Hiking North Carolina, 2nd: A Guide to Nearly 500 of North Carolina's Greatest Hiking Trails (State Hiking Guides Series) [Paperback]

Randy Johnson (Author)

Book Description

Series: State Hiking Guides Series | Publication Date: February 1, 2007

Hiking North Carolina, 2nd: A Guide to Nearly 500 of North Carolina's Greatest Hiking Trails

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

This newly revised and expanded edition of Hiking North Carolina describes nearly 500 routes from the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Great Smokies—Eastern America’s highest mountains—across the rolling Piedmont, to the Outer Banks archipelago. Choose a challenging backpack adventure on the Appalachian Trail, an easy family ramble on an urban greenway, a trek through a lush subtropical enclave, or a hike to photograph wildflowers and waterfalls.

For more than twenty-five years, FalconGuideS® have set the standard for outdoor guidebooks. Written by top experts and enthusiasts, each guide invites you to experience the adventure and beauty of the outdoors.

Features:
Guaranteed binding—if this binding fails, the publisher will replace the book for free

Accurate directions to the trailhead

Detailed trail descriptions, and GPS-compatible trail maps

Difficulty ratings, elevation gains, and more for every featured hike

About the Author

Randy Johnson divides his time between Greensboro, North Carolina, and his home in the mountains near Banner Elk. He is editor of Hemispheres, the magazine of United Airlines and the United States’ most award-winning in-flight magazine (www.hemispheresmagazine.com). He is also editor for Epic, an Internet magazine published for The North Face (www.exploreepic.com).
He is also the author of Hiking Virginia, Hiking the Blue Ridge Parkway,  Best Easy Day Hikes Blue Ridge Parkway, and Southern Snow: The Winter Guide to Dixie. Visit his Web site at www.randyjohnsonbooks.com to see special features relating to his books.   

 

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: FalconGuides; 2nd edition (February 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0762731389
• ISBN-13: 978-0762731381
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #38,156 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #48 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Hiking & Camping > Excursion Guides
  • #56 in Books > Travel > United States > Regions > South

More About the Author

My goal is to write guide books that engage readers as much as the articles I publish in national magazines and newspapers (some have won awards from the Society of American Travel Writers and North American Travel Journalists Association).

Check out a winter 2011 article and video about Mount Mitchell:
http://www.wncmagazine.com/feature/outdoors/life_at_the_top

"Hiking North Carolina," is the bestselling statewide trail guide and the newest printing includes many updates. "Hiking the Blue Ridge Parkway" and "Best Easy Day Hikes Blue Ridge Parkway" are bestsellers, both just revised and expanded in 2010. And the new "Best Easy Day Hikes Great Smoky Mountains National Park" is one of only four books in the popular "Best Easy" series to be bundled with a National Geographic/Trails Illustrated map (of the Great Smokies, at a great price!).

I'm a writer and photojournalist, but part of what makes my books different is that I'm a trail professional, too. Trail managing agencies have adopted trail suggestions recommended in my books. I founded the trail program at Grandfather Mountain, designed and built new trails, and orchestrated backcountry research that helped the mountain become the world's only privately-owned Biosphere Reserve (and now a state park). During the completion of the Blue Ridge Parkway at Grandfather, I helped create the trail network that's in place today.

The professional trail builder/manager part of my life isn't past. I was just named the task force leader for the Mountains-to-Sea Trail along Grandfather Mountain's Tanawha Trail to Blowing Rock, NC. I'll be teaching trail building workshops for the Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail in 2011 (www.ncmst.org/).

Writing books that help people find outdoor adventure gives me the same satisfaction I get designing and building new trails, or just advising hikers I used to meet in the Grandfather backcountry. That's why my books' trail descriptions explore an entire area, recommend a range of hikes, and include history, ecology, climate, and culture.

My passion for sharing the outdoors is why I'm especially honored when someone buys one of my guides, perhaps at a signing, and asks me to sign it for someone they love and want to encourage to get out on the trail, to get fit--and enjoy nature with the gift-giver!

As a longtime photojournalist, I know photos impart a true sense of place, and most of my books include a lot. My pictures have appeared in Backpacker and Outside. I've photographed European ski areas for "SKI Magazine," had full-page photo spreads in "USA Today." And I'm a bona-fide map fanatic. My books have plentiful, accurate maps.

Along the way I've been a founding editor of "The Mountain Times" in Boone, mountain columnist for "The Charlotte Observer," and until 2009, the longtime editor-in-chief of United Airlines' "Hemispheres," the United States' most award-winning inflight magazine (named "World's Best inflight" in 2006).

Today, I'm expanding my list of books. Expect an upcoming revision of "Southern Snow: The Winter Guide to Dixie" (it's been called a "cult classic"). Please troll around on Amazon for the latest. And check out my Web site--www.randyjohnsonbooks.com--to read many published articles, view my trail videos, and a schedule of presentations.

I hope you'll consider my guides. Here's wishing you the kind of hiking experiences that inspire me to write them!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A good book made a lot better, March 7, 2007

By 

Anthony Hill "Frograil" (Oakboro, NC United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hiking North Carolina, 2nd: A Guide to Nearly 500 of North Carolina's Greatest Hiking Trails (State Hiking Guides Series) (Paperback)

A few years ago, I reviewed this author's first edition. It was then, hands down, the best single reference for hiking in North Carolina. In the 11 years since the first edition was published, quite a bit has happened in the outdoor/hiking scene in the state. The author was kind enough to send me a copy of the 2nd edition, and it's a pleasure to review it.

The first thing that both my wife and I noticed and liked is that the book's pages now have rounded corners, something that every "field guide" should have. The maps have all been completely re-drawn. There is much more detail added, they generally cover a somewhat larger area, and shaded gray scale indicates different elevation levels. A new feature is a simple one, but very helpful -- an alpha index to trails and topics.

The text has been thoroughly and substantially updated. This is not just the first edition with a new cover and a few new photos. The organization of the hikes west of the Blue Ridge has changed from an alphabetical to a generally northeast - southwest directional approach, which is more convenient when planning a trip to a specific area. Expanded text and more photos have added 33 additional pages to the 2nd edition.

If recreational hiking or serious backpacking is for you, and you plan on doing so in North Carolina, this book is an essential reference.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars for more than just hikers, this book is for anyone who moves around at all!, March 31, 2007

By 

Amy Segreti - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hiking North Carolina, 2nd: A Guide to Nearly 500 of North Carolina's Greatest Hiking Trails (State Hiking Guides Series) (Paperback)

I am the editor of a newspaper in North Carolina and I write a monthly travel column. I picked up a handful of North Carolina travel guides to review, and this one happened to be in my stack.

I have to say -- I had high expectations for this book. A quote from CNN.com is printed on the back. Falcon Guides are, "written by top experts and enthusiasts." It's an official American Hiking Society book.

I expected a lot -- and that's what I got.

This book, in short, is amazing. The introduction is lengthy and goes over things you may need, safety information and more. Each trail begins with a one-sentence overview so you can quickly tell if it's not for you, then continues to have easy-to-find points about its general location, detailed information about finding the trailhead, distance, difficulty, best maps, elevation gain or loss, water availability (!!!), and a phone number and Web site link (finally, a guidebook that has realized we entered the 21st century seven years ago and, 9 times out of 10, we want a way to get valuable information without actually speaking to someone).

Following this, each trail features GPS compatible maps and an extremely detailed 1-4 page description of the hike you can take, in addition to pointing out things you might miss along the way (Spanish moss, anyone?) For example: "If you linger over lunch [at the Linville gorge trail] and scan the rock-hewn amphitheater, the start of Linville Gorge, you can imagine the hemmed-in feeling William Linville and his son must have felt near here in 1766 when confronted by Native Americans -- who then scalped them." Wow.

The only con of this book is its title. While I tend to despise the recent trend in the book industry of making titles as long as the books themselves with all sorts of never-before-seen punctuation, it really might be necessary here. People with an interest in walking, trail running, picnicking with their families, educating their children or moving around in any fashion should also pick up this book. The fact that the guide book appears to only encompass hiking may cause many people to skip over it. But take for example the Flat Rock Self-Guiding Loop trail (page 129) near Linville, an educational trail with plant identification signs, inspiring messages and areas to picnic -- perfect for a day out with children.

At $19.95, it's a little steep -- but it's worth it if you want to spend any part of your vacation outdoors.

19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A good starting point..., May 20, 2007

By 

Noel C. Fenton "Noel" (Cleveland, Ohio) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Hiking North Carolina, 2nd: A Guide to Nearly 500 of North Carolina's Greatest Hiking Trails (State Hiking Guides Series) (Paperback)

This was a good book for a general description of several trails in North Carolina, but didn't give many details. I think I was looking for something that would give me enough information to pick one trail out of them all to visit, but the brief descriptions didn't give me enough to go on. If you already know which trail you want to trek and it is one of the trails covered in the book, you're pretty well set. You will, however, need another map to know exactly how to get to that particular trail...the book has a map with a general location but no specific driving information.