Customer Reviews

Hiking Oregon's Central Cascades

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If you are looking for hikes in the Central Cascades I would recommend this book instead: 100 Hikes in the Central Oregon Cascades. As I am recommending the other book this review will be more of a comparison than a strict review.
The books feature different hikes so if you have the money and would like to have a full range of hikes to select from buy them both, but there is significant overlap.
The one thing about this book that is better than the 100 Hikes book is the introduction. This book does a good job of describing the geography, geology and climate of the area as well as providing a good overview of the equipment and supplies that will be helpful for the hikes. The 100 Hikes book provides a shorter introduction with fewer details on the area and very little information on equipment and supplies.
Both books contain black and white pictures from the hikes, maps and descriptions of how to get to the trailheads. I find that the maps in this book are not as useful because they are very basic maps that are for all the hikes in an area. The author refers you to the appropriate USGS or other park map for more detail. The 100 Hikes book has maps that show the basic relief of the area (through drawings) and include the roads that lead to the trailhead which make it very easy to get to the hike area. The 100 Hikes book also has a few pages of color photos including a small wildflower identification section.
Both books have similar descriptions of the technical aspects of the hikes, however the 100 Hikes book provides extra details that make me prefer Sullivan's writing style.
This book is not bad, but because there is another book that does the little things better I gave it only 3 stars.

This hiking guide leaves out the highlights of the Three Sisters Wilderness, including the Green Lakes Loop, Pole Creek-Chamber Lakes, Obsidian Trail, and Park Meadow. I initially relied on this book during my 5-week stay in Bend, OR, and finished the trails in the Three Sisters Wilderness listed in the book in two weeks. I thought that I had seen the highlights of the central Oregon Cascades. It was not until after I talked with the locals that I hiked the trails listed above, which are mentioned as footnotes in the book.

The section on the Mount Jefferson Wilderness, particularly approaches to the scenic Jefferson Park, are misguiding. Instead of highlighting the Pacific Crest Trail or the Whitewatr Trail approaches, the author recommends the seldom used, least scenic South Breitenbush Trail (Hike 9), which made the hiking experience miserable for my out-of-state friends on their first visit to Jerfferson Park.

The last page of this book states that the author resides in Arizona, thereby implying that he is not the most authoritative expert on hiking in the central Oregon Cascades. Stay away from this book. Instead, purchase William Sullivan's 100 Hikes in the Central Oregon Cascades, which is the most comprehensive guide highlighting the best hikes in the region.

This book is awful...it's so old and tired now. Even
when it was new, its info was lacking....but nowadays you'd be much better off getting a "Bend, Overall".