Customer Reviews

Hiking Trails of Lassen Volcanic National Park

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This book was written in 1989 and clearly needs an update. I would be hesitant to rely on any of the information regarding visitor facilities, phone numbers, fees, and the like. Indeed, Perkins talks about the closure of facilities at Manzanita Lake. Any prospective park visitors should know that Manzanita Lake is now the largest tourist hub in the park.

So why should you get this book? The answer is that it is a simply a joy to read, and it harkens back to an older writing style. Printed on glossy paper, this book includes numerous sharp color photos as well as nice topographical maps. But what makes this book so fun is that the author has added a number of personal touches: poems, place name histories, a photo guide to trees and flowers in the park, and reprints of older nature brochures that accompanied some of the hikes. These brochures are no longer in print, but reading them here makes one realize just how much modern nature trail guides have "dumbed" down their content.

So by all means get this book if you want to enhance your experience at Lassen Volcanic National Park. But try to get some more recent guides as well. I would recommend Ann Marie Brown's broader survey 250 Great Hikes in California's National Parks and Tracy Salcedo Chourre's Hiking Lassen Volcanic National Park. Both have more recent information on trailhead changes, visitor facilities, and park regulations.