50 Hikes in the Mountains of North Carolina: Walks and Hikes from the Blue Ridge Mountains to the Great Smokies, Second Edition (Paperback)

~ Robert Leonard Williams (Author), Elizabeth W. Williams (Author), Robert L. Williams (Author), Robert L. Williams III (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

This revised edition of one of Backcountry's bestselling hiking guides features several new trails and new and improved maps. The Great Smokies and Blue Ridge mountains are the most visited natural areas in the United States. The mountain ranges of North Carolina--from the Blue Ridge and Great Smoky Mountains to the southern foothills--offer an abundant variety of terrain, scenery, and wildlife to those who explore them. Distinguished by steep gorges, spectacular waterfalls, lush forests of rhododendron and laurel, and the blue haze that hangs over distant views, North Carolina's mountains are a popular hiking destination in every season of the year. The authors of this guide have explored more than 350 miles of trails through the mountains of their home state to choose 50 of their favorite day hikes, ranging from 1 to 15 miles. The hikes vary in difficulty and offer something for hikers of all abilities. Many trails are conveniently accessed from the scenic Blue Ridge Parkway, and several are handicapped-accessible. Each hike description includes directions to the trailhead, hiking distance, and estimated hiking time; detailed trail descriptions, safety precautions, and topographical maps; options for longer and shorter hikes on adjacent trails; and folk stories, historical anecdotes, and natural history information. 50 black and white photographs, 51 maps.

About the Author

Robert L. Williams, Elizabeth W. Williams, and Robert L. Williams III are lifelong residents of North Carolina. Together, they are the authors of more than thirty books and have published numerous articles and photographs. All three are experienced hikers and dependable guides to a region they have been exploring and writing about for many years.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Backcountry Guides; 2 edition (February 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0881504491
• ISBN-13: 978-0881504491
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #667,920 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, just less full coverage than title might indicate, September 22, 2002

By	Valerie Jones (Huntersville, NC) - See all my reviews

This is a very good guide to the hikes that it covers. All 50 hikes are rated and include a range of difficulties from easy to strenuous. Many are in some of the most beautiful parts of the North Carolina mountains. And topographic maps help show the routes well and clarify what one shoule expect. A chief drawback (only hinted at in the low-key extended part of the title after the colon), is that it is less than a comprehensive guide to North Carolina mountain trails. It covers nothing west of the central part of Great Smoky Mountains National Park or west of the Cashiers area to the south thereof. North Carolina extends more than a hundred miles west of those areas, and there are plenty more mountains that way. So if that western extremity of the state is where you're wanting to explore, this is not the guide for that. But for mountains to the east thereof, this book should serve you well. One irony is that, although omitting that vast area of westernmost North Carolina, it does have a "Foothills" section that includes at least three hikes properly described as in the Piedmont, hardly foothills at all. Those are at Reed Gold Mine and Duke Power State Park (as the book still calls it). They can be pleasant and rewarding hikes, but if you go there expecting mountain or foothill vistas, you could be disappointed. By the way, Duke Power State Park has since been renamed Lake Norman State Park. You'll need to know that if you look for signs directing you there (like from Interstate 77).

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, just less full coverage than title might indicate, August 8, 2002

By A Customer

This is a very good guide to the hikes that it covers. All 50 hikes are rated and include a range of difficulties from easy to strenuous. Many are in some of the most beautiful parts of the North Carolina mountains. And topographic maps help show the routes well and clarify what one shoule expect. A chief drawback (only hinted at in the low-key extended part of the title after the colon), is that it is less than a comprehensive guide to North Carolina mountain trails. It covers nothing west of the central part of Great Smoky Mountains National Park or west of the Cashiers area to the south thereof. North Carolina extends more than a hundred miles west of those areas, and there are plenty more mountains that way. So if that western extremity of the state is where you're wanting to explore, this is not the guide for that. But for mountains to the east thereof, this book should serve you well. One irony is that, although omitting that vast area of westernmost North Carolina, it does have a
"Foothills" section that includes at least three hikes properly described as in the Piedmont, hardly foothills at all. Those are at Reed Gold Mine and Duke Power State Park (as the book still calls it). They can be pleasant and rewarding hikes, but if you go there expecting mountain or foothill vistas, you could be disappointed. By the way, Duke Power State Park has since been renamed Lake Norman State Park. You'll need to know that if you look for signs directing you there (like from Interstate 77).

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Very sparse coverage of a very rich subject, August 9, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: 50 Hikes in the Mountains of North Carolina: Walks and Hikes from the Blue Ridge Mountains to the Great Smokies (Paperback)

There are over a thousand good hiking trails in North Carolina (Allen de Hart's "North Carolina Hiking Trails" describes 968 of them), yet this book only covers fifty. And much of the material simply quotes from trailside signs or visitor information pamphlets that you'll see anyway when you hike the trails. On the positive side, the book contains reproductions of topo maps for each hike listed, so casual day hikers can save themselves the trouble of buying topos. Unless you need the topo maps, Randy Johnson's "Hiking North Carolina" is a much better bet.