Pennsylvania Hiking Trails: Keystone Trails Association [Paperback]

Ben Cramer (Editor)

Book Description

Series: Keystone Trails Association | Publication Date: April 10, 2008

Produced in association with the Keystone Trails Association, this is a guide to the best of Pennsylvania s 3,000-plus miles of hiking trails. Descriptions of each trail provide location, directions to the trailhead, suggested times to hike, terrain, special features, recreational activities, and suggestions for planning a trip. Maps and a selection of stunning full-color photographs from the trails are included.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Ben Cramer lives in State College, Pennsylvania, and has hiked nearly 3,000 miles on Pennsylvania's trails, completing many of the state's long-distance backpacking trails. He is a lifetime member of Keystone Trails Association and an executive committee member of the Sierra Club.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Stackpole Books; 13th edition (April 10, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811734773
• ISBN-13: 978-0811734776
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #362,832 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hiking in Pennsylvania, May 29, 2008

By 

elsieonthelake "lover of lakes" (Pennsylvania, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pennsylvania Hiking Trails: Keystone Trails Association (Paperback)

As an amateur hiker in Pennsylvania I found this book extremely helpful. I was unaware of all the marvelous hiking trails in our state. If you are not from PA then this is also the book for you. Informative, colorfully written with a great picture section. I hope everyone will purchase this book and come to PA to discover our many beautiful hiking trails.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Good Catalog of Hiking Trails in PA, August 1, 2010

By 

Walter Windish - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Pennsylvania Hiking Trails: Keystone Trails Association (Paperback)

This book is a good catalog of hiking trails in Pennsylvania. It is NOT a book of trails with step-by-step hiking directions (for example "take a left at the intersection of the red and blue trails).

This book describes hundreds of hiking areas, breaking the state into 9 geographic regions. The description for most hiking areas opens with a few interesting facts or history, followed by an overall description of the type of terrain, trails (sometimes a brief list of a few of the trails), and ends with specific driving instructions to get you there. The vast majority of trails do NOT have accompanying maps or trail sketches, so do not rely on this guide alone if you are a beginner. If you like exploring, take your compass or GPS and enjoy!

I liked the book because due to its brief descriptions it contains many more trails than the more detailed books, and I discovered some areas I didn't know existed. It's a great source of hiking ideas.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars 2 years later, book still looks new..., April 22, 2011

By 

Dewey - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pennsylvania Hiking Trails: Keystone Trails Association (Paperback)

Though it seemed like a good book from the title and description, I am sad to say that after 2 years of owning this book, it still looks brand new from lack of use.

The book has a listing of a lot of trails and a short description of each of them (often less than half a page per trail) but minimal and purely factual. By that I mean that it states facts and statistics about the trail -- It will say "15.8 miles" but it will not say "moderately difficult hike with a beautiful view at sunset".

There are few maps and even fewer pictures. No topographic profiles or difficulty levels.

The descriptions of the trails are so short that you'd really need another source of information to use any of the trails. Often the book will direct you to that source -- cites web pages, gives phone numbers to county park offices, makes multiple references to "50 Hikes in Western Pennsylvania" (another book), etc. -- It gives you the sources that you need, but without them it doesn't stand well alone.

It is a listing of trails, and a pretty complete one -- but as such, I still found it a useless book. Was very disappointed.