Top Trails Lake Tahoe: Must-do Hikes for Everyone [Paperback]

Mike White (Author)

Book Description

Series: Top Trails | Publication Date: July 15, 2009

Top Trails Lake Tahoe explores the best trails for hiking and biking in the Tahoe area, including the north side's splendid backcountry, the lake's sedate western side, the picturesque and popular areas south of the lake, including Desolation Wilderness and D. L. Bliss and Emerald Bay state parks and the relatively undeveloped eastern side. Several hikes follow sections of the Tahoe Rim Trail and Pacific Crest Trail. Veteran author Mike White has selected the 50 best trips in the area, ranging in length from a mile-long stroll through a lush, lodgepole-lined meadow to a 19-mile trek on the Tahoe Rim Trail with excellent lake views. The second edition includes six new trails, including a hike among brilliant autumn colors in Hunter Creek canyon and a stroll to delightful picnic spots near turbulent 200-foot Cascade Falls.

• Part of the award-winning Top Trails series, which features elevation profiles, detailed maps, driving directions, and innovative "don't get lost" trail milestones.
• 1st edition sold 15,000 copies and won the Benjamin Franklin Award for travel guides.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Mike White was born and raised in Portland, Oregon. He learned to hike in the Cascades and honed his outdoor skills while attending Seattle Pacific University. After college, Mike relocated to the high desert of Nevada, where he was drawn to the beautiful and sunny Sierra.

In the early 1990s Mike began writing about the outdoors full time. He expanded Wilderness Press' Trinity Alps, and then wrote his first guide, Nevada Wilderness Areas and Great Basin National Park. Subsequent books included the Wilderness Press Snowshoe Trails series, Sequoia National Park, Kings Canyon National Park, Backpacking Nevada, and Top Trails Lake Tahoe, which won the Benjamin Franklin Award in 2005. His most recent works include 50 Classic Hikes in Nevada, and he collaborated on updated versions of Sierra North and Sierra South. Mike has also contributed to Backpacking California and has written for Sunset and Backpacker magazines and the Reno Gazette-Journal. He teaches hiking and snowshoeing classes at Truckee Meadows Community College and is a featured speaker for outdoor groups.

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Wilderness Press; 2 edition (July 15, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0899975038
• ISBN-13: 978-0899975030
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 4.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #235,724 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tahoe for Everyone, August 8, 2009

By 

Fritz R. Ward "dayhiker" (Crestline, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Top Trails Lake Tahoe: Must-do Hikes for Everyone (Paperback)

Lake Tahoe is the premier vacation destination of the northern Sierra Nevada. Most people associate Tahoe with winter ski resorts but summer hiking is superb. In addition to numerous state park nature trails and wilderness hikes in the national forests that surround the Lake, the Tahoe region is also home to three of the top distance trails in the country. The Pacific Crest Trail passes through the Tahoe region and it shares some of its tread with the historic Tahoe Yosemite Trail. A third trail, which also partly overlaps the other two is the Tahoe Rim Trail, a project of the citizens of Lake Tahoe. Almost entirely built by volunteer labor, this trail circles the Lake for 165 miles. Sections of all these trails and more and well described in the new edition of this book by Mike White, a resident of Truckee and an outdoor teacher and author.

This book divides the Tahoe region into the cardinal points of the compass and includes some stellar hikes in each. I have taken hikes in each of the areas White describes and all are very nice. This book offers a wide selection, from 18 mile day hikes along the Tahoe Rim trail (the section over Relay Peak is one of my favorites) to short 1/2 mile nature trails, the best of which is outside the visitor center along Taylor Creek. White also explains all the regulatory requirements of the various wilderness areas. This is a great book for exploring Lake Tahoe, whether you want strenuous peak bagging hikes or just strolls with the family. I recommend it highly.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rapidly find the right trail to do today, August 12, 2010

By 

Bird Mom (St. Louis, MO USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Top Trails Lake Tahoe: Must-do Hikes for Everyone (Paperback)

My favorite feature in this book is the front table listing the name of each trail; where more details can be found about it within the book; its length; the part of the Tahoe region in which the trail is found; whether the trail loops or is a one way or out & back trail; how difficult it is; suitability for hikers, bikers, runners, horses, and dogs; terrain features (canyons, moutains, streams, wild flowers, lakes, waterfall, autumn colors, wildlife sightings); whether it's cool and shady, has good views or photo opps; camping and more. All communicated via icons in one table!!! We had never been to the area and found its descriptions of where to find the trails generally spot on as was advice over when to make sure to get there early. Also handy: elevation & mileage charts with landmarks within individual trail descriptions, a zoomed in map of each trail, and photos of trail features.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Top Trails Lake Tahoe, December 1, 2009

By 

B. Aldrich "Billy Bob" (California) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Top Trails Lake Tahoe: Must-do Hikes for Everyone (Paperback)

This is a good book that gets you to the trail heads. Why didn't this latest printing include GPS coordinates? Otherwise the book is accurate and informative on the two hikes I took.