Hiking Rocky Mountain National Park: Including Indian Peaks [Paperback]

Kent Dannen (Author), Donna Dannen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 1994

This guide describes 40 hikes in Colorado's Rocky Mountain National Park.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Lace up your boots and sample more than 450 miles of trails in Rocky Mountain National Park and the Indian Peaks Wilderness. Veteran hikers Kent and Donna Dannen introduce you to memorable trails highlighting the natural splendor of the Rockies. Each hike description includes detailed information on trail access, best times for hiking, and points of interest along the way. With special sections on what to wear, carry, and eat and invaluable advice on wilderness ethics and safety, this guide is an indispensable companion to hiking and backpacking in Rocky Mountain National Park and the Indian Peaks Wilderness. (5 x 7, 320 pages, illustrations, maps, charts)

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Kent and Donna Dannen have guided hikers over the trails of Rocky Mountain National Park and Indian Peaks for a combined total of more than 50 years.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Falcon; 8th edition (May 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1564403750
• ISBN-13: 978-1564403759
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,282,822 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

76 of 79 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Book For The RMNP Day Hiker, October 17, 1999

By 

David Garrett (San Antonio, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hiking Rocky Mountain National Park: Including Indian Peaks (Paperback)

This is a superior guide for anyone seeking an "off road" experience in Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) -- the only way to really see the park's wonders. The authors have first hand experience on the trails, discuss the terrain, the turns, the animals, flowers, and habitat. For the novice or less experienced hiker, this book will give you everything you need to hike in confidence. It will help you select the best trail for your time and effort level. This book will tell you "what's up ahead," so if you're an explorer first, the surprise is limited to the beauty not the unexpected. However, if avoiding uncertainly is your goal (and a good one in the mountains where weather is unpredictable and trerrain and altitude can be challenging) this is The Book. Without this book a hiker to Mills Lake, for example, might not know to look for the cairns that mark about 100 yards of obscured trail over the glacial rock just north of the lake.

For the more experienced outdoorsman and those familar with the park, the book provides a touch of naturalism and environmental science that makes an informed reference or overnight backpacking trip. I've selected a number of trails to hike in the park based on this book's descriptions and recommendations and NEVER been disappointed. I am planning a one-week excursion across the park for the summer of 2000 and will have this book in my backpack. This book is money well invested.

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Bible for RMNP hiking, bar none, May 5, 2005

By 

David Carpenter (Fort Collins, CO USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hiking Rocky Mountain National Park, 9th (Paperback)

Let's get something out of the way. If you are visiting RMNP for just a day or two and mainly interested in hiking short to medium, well-maintained trails in RMNP, this may not be the book for you. I believe the Dannens have another book in the Falcon series with a title along the lines of Easy Day Hikes in RMNP, or something similar. I'm not familiar with that one, but I know there is no dearth of information out there for this type of trail walking.

However, if you wish to become intimately knowledgeable about RMNP, really learn the place, then this is absolutely the best book out there. I had the chance to live just outside the park for a couple of summers, and this is the book that taught me everything. All the trails are described, but more importantly, many destinations that trails do not visit are described. Trail walking is pretty straightforward -- follow the line. This book really shines when you want to visit a crosscountry location and need to know where the cairns are or which drainage provides the least steep descent.

I agree that this book is not in the typical format where you choose a hike from a list, and the book tells you your total distance, elevation gain, trailhead in, trailhead out, etc. This book is much more suited for ramblers, those who want to create their own adventures. Don't get me wrong, all the information is here, but YOU get to decide how you want to piece it together. Other hiking books are like Cliffs Notes. The Dannen book (as everyone in Colorado seems to call it) is more the exhaustive survey from which you must extract the bits that are relevant to your particular route.

For example, you will not find a chapter, section, paragraph, or otherwise that says "Bear Lake to Grand Lake" and proceeds to tell you what you need to know for that hike. You will, however, find the Flattop Mountain trail described in meticulous detail in the chapter on Bear Lake. And then you can flip to the chapter on Grand Lake to look up more meticulously detailed information on the Tonahutu Creek trail or the North Inlet trail, and read about it to the point where it meets the Flattop trail.

One other point...many reviews express disappointment that the Dannen book is so different from others in the Falcon series. Only in the 9th edition was this book published by Falcon. Prior to that, the Globe Pequot Press was responsible, so it is understandable if this book doesn't follow the formula.

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good book, but would like another option, April 16, 2003

By 

John Gerzema "hiker 300" (Strasburg, PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hiking Rocky Mountain National Park: Including Indian Peaks (Paperback)

For anyone hiking in RMNP, this is a good book to have along, but I'd prefer to have a second option, like Malitz's RMNP Dayhiker's Guide. Malitz's book has altiude gain, elevation at destination, distance one way, and which trailhead to use at the beginning of the description of each trail. This book just has a chart in the back. It also is just a little more like a story book than a guide book. Not what I need in the middle of the wilderness. The only pictures are sketches, where Malitz's Dayhiker's Guide has lots of nice color photos, which can take a little of the surprise out of what you're about to see, but do help in location recognition. Dannen's guide is full of info, you just have to read a little more to find it. Both are good companions to have along and to use for preparation, but if I could only carry one I'm afraid this one would stay behind in favor of Malitz's Dayhiker's Guide or the soon-to-be-released Frommer's RMNP 3rd Edition.