Moon California Hiking (Moon Handbooks) [Paperback]

Tom Stienstra (Author), Ann Marie Brown (Author)

Book Description

Series: Moon Handbooks | Publication Date: February 15, 2008

Best-selling outdoors authors Tom Stienstra and Ann Marie Brown know the best hiking trails in the Golden State, from breathtaking coastal walks north of Los Angeles to challenging backcountry treks in the Sierra Nevada. Drawing from the knowledge and experience of both authors, Moon California Hiking leads beginner and expert hikers alike to the best trails the state has to offer. The eighth edition of this classic guidebook includes 21 new hikes and unique lists of “Bests” like Best Hikes to Waterfalls and Best Hikes to See Wildlife. Complete with helpful icons which rate the difficulty and quality of each hike, detailed regional maps, and hiking tips, Moon California Hiking provides hikers with first-rate expert advice and all the necessary tools to head outdoors.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

For 30 years, Tom Stienstra's full-time job has been to capture and communicate the outdoor experience. This has led him across California - hiking, boating, fishing, camping, biking, and flying - searching for the best of the outdoors and then writing about it. Tom is the nation's top-selling author of outdoors guidebooks. He has been inducted into the California Outdoor Hall of Fame and has twice been awarded National Outdoor Writer of the Year, newspaper division, by the Outdoor Writers Association of America. He has also been named California Outdoor Writer of the Year five times, most recently in 2007. Tom is the outdoors columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle; his articles also appear on www.SFGate.com and in newspapers around the country. He broadcasts a weekly radio show on KCBS-San Francisco and hosts an outdoor television show on CBS/CW San Francisco. Tom lives with his wife and sons in Northern California. You can contact him directly via the website www.tomstienstra.com. The author of 12 outdoor guidebooks, Ann Marie Brown is a dedicated California outdoorswoman. She hikes, bikes, and camps more than 150 days each year in a committed effort to avoid routine, complacency, and getting a real job. Ann Marie's work has appeared in Sunset, VIA, and Backpacker magazines. As a way of giving back a little of what she gets from her experiences in nature, she writes and edits for several environmental groups, including the Sierra Club and the Natural Resources Defense Council. When not cycling along a California trail, Ann Marie resides near Lake Tahoe.

Product Details

• Paperback: 856 pages
• Publisher: Avalon Travel Publishing; 8th edition (February 15, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1566918324
• ISBN-13: 978-1566918329
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #119,418 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #35 in Books > Travel > North America

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Truth in Advertising: A New Edition of California's Hiking Bible., February 18, 2008

By 

Fritz R. Ward "dayhiker" (Crestline, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Moon California Hiking (Moon Handbooks) (Paperback)

Every two years or so, hikers in California are blessed with a new edition of Ann Marie Brown and Tom Stienstra's California Hiking, by far the most complete hiking guide to the state. Keeping track of all the trails and updating when necessary is no simple task. Indeed, one of the authors proudly advertises hiking, camping, and otherwise exploring the out of doors almost half the year in an effort to keep this book up to date and to "avoid .. getting a real job." The 2008 edition is the largest in several years and includes over 40 new hikes.

What has stayed the same. California Hiking still divides the state into sixteen geographical regions and lists hikes in each area. Maps of each region are provided with directions to the trail heads, and regions are organized from North (Redwood Empire) to South (San Diego County and Southern Deserts). An introduction explains how to use the guide and lists favorite hikes of the authors in multiple categories, from best wildflowers and waterfalls, to best "difficult" hikes (the authors use a slightly different aphorism) ie., hikes you might not want to take your spouse on. Each hike includes a brief description, along with directions to the trailhead. Individual trail maps cannot be included in a guide as comprehensive as this one, but the authors provide information on where to obtain available maps, along with important details like entrance fees, permits, and local government agencies.

What is new. More trails! From one end of the state to the other, the authors have added new hikes: some twenty in the San Franciso area alone. I am personally looking forward to walking the recently opened Mill Creek trail, found just south of Monterey and Carmel. Old growth redwoods are one of my passions, and any new trails of this sort are welcome. Among the new hikes in Southern California, Gray's Peak and Black Mountain Lookout both offer spectacular overlooks. Also new is Runyon Canyon in Hollywood Hills and several new trails in the Sacramento area. A few trails have been dropped from this edition. The Cedars Creek Interpretive trail, for example, has fallen into disrepair and is no longer listed in California Hiking. But for the most part, the changes are in favor of more, not less, and this edition is worth purchasing for the new hikes alone.

Other changes include updating mileages and difficulty ratings. Those of us who are absolutely exhausted after climbing to the top of Yosemite Falls will be relieved to find that this trail is now rated a "4" on the difficulty scale (which runs from 1 to 5). The authors have also made extensive mileage updates to reflect new trail alignments. Deep Creek Hot Springs is now listed as 4 miles from a new trail head, and the Ewoldson trail, probably the single most beautiful hike in the Monterey area, is now listed at 5.3 miles to include a spur trail to a stunning overlook.

Over the years I have met a number of hikers who use this book as their hiking bible for the state. More than a few of them (myself included) dream of walking every trail listed. That would require a Herculean effort, of course, but it says a lot that the authors of this book have done so multiple times and given the rest of us what is surely the most comprehensive state hiking guide currently available in the United States. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Love this book!, April 28, 2008

By 

Water7996 "AvidReader" (Valley Springs, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Moon California Hiking (Moon Handbooks) (Paperback)

I actually used up my first copy of this book - I still have it but the pages are falling out and it is pretty dog-eared, so I bought the updated version. I love the rating systems (1-5 for difficulty, 1-10 for ooohs and aaahhhs), the area maps, the specific tips for each hike. My husband and I hike in the Sierras a lot during the summer and this book has taken us to some wonderful places. We even used the book to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary with a "hike" across the Golden Gate Bridge! Just about anywhere you go in California, this book can guide you to a very satisfying hike.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The older editions are more complete., May 5, 2010

By 

Coal Cracker (California) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Moon California Hiking (Moon Handbooks) (Paperback)

Stienstra et al's California guidebooks have been the gold standard for hiking, climbing, and fishing in the Golden State. However, this latest edition of California Hiking falls short of previous editions. While I'm not very familiar with hikes in northern California, I can say that this latest edition has some glaring omissions as far as southern California is concerned. Two omissions that stand out are hikes to San Jacinto Peak via the Devil's Slide trail and up the East Fork of the San Gabriel River to the famous Bridge to Nowhere. These are two premiere hikes in SoCal, but they are not included here. They are included in earlier editions of this book. I suggest purchasing an earlier edition of this guide when it was published by the Foghorn Press.