Customer Reviews

North Carolina Hiking Trails, 4th (AMC Hiking Guide Series)

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

 

 

I bought this book thinking that it would be a complete guide of trails throughout the state of North Carolina. By this, I mean that I hoped to use it for trails in the mountains as well as trails in the triangle.

This book does this much.

However, the reason for the low rating is that this book lacks "useability." By this, I mean that in spite of being very complete in terms of distance and elevation change, the book lacks terribly in the "useful" and "personal" aspects that I would hope to see in a guide (stuff like what to look for, where to go, what the nicer trails are, and what the best way to get to the trailhead may be, etc.). In all, it contains no useful maps to help guide the user.

I have used many guide books to help me through backpacking trips in the southeast, and this is by far the worst. Essentially, whereas I would typically carry both guide and a detailed topographical map to help me through my travels, I found that carrying this guide in addition to a map is simply redundant: All of the information I found in that book could be easily derived from a map (which is considerably easier to carry).

This book does not even help in trip planning.

The only good thing I found about this book is that thanks to its encyclopedic listing (it reads a lot like a phonebook), I found a few hiking trails near my home that I would otherwise never have known about.

If you're looking for a list of hiking trails, and little else, then this may be something for you (but a map is both cheaper and lighter).

If you're looking for a good all-around hiking guide that contains some maps and helpful information, then stay away from this one.

As an avid New England hiker, I relied heavily on the AMC White Mountain guide when planning and going on hikes. I also used the AMC Massachusetts Trail guide and found it quite useful. I wish I could say the same about the North Carolina guide.

When I moved down to NC, the first thing I did was purchase the guide. I was excited to start planning trips to the Smokies and routes for the Southern 6ers. Unfortunatey, this book is of little use.

Problems:

1) There are no maps.
2) It is simply just a list of trails - rather than a true guide book.
3) It is missing pages (skips 50 pages in the 300s)
4) Unless you are familiar with the area or have all your topo maps handy its very difficult to even think about crafting a route.

When I used my AMC White Mountain guide, I was able to select a region, then a peak/peaks and read about different routes to the summits. The trail descriptions were clear and it was very easy to choose between more scenic or less strenuous, etc. In the NC guide, this is nearly impossible. Nothing is organized in that manner. Instead it just lists all the trails in the various forests and gives a brief description.

A huge huge disappointment and a real blow to my view that the AMC gets things right.

This book has gone with me from Manteo to Murphy and I find it to be the most comprehensive guide book I have ever used for NC. Along with a good topo map, which Mr.de Hart recommends, this book has prepared me for every twist and turn I've hiked in NC; Pisgah NF, Uwharrie, Linville, Wilson Creek Wilderness Area, etc.

It is also a great reference for letting me know which trails will suit my nephew (18yrs old) and my daughter (8yrs old). It's a great tool for planning hikes depending on what you want to see; take the route with the most waterfalls, highest waterfalls, best overlooks, most remote location, flora, campsites, etc.

I've only gotten lost one time while using this comprehensive and detailed guide and that was due to a poorly marked spur and not the book. In fact, Mr.de Hart often mentions trails that are poorly marked so you can be on the lookout.

Indispensable for me.

I live in western North Carolina and have only used the book for the trails in this area. I hike several times per week and have found the 3rd edition and this book indespensible. This book is an exhaustive compendium of our trails and is very precise in it's directions. I have used Randy Johnson's book, James Bannon's book and the book published by the Great Smokey Mountains Natural History Association. For my purposes, Mr. de Hart's book is far superior. I think that the organization of the new edition is a great improvement. I can easily find trails in a particular area and decide from the book which is right for me on a given day. This is an excellent guide that has spent hundreds of miles in my pack.

While this book has a lot of trails in it, I find it to be so poorly organized that it is almost unusable. Instead of organizing by region (i.e. Western NC, Piedmont, Eastern, etc.) the author chose to organize by the type/owner of the trail. For instance, trails are grouped by whether they are a National Park trail, National Forest trail, County Trail, State trail. I would never think to look up a trail that way and it makes it hard to find trails in a specific area. When picking a trail, I think of the region I am going to and then I want to see a list of all the trails in the region. Only after narrowing down that way might I care about who is responsible for the trail, so as to figure out how well maintained the trail is, perhaps.