Customer Reviews

River Guide to Canyonlands National Park and Vicinity : Hiking, Camping, Geology, Archaeology and Steamboating, Cowboy, Ranching & Trail Building History

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

 

 

This is an excellent - and inexpensive - reference for Canyonlands and the Green River. We used it for referencing information about the area we trekked by canoe from Mineral Bottom on the Green to Spanish Bottom on the Colorado.

The history is very interesting and adds a lot of neat insights into the places you visit and the things you see along the way. Tamarisk has overgrown a few of the referenced campsites, but the river is an ever changing place - don't expect anything in print to be 100% accurate for long.

Overall - an outstanding book for the price! Definitely order it if you're hiking or boating the Canyonlands.

Having just returned from a 9 day canoe trip through the Stillwater Canyon on the Green River, I can honestly say that this book added a great deal of enjoyment to the trip. Every float day began with a reading from the book to explain the history of each bottom as we passed by. The hiking descriptions were what one expects from Kelsey: great if you are experienced and use it as a guide, lacking if you need your hand held the whole way. Get this book if you are canoeing the flat waters of Canyonlands. (In general I find the Belknap guide book easier to use for actual river navigation.)

This book is great, especially if you're a hiker, but whitewater rafters wont find info in here on Cataract.

Michael Kelsey is notorious for inaccurate information. He'll review hikes he's never done, list canyon entry and exit points he's never attempted. He's all about speed. He races through areas in order to spew out his next book without actually taking the time to experience the canyons through which he's rushing. He covers a lot of ground, but sees little. I do like the pictures of him in tube socks and cut-offs, though. If you're lucky, there may even be a picture of him in beefeaters.