites of interest which are located in the surrounding area are often listed at the end of each entry. Hiking Illinois offers very complete coverage and the author incorporates her experiences at the sites into her book.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Let's Go Hiking!, March 25, 2009

By 

Charlie H (Champaign, IL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hiking Illinois - 2nd Edition (America's Best Day Hiking Series) (Paperback)

As described, this book includes detailed descriptions of 107 hikes, from easy strolls through city parks to demanding treks in magnificent, remote portions of Illinois that will amaze those who may be somewhat unfamiliar with the natural beauties available within the state. However, it is far more than just a trail guide summary. It also includes a wealth of information on the geological, biological, and human history of some of the more unique regions within the state. Area descriptions provide vivid accounts of their geological origin, geopolitical influences (including early and modern human habitation) shaping them, and even local legends and lore. Natural history buffs, or those aspiring to be, will enjoy the accounts of the variety of flora and fauna that may be encountered at each location.

Driving directions and area maps help guide hikers to each region and the individual trailheads. Sections describing facilities within each location and other nearby areas of interest make this an important resource beyond a hiking guide.

The maps, visual waypoints, mileage markers, and flowing descriptions of geological features, plants, and animals along the way give readers the impression of actually hiking along with the author. Hikers will never feel the need for a GPS unit to find their way along the trail. I particularly enjoyed the author's brief, personal notes italicized at the beginning of each hike's description. These informational tidbits and overviews highlighted the author's experiences or impressions of each hike and really set the stage for the information that follows.

This guide is very well written and was exceptionally easy to read. In fact, it read much more like a narrative rather than a "how-to" or "where-to" guidebook. Hiker or not, this book will make one vastly more knowledgeable of the natural history and beauty of Illinois. And, be forewarned; read a segment or two and even the most avowed couch-potato will want to trade in that remote for a pair of hiking boots.

13 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Pretty sketchy, and the descriptions aren't all that accurat, March 11, 2005

By 

Sam Townsend (Normal, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hiking Illinois (America's Best Day Hiking Series) (Paperback)

I picked this up as an avid central illinois day hiker. I'd done probably a dozen of the hikes listed, and was amazed to see just how different an impression that the author had had compared to mine. I found many descriptions just simply inaccurate or misleading, and laughed out loud at some of the trails that she had marked as 4-5 boot's difficult (I found them to be very easy trails, and I'm not some superman).

The book consists of several sets of maps, the 'how to get there' maps are pretty good, but the trail maps are practically worthless. Don't rely on them to find your way around.

Several of the 'hikes' are very urbanized, including walking through cities. Not my idea of a hike, but I guess they count. All in all, I was moderately disapointed in this book. The plusses are there are some good ideas for hikes listed that you might not have found all in one spot, but the usefulness pretty much ends at getting you to the park.