National Geographic Driving Guide to America, Pacific Northwest (NG Driving Guides) (Paperback)

by National Geographic Society (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
If you've ever had a Kerouac-inspired desire to take to the open road but need a little formal direction, National Geographic's Driving Guides to America: Pacific Northwest will motivate you to pack the car and strike out on your journey. For each of 22 long drives in 3 states--Washington, Oregon, and Alaska--National Geographic provides the itinerary, general driving directions, and highlights of sights to visit along the way. Cruise the Denali Highway through Alaska's wild interior, get your feet wet in Washington's Hoh Rain Forest ("140 inches of annual rainfall"), or gaze at the jaw-dropping awesomeness of Oregon's Hells Canyon, "the deepest gorge in the United States." The suggested routes, which include mileage, estimated trip length, and the best time of year to travel, are perfect for planning your trek and choosing where you want to stop. Brief descriptions, complete with phone numbers and business hours of the various sites, correspond to highlighted points on the maps.

Sidebars offer background and share interesting details about the sights along the mapped-out itineraries. You'll learn, for example, that the deep blue of Crater Lake "stems from the lake's exceptional clarity and depth. As light passes through clear water, it gets absorbed color by color ... Crater Lake is so deep--1,932 feet, among the deepest in the world--that every hue gets absorbed except for that radiant dark blue, which is scattered back to the surface." Complementing the text are more than 120 full-color photographs, including one of magnificent Crater Lake, which measure up to National Geographic's characteristically high standards. A full index and an appendix with contact information for motel chains and tourist boards round out the reference. Next time you get the urge to visit the rocky beaches and stunning, jagged mountains of Oregon, Washington, and Alaska, grab National Geographic's Driving Guides to America: Pacific Northwest and hit the road. --Heidi Robinson

Product Description

Discover the region's best Driving Tours with National Geographic as your guide.

Features the region's best routes and attractions, including:

* Towns and cities, historical and cultural sites, natural areas, plus many surprises
* Entertaining, insightful commentary
* Useful travel tips
* More than 120 original, color photographs
* Detailed maps for each drive keyed to descriptions in text
* Directions, mileages, and visitor information.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: National Geographic (March 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0792273672
• ISBN-13: 978-0792273677
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,035,909 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The Guide for People on the Go, July 20, 2000

By	I. Peters "Miezekatze" (Carrollton, TX USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This guide is well structured, the chapters on the states are color-coded and make it easy to find trips for the state you're interested in. I liked the classification with stars for locations - the reader knows at a glance which trip offers a lot of "must-sees" and/or interesting places to visit. And because it is a National Geographic guide, it also features lots of beautiful photographs.

The guide is ideal for people who are on a schedule, and would still like to get the most out of a short trip. However, it does NOT offer tips on accomodation or restaurants. Although the appendix lists 800-numbers for hotel & motel chains, this isn't helpful when you plan to stay overnight in, let's say, Ritzville, WA, because there is no information which, if any hotels/motels are in that town.

People who are looking for in-depth travel information would be better off with another guide. But if you don't want to carry a heavy book around or spend hours reading up on your destination, and you're just looking for hands-on tips on where to go, I would recommend this guide.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars National Geographic's Pacific Northwest Driving Guide, February 13, 2003

By	"anitaowl" (Royal Oak, MI United States) - See all my reviews

This book was disappointing. Although it boasts the, as always, lovely National Geographic photographs, the information and the writing are dated. It needs to be updated, at least.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, August 14, 2003

By	Diego Banducci (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

The National Geographic Driving Guides are guides to Blue Highways, i.e., non-freeways. They are perfect for people who want to get back to the "real" America. Since they are written by different authors, they vary in quality.

Of the ones that I have read, this one is the best. The author, Bob Devine, loves the Northwest, and has done an excellent job of ferreting out a lot of great sights to see and things to do. He also writes clearly.

I was particularly interested in the sections on Alaska, because I was trying to figure out whether it would be interesting to me (I am not an outdoorsman), and if I do visit it, how to structure the trip. After reading this book, I decided that there were a lot of interesting things to do and see in the Anchorage area and decided to fly directly into there.

Other good books in this series are the ones for Pennsylvania/New York, and Texas. The only bad one I've come across is the one for California.