Customer Reviews

Hiking Trails of Southwestern Colorado

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Since I've moved to Durango, a ratty copy of the 2nd edition of this book from the public library has been my hiking bible. The 3rd edition is completely revised, chock full of great maps and is really THE reference for day hikes and backpacking trips in the Durango/Silverton area.

If you're visiting or living in Southern Colorado, you need this book.

Thanks Paul!

As the other review states, this is the classic SW Colorado hiking guide.

One caveat: the difficulty ratings are for SW Colorado climbs *compared to each other*. I have run across many tourists on trails in the San Juans who tackled a "moderate" climb from the book only to find it extremely difficult.

I think the ratings are accurate, *if* you live in the area and hike regularly. If you're not used to altitude and not in good shape, take this into consideration.

Beware, although the descriptions of the actual hikes are average, the directions given to the trailheads are terrible!

I used this book to climb Mt. Handies, Redcloud, Sunshine, and Sneffels (all 14,000' peaks) and was utterly confused on how to find the trailheads! Located in the Alpine Loop that connects Ouray, Silverton, and Telluride, we spent many precious hours searching in four-wheel drive terrain for the trailheads. In the end, the trailhead was a simple location and could have been described in a much better way. The result was that we nearly ended up stuck in the mountains due to running out of gas! We only made it because of a kind stranger.

To Pixler's credit, the description of the actual hikes are good, although the distances seemed consistently off. I especially appreciated a few hints on shortcuts for the Redcloud hike, as it saved about a mile and a half of hiking!

There are definitely better books out there, but this will do if you can't find anything else.

I recently acquired the Fourth Edition of this guide. I haven't seen the previous editions, but the new version is, according to the preface, greatly revised and improved. Local hiker John Peel took over the editting of the descriptions and reorganized the layout to contain an introduction, directions to the trailhead, trail description, and options. He corrected errors and brought descriptions up to date and improved some of the maps.

I compared this book to the FalconGuide "Weiminuche & South San Juan" guide. I found the Pixler/Peel descriptions a bit more, well, descriptive, being written by locals in the style of someone telling you more than just the step-by-step process. The payoff: Pixler/Peel tells you how to go beyond the end of the Lime Mesa trail, climbing up to Overlook Point (nearly 13,000) from which you have spectacular views of Chicago Basin! And Pixler/Peel direct your attention to the peaks you can see in various directions--always a useful inclusion.

Nonetheless, the directions still sound at times as if they assume you are already well-familiar with Durango. And the maps often lack useful notations such as "Trailhead." You have to study some of them for a bit to figure out which end of the line is the beginning and end (especially trails that join other trails).

However, if you want to hike trails around Durango, this would be an essential addition to your library! However, you need to find the FOURTH EDITION (which, at this writing, was not found at Amazon).

I purchased the "Fourth Edition" of this book after using the 3rd edition that I checked out at the library. I decided I would be using this book enough to warrant a purchase. When I got the fourth edition I was extremely disappointed. The author has done a good job on the text and narration of this book, but that is where the compliments end.

When I buy a book with "Hiking trails" in the title, I am buying it for the maps. The author did not do a very good job on the maps to start with, which I knew from using the 3rd edition and as a previous reviewer has noted. But the maps in the 4th edition are even worse. No improvements were made, and the quality is much worse. If you sent all of the 3rd edition maps and pictures through a fax machine, that is what the 4th edition looks like. It is not often that a new edition is actually worse than the former one!

In short, good narration, bad maps. Save money, buy the 3rd edition and get a better book.

I was a user of the original version of the book and am pleased with the expanded coverage. John Peel adds his humor which makes it a little easier to navigate. The directions to trailheads, etc. is fairly accurate and revised. A useful trail companion.