Customer Reviews

Moon Yosemite (Moon Handbooks)

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

 

 

I own a lot of books about Yosemite but for an all encompassing guide to the park Ann Marie Brown's 'Moon Handbooks: Yosemite' is by far the best. Many guides list campgrounds in and around Yosemite. How many give you the best sites within each campground? How many note the free campgrounds at the nearby Nelder Grove of Sequoias and Fresno Dome? Many guides offer itineraries for a day, or two, or a week. But no other book offers itineraries for hardcore hikers, waterfall lovers, families with young children, and of course committed slackers. This book is truly unique, right down to a sidebar telling you where to find a good cappucino.

'Moon Yosemite' is divided into several sections. The initial chapters describe all the recreational opportunities in every area of the park. From bus tours of the valley floor and star gazing at Glacier Point (a new tour as of 2008), to horseback riding, hiking, fishing, and rock climbing, this guide lists all the available options for planning your vacation. Separate chapters describe dining and lodging options both within the park and from every major entrance. (The Yosemite Bug Hostel and Resort deservedly gets high marks in both of these chapters.) When combined with superb photos, nice full color maps, and some great chapters on natural and human history, this book should be your first choice when planning a visit to Yosemite.

I ordered 5 books from Amazon to plan my Yosemite camping/hiking/backpacking trip for the summer of 2010. Moon's Yosemite was by far my favorite for vacation planning. The key (as described by the other reviewer) is that it gives you practical information that the other books do not. I love when a book gives list of best hikes for different vacation types, durations, styles (e.g., hardcore hiker versus those wanting to see waterfalls), etc. Other books provide descriptions of hikes with few opinions as to which is best for different reasons. (I know this is a style thing and all hikes are equally great to some, but still it's nice to have some sense of can't miss hikes). An example of the later (boring) kind of book is A Falcon Guide "Hiking Yosemite National" Park by Suzanne Swedo which gives 58 hike descriptions and that's about it. It's encyclopedic and almost unreadable, although I assume I'll refer to it after deciding on my hiking trips using other books (including Moon). I should note that Top Trails Yosemite Must-Do Hikes for Everyone is a similar kind of book as the Falcon Guide; it gives a list of 45 hikes with a few more persoanl insites, but lacks a "must see" / "can't miss" section, or favorite hikes if you only have a week section, etc. Both of these books are poor choices for initial trip planning, but perhaps useful to make sure you've learned all the important bits before starting a long hike.

Another book that is very enjoyable to read in the early stages of trip planning is Yosemite The Complete Guide by James Kaiser. It has beautiful pictures, describes history of park, and describes some favorite hikes. It is a book you can sit down and read from cover to cover (versus the encyclopedic Falcon Guide).

Lonely Planet Yosemite, Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks book is OK for general information beyond just Yosemite, but is also not that readable.

Good luck!

Bob

I bought 3 books about Yosemite before I went for our first visit. This book came back "USED". For a first time visitor this book was super. It gave us tons of information that we would have never found in a very easy to read format.

It does not have the most beautiful pictures as the one other book had--but we were actually looking at the beauty there--which was INCREDIBLE. We just needed guidance--which this book did very well.

Would highly recommend it to any one who has never been there before. Have Fun!!

This is an absolutely fabulous guide book. It took me places in Yosemite that I have dreamed about going to. I get lost very easily but this guide book was accurate and very easy to follow. Plus, the author's sense of humor was very refreshing. She clearly enjoys and is enthusiastic about her subject and passes that along to the reader. If you are going to Yosemite, this book is a must.

We got this travel book in anticipation of an upcoming trip. It will be an invaluable resource both before and during it.