Customer Reviews

Touring the Western North Carolina Backroads (Touring the Backroads)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This guidebook, unlike most, is so encyclopedic in scope that I give it as a gift to newcomers to the area. It is also an invaluable reference for the visitor who wants to see more than the fabulous Biltmore Estate. Even though I am a native of the area, I learned nearly everything I know about Western North Carolina from this book alone and it is my primary reference. I am still amazed at how much fact, history and folklore [just enough to bring alive the curve of the road, the odd landmark, the abandoned building] is packed in its 300 pages. The author, who must have collapsed from exhaustion when she finished it, takes you on a detailed tour, laid out by the tenth of the mile, of carefully drawn sections of backroads that you can follow leisurely without getting lost. The author is completely absent from the text. The lucid style will please readers who want the facts, not editorial comment. This book, as well as the others in this publisher's backroads series, makes an excellent gift for anyone, especially the many seniors who have relocated, or are considering relocating to this fascinating region. It is also a valuable reference for natives, like me, who didn't know how much they didn't know.

This will lead you to interesting places that are mostly not well known. The views are stunning. A hiker on the Appalachian Trail said the view from Wayah Bald is the best on the trail. The only problem we had is that road numbers have been changed to names, but most of the numbers were still in fine print on the signs.

I was introduced to this book by a friend and ended up buying the whole series! If you want to know more about western NC and spend your days enjoying a well written dialog that accurately directs you to place the other guides don't even mention, Buy this book. If you want a restaurant guide look elsewhere. I can wholeheartedly recommend the entire series from this publisher. Similar to the "off the beaten path" series only better, written by life long residents that obviously love their home state!

Since I recently moved to North Carolina, spending my free time towards the mountains became a must. Carolyn has saved me countless hours of researching where to go and what to do. I am glad to find such an informative book.

This book is absolutely fantastic. We've driven half or so of the tours so far, and would highly recommend it to anyone who lives or frequently visits western NC. The best part of the book is the historical information. You could drive past a historically important site and never notice it or understand the significance of it, but this book helps keep you aware of even the smallest details. Watch out for the mileage numbers- it may seem like a 90 mile tour will only take a little while, but count on no more than 2 tours per day. And don't expect Carolyn to tell you when the pavement ends- that's part of the adventure I suppose!

"Touring the Western North Carolina Backroads" really delivers. The book is detailed, the layout is outstanding and the maps are quite good. I found the way the tours are broken out in small manageable day or few day trips to be extremely useful. The book also has historical merit, as you learn a lot about the local history in the reading. When touring the "Piedmont" have this book with you!

Certainly gives you what you need to know to visit these lovely places.
Highly recommended.

I have been on many of these but the added details and history make this book worthwhile. Almost too much info for my purposes but good maps and point by point descriptions. A suggestion for future editions would be to add accessibility details. As the population ages this would make it much more useful.

I've used this book for years and bought a copy for my Mother. The road directions and maps are very clear and the local history accompanying each tour makes the trip more interesting and fun that just driving through the mountains.

Can't see what the positive review buzz is all about. The writer sure seemed to ramble a lot, and her style was boring. She'd start talking about a route and then would digress for a few (or more) paragraphs so some local history (that was often long-winded & uninteresting), then would kinda drag the narrative back to giving a few more "drive 10 miles & turn left at the cow"-type directions. It all seemed pretty random, really--no real pattern to how the info was presented. No route maps either, which would've been helpful given the incoherence of the so-called directions. I found it pretty much useless.