Customer Reviews

Sequoia National Park

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

 

 

This book accompanies the author's "Kings Canyon National Park: A Complete Hiker's Guide" For those who aren't aware, Kings Canyon (north) and Sequoia (south) are basically one big park. The two books are the most comprehensive guide to the trails in these two parks. Moreover, the book also has some excellent and useful tables in the appendix that detail the length of the trip, whether it is a loop vs. out and back, elevations... For those serious about this region, these are necessary. Two things could improve these books for future editions:

1) The maps are not very clearly printed. It is good that they are topographic USGS-style maps, however the contrast is poor and smudgy. Anyone doing these hikes ought to have a high quality fold-out map from Trails Illustrated or Tom Harrison anyway. Future editions should consider a higher-contrast less detailed map, or two-tone illustration as in the Lonely Planet guides.

2)Together, the two books are over 600 pages long. Clearly at this size they are less than suitable as backpack material anyway. The author may consider expanding them to include cross-country routes for class I/II hikes, as the Roper/Secor/Arnot books have little competition on this angle.

I purchased this book and the Falcon Guide Hiking Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks (Hiking Guide Series). Other than the fact this book covers only Sequoia NP, at first it seems to have a leg up on the Falcon Guide. This guide uses topo maps. The Falcon Guide does not. This book has an index, not so the Falcon Guide. This guide has more pictures and much more detail in the hike descriptions, including more info on wildlife, flora and fauna. This book covers 62 hikes in Sequoia (there is a separate book for Kings Canyon). The Falcon Guide has 86 hikes in Sequoia and Kings Canyon. But for all the extras this book provides, which book did I find using more as I planned my trip? The Falcon Guide. That is for two reasons. First, Falcon includes an "overview" map of both parks on page 1 that shows where the specific hikes are in the parks. This makes it much easier to get oriented to the parks as a whole and the hikes relative to eachother. There is nothing comparable in this book. Second, the topo maps are just harder to read than the Falcon's more simple representations. They're too much like blurry xerox copies. Falcon covers the elevation information in a separate chart which, while more crude, is easier to grasp. So between the two I'd pick the Falcon Guide. In this case, less is more.

Compiled and organized by Mike White, Sequoia National Park: A Complete Hiker's Guide is a handy resource offering customized topographical maps for each of the 62 Sequoia National Park hikes it features, as well as extensive information concerning wilderness permits, camping options, climate information, and much more. Sequoia National Park is confidently recommended as an excellent companion guide presenting a wealth of useful facts for getting the most out of a hiking vacation or expedition.

I was not able to use this book at all. There was one trail that was stated in the book as one of the most popular trails in the park. Not only was I unable to navigate to this trail using its map, several park rangers knew nothing about the trail either. If this is your first time in the park good luck using this book.

very good book and hike guide but I found much of the information the same as the companion King's Canyon hikers guide