Rating: 
Summary: organized, thorough, and easy to use
Review: Great book. Has maps and descriptions for a ton of hikes in Yosemite. Contains a chart of hikes by difficulty, scenery, etc. I'll definitely go with FalconGuide for future hiking books.
Rating:
Summary: organized, thorough, and easy to use
Review: I have many books about hikes and trails in Yosemite but this is my favorite one. I have planned several backpacking trips that were comfortably at my ability level based on this book. The trail descriptions are accurate with brief descriptions of the offtrail wildlife (If you are looking for a book that primarily gives excessive detail of the offtrail flora and fauna, you might find this book lacking). In my opinion, the best feature of this book is the graph at the beginning of each hike that displays the elevation change (y-axis) throughout the hike, by mile (x-axis). This is an ideal way to see how strenuous the hike will actually be.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent book for planning backpacking trips in Yosemite
Review: I have many books about hikes and trails in Yosemite but this is my favorite one. I have planned several backpacking trips that were comfortably at my ability level based on this book. The trail descriptions are accurate with brief descriptions of the offtrail wildlife (If you are looking for a book that primarily gives excessive detail of the offtrail flora and fauna, you might find this book lacking). In my opinion, the best feature of this book is the graph at the beginning of each hike that displays the elevation change (y-axis) throughout the hike, by mile (x-axis). This is an ideal way to see how strenuous the hike will actually be.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent quality but limited scope
Review: I purchased this book for a trip to Yosemite that I took earlier this year. The descriptions of the hikes were wonderful and included such key details as where to park and what the water & facility opportunities are on the trails. Another key detail in the book was a breakdown of elevation gain per foot. I used it to help plan my Half Dome hike and it was essential. Unfortunately there was an incident in my pack with the bug spray so I'm online today to purchase this book again to help plan my new conquest - El Capitan.
Rating:
Summary: buying it again due to the deet incident in the park
Review: I purchased this book for a trip to Yosemite that I took earlier this year. The descriptions of the hikes were wonderful and included such key details as where to park and what the water & facility opportunities are on the trails. Another key detail in the book was a breakdown of elevation gain per foot. I used it to help plan my Half Dome hike and it was essential. Unfortunately there was an incident in my pack with the bug spray so I'm online today to purchase this book again to help plan my new conquest - El Capitan.
Rating:
Summary: buying it again due to the deet incident in the park
Review: I purchased this book for a trip to Yosemite that I took earlier this year. The descriptions of the hikes were wonderful and included such key details as where to park and what the water & facility opportunities are on the trails. Another key detail in the book was a breakdown of elevation gain per foot. I used it to help plan my Half Dome hike and it was essential. Unfortunately there was an incident in my pack with the bug spray so I'm online today to purchase this book again to help plan my new conquest - El Capitan.
Rating: 
Summary: hiking book collector
Review: I spend all winter planning my hikes for the summer. I own and have used most of the titles for Yosemite. Hiking Yosemite National Park has most of the most popular trails but two other books do a better job: 100 Hikes in Yosemite National Park and Lonely Planet Hiking in the Sierra Nevada.My main complaint is the incomplete descriptions, too short and too vague. If you get off the trail you'll run the risk of getting lost because there are no "big picture" maps. A topo is absolutely essential if you want to understand your location.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent quality but limited scope
Review: Like most Falcon hiking guides, this one provides useful and reliable information. The only shortcoming is it doesn't provide comprehensive information on all the trails and destinations. It wouldn't take much to add this info so that a reader who wanted to cobble together a different hike from the ones described in detail could figure out distances and altitudes gained (similar, for example, to AMC guides for hiking in various locales out East).
Rating:
Summary: Very informative!
Review: This is a great book for both hikers wanting the more popular, "touristy" hikes and those wanting a physical challenge. There are detailed descriptions for all the hikes, and she even breaks down the hikes by her favorite hikes for "high altitude", "photo opps", "waterfalls", "solitude", etc. I found the descriptions pretty accurate. A good book for someone who's not so familiar with all the different types of hikes in Yosemite.
Rating:
Summary: Good value, well thought out hiking guide to Yosemite
Review: This is a straightforward guide to the trails in Yosemite that does the job clearly and informatively, and at a good price. The guide is well laid out, organized by trailhead area. Each hike has all the necessary information (length, altitude gain, best time of year etc) and an elevation profile, followed by a brief description that gives a feel for the area and a list of way-points. Each trail gets about two pages of information, and the book is small enough to carry along without minding the weight. Overall this is a very good guide - nothing flashy but its very well put together, well thought out and a good price.
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