Customer Reviews

Portland Hikes: The Best Day-Hikes Within 100 Miles of Portland

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This book has one great failing: the directions to the trailheads don't include distances. Believe it or not, once you're off the main highway, it is perfectly easy to drive right by the tertiary road that leads to the trailhead.

An example is found on page 264, which is the hike to Blue Lake: "Turn right and follow Highway 14 to the Wind River Road. Proceed up the Wind River to Road 65, the Panther Creek turnoff."

If the authors had told us how many miles it was to Road 65, and whether that's a left or a right turn, we might have had a hike that day instead of a very nice day trip by car through the foothills around Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Adams. Never did find Road 65.

I've enjoyed this book, and we've used it several times. The selection of hikes is good.

My only legitimate (in my mind) quibble with the book is directions to the trailheads are often cryptic. Not exactly wrong, but kind of difficult to follow.

The author doesn't always put in distances to certain landmarks, and for folks new to the area or new to hiking, that can be difficult.

This lack of detail can be especially exasperating in the wilderness areas around Portland, for which traditional road maps don't supply the enough info.