Lonely Planet Hiking in Hawaii [Paperback]

Sara Benson (Author), Jennifer Snarski (Author)

Book Description

Series: Lonely Planet Hiking in Hawaii | Publication Date: October 2003

- top hikes on the islands of Oahu, Maul the Big Island, Kauai and Molokai- Details on transportation logistics- Illustrated guide to Hawaiian flora and fauna- precise two-color contour maps

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Lonely Planet Publications; 1st Ed. edition (October 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1740594266
• ISBN-13: 978-1740594264
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,218,484 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

After graduating from college in Chicago, Sara jumped on a plane to the West Coast with just one suitcase and $100 in her pocket. She landed in San Francisco, and today makes her home on the central California coast. She also spent three years living in Japan, after which she followed her wanderlust backpacking around Asia for almost a year before returning to the USA, where she has worked as a teacher, a journalist and a national park ranger. She is an all-seasons outdoor enthusiast.

The author of 50 travel and non-fiction books, Sara's writing has featured in national and international newspapers and magazines, including online content for the Los Angeles Times, National Geographic Traveler and Jetsetter. Sara has written for travel guidebook publishers including Lonely Planet, Frommer's, Compass American Guides (Fodor's), Wilderness Press and Countryman Press.

Her top-three favorite countries (so far, that is) are Nepal, Morocco and Cambodia, but Iceland, Namibia and Vietnam are next on her must-see life list. Back in the USA, her favorite places to hang out include California, Hawaii, Las Vegas and just about any national park. And her most memorable travel experience? Falling off a camel at the edge of the Sahara Desert.

To hear more about Sara's travel adventures, visit her blog at http://indietraveler.blogspot.com or her website at www.indietraveler.net. You can also follow her on Twitter (@indie_traveler) or with her digital iPhone & iPad travel app, Viva Las Vegas, Baby! (www.sutromedia.com/apps/viva_vegas).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Too General, November 20, 2003

By 

"jondeluca" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lonely Planet Hiking in Hawaii (Paperback)

I picked up this book because of Lonely Planet's good name. For general reading it's okay for an overview but for solid trail advice and exact information that a hiker really needs, it misses the mark. I only visited one island and there weren't enough listings to make purchasing this book worthwhile.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good overview if you're getting away from the beach, July 3, 2005

By 

Jason A. Miller (New York, New York USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lonely Planet Hiking in Hawaii (Paperback)

A note to any prospective purchasers: Lonely Planet released several books on Hawaii, both about the state in general and also about some of the individual islands. This book only covers state and national parks, and known hiking trails on the five islands you can get to (thus excluding Lana'i, and the inaccessible Kaho'olawe and Niihau. Therefore, it's best used in conjunction with the other general books on the subject.

I found this book to be of value for the three islands I visited. There's a little bit of outdated information about climbing the Diamond Head volcano crater on Oahu. More useful to me were the extend portions about Waimea Canyon State Park on Kauai (absolutely gorgeous even if you're only driving up, as my wife and I did) and the material about Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island. This latter section was especially helpful in terms of providing background information, as we had a poor commercial tour guide who frequently missed the points we were interested in.

I recommend this book even for the non-hiker (we limited ourselves mostly to the "easy" trails) because the level of detail about the two state parks mentioned above, surpasses both what I found in other books and even from some tour guides.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A useful guide book, December 8, 2005

By 

Klaus Stiefel (Sydney, Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Lonely Planet Hiking in Hawaii (Paperback)

I found this book quite useful while hiking on the big island, where I did the majority of the recommended hikes (excluding the Mauna Kea, admittedly). I used it in the planning phase and, in conjunction with a topographic map, during the hikes. The descriptions of the hikes are accurate both in terms of the path to take, the scenery, plant and animal life to expect as well as in regard to the time the hikes will take. The warnings it contains, especially regarding the need to carry enough water are to be taken seriously! As a fit but not expert hiker, I ended up finishing the hikes in about the lower estimated duration given by lonely planet.

What made me, as a biologist, sad while hiking in Hawaii was the abundance of non-native (invading) species, which in many cases have a detrimental effect on the endemic Hawaiian species. There is not much in this book about this problem, which is quite striking to anyone interested in nature who hikes around the Hawaiian islands.

In addition to the sections about the hikes, I found the information on hostels and cheap dining places on the big island informative.