Lonely Planet Yellowstone & Grand Teton National Parks [Paperback]

Bradley Mayhew (Author), Andrew Dean Nystrom (Author), Tim Cahill (Author)

Book Description

Series: Lonely Planet Yellowstone & Grand Tetons National Parks | Publication Date: April 2003

- from geysers to grizzlies, bison to bald eagles, this snappy guide introduces experts & tenderfeet alike to the wild & woolly wonders of both parks plus nearby attractions
- over 30 maps, including 1,200 miles of remote trails1- outdoor activities for all skill levels
- family-friendly travel tips

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A lively, well-written and comprehensive guide to the best place on earth...." -- Tim Cahill, founding editor of Outside magazine and author of Hold the Enlightenment

...much more personality and local savvy than one might expect...includes a good overview of the area's natural history. -- LongitudeBooks.com

From the Publisher

From Lonely Planet:

The core of this book is the Yellowstone National Park chapter, which covers everything you'll need to know once you're in the park. The coverage is divided into six main regions, each of which has an overview of sightseeing, hiking, biking, and boating options in that region. You'll find similar coverage in the Grand Teton chapter.

The Highlights chapter offers an introduction to the parks' best sightseeing options. The Activities chapter gives an overview and basic tips on outdoor fun, from hiking to fishing. Planning is one chapter to read before you go; it details practical information such as how to get to the parks, what to bring, and how to avoid the worst of the crowds. Gateway Towns gives you the lowdown on hubs from which to tour the parks. Places to Stay and Places to Eat list a host of accommodation and dining options in and around the parks.

Greater Yellowstone takes you on a tour of the surrounding sights and national forests of the Yellowstone ecosystem, either for those who have time to explore these gems in detail or for those who are simply traveling through these corridors to or from the parks. The Excursions chapter suggests a couple of detours worth including in your itinerary if you have plenty of time.

Much of Yellowstone's fascination lies out of view, either deep underground or deep in the backcountry. To bone up on Yellowstone's true wonders, read the Geology, Ecosystem, and History chapters.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Lonely Planet Publications; 1St Edition edition (April 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1741041163
• ISBN-13: 978-1741041163
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #864,196 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Most useful single book on these parks, October 26, 2004

By 

Arthur Digbee (Indianapolis, IN, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Lonely Planet Yellowstone & Grand Teton National Parks (Paperback)

If I had to pick a single book for planning a trip to Yellowstone and the Tetons, I'd recommend this one. It has enough information to get you started about any activity you like: backpacking, biking, boating, camping, fishing, hiking, horseback riding, mountaineering and rock climbing, and winter sports. You'll want another book for the more involved of these activities--especially backpacking, mountaineering and rock climbing--but you probably already knew that.

If you're on a family vacation, the book is near indispensable. There is good coverage of a nice range of day hikes. It's also exhaustive in telling you the other opportunities available that you might not have thought of by yourself. Rafting down the Snake or biking on the valley floor of Jackson Hole are two good family activities.

There's also plenty of information here about regulations, places to stay and eat, and suggestions for other excursions in the area. The written material (but not the maps, alas) is organized very effectively into regions that really do follow the natural organization of these parks. Once you sketch out an itinerary, the information you want is grouped together and the information you don't need is elsewhere.

Despite these strengths, I find the organization of the book a little odd and I found that it took a while to get used to using it effectively. For example, the last three chapters are on Greater Yellowstone History, Geology, and Ecosystem. You might think that this information belongs earlier in the book as part of your orientation to the area. The book has a nice collection of maps, but they are in a weird location in the middle of the book that forces you to flip back and forth to use them as trip planners for hotels, activities, and hiking trails. These might go more naturally at the very front or back of the book. There are some nice full-color pictures scattered throughout the book (mostly in the front), but none of them go with the text that surrounds them.

58 of 64 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A COLLECTION OF USEFUL TIPS, July 16, 2004

By 

NotATameLion (Michigan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lonely Planet Yellowstone & Grand Teton National Parks (Paperback)

A big thank you to Mr. Mayhew and his compadres for putting this very useful book together. I got several books to help prepare for my family's Yellowstone and Teton trip. This one, along with the Falcon Guides on hiking and the Trails Illustrated map proved the most helpful. That said, this Lonely Planet guide was probably the one book I relied on the most.

Some tips of my own:

Make the hike to Fairy Falls. Especially in the early morning fog, the other side of Midway Geyser Basin (the side NOT on a tourist-tastic boardwalk) is majestic and wonderful. Fairy Falls is the most beautiful of the many falls I saw in the park.

Get the beans at the Roosevelt Lodge. They are the ONLY beans I've ever had that I'd gladly part with $3 for. (Corresponding tip: the beans elsewhere are $3 also--but you can buy your own can of Busch's for half that).

Don't be frightened off by all the Bear talk. The only Bear I saw was halfway up a mountain and about the size of a quarter from where I stood. The Elk on the other hand...

Going to the Tetons will explain the line "Purple Mountains Majesty." Hiking in the Shadow of Moran or the Grand Teton = instant perspective on life.

Driving through the Big Horn Mountains on the way to Yellowstone is every bit as breathtaking as anything I saw in either park. Its "wow" factor led me to even buy a hat as a souvenir.

Wyoming has to have the highest concentration per square mile of what Patrick McManus calls "Old Men" in his classic A Fine and Pleasant Misery story The Theory and Application of Old Men. This was great for my son. I enjoyed it too.

Probably my biggest tip:

Go to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. (If you're coming the way I came, Badlands NP is well worth it too).

My second biggest tip:

Get this book for all the tips it contains. I recommend it wholeheartedly.

31 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderfully Comprehensive, June 16, 2003

By 

"tarabky3" (Somerset, KY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lonely Planet Yellowstone & Grand Teton National Parks (Paperback)

Our family just returned from Yellowstone and Grand Teton and this book was an integral part of our trip. You'll find the maps are very accurate and informative. Everything you need to know about Yellowstone is in this book- from Campgrounds to places to raft, eat, hike, wildlife view and lounge. DO NOT LEAVE HOME WITHOUT THIS BOOK!