Day and Overnight Hikes in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, 2nd

Rating:
Summary: The only hiking guidebook
Review: I bought two hiking guidebooks for my recent trip to the Smokies. Molloy's book and Albrights' Hiking Great Smoky Mountains. I tried to use both of them, but time and time again I returned to Molloy. His guide is concise and you can quickly find what you're looking for without reading ten to twenty pages. His rating system, distance, and time charts are extremely valuable. His time estimates are a bit on the faster than average side, but you should allow extra time anytime you go hiking. Keep in mind too that most of the trails in the park involve going up and down hills as trails take you up to crests and ridges. Mainy of these trails would be hard to find on your own, with an overwhelming amount to choose from. I did trails in Tennessee including Injun Creek, Mount Cammerer, Sutton Ridge Overlook, and Walker Sisters Place. I would recommend doing a three or four hour hike before jumping to the six hour hikes. I think the only bad think about this book is after doing most of the hikes, you wish he would mention more.
As for the other reviews, Molloy spends a little time on suggesting you take rain gear, plenty of water/ water treatment tablets/filters. You don't need too much gear to just go hiking, but you should be prepared for nearly anything. I would say this book is geared to someone that has been hiking, backpacking before, but there is no reason a beginner couldn't benefit from using Molloy's guidebook. You can always ask a park ranger where to find various wildlife, but spend any amount of time on the trail, especially quietly, you're bound to run into some of the diverse wildlife found in the Great Smoky Mountains.

Rating:
Summary: The only hiking guidebook
Review: I bought two hiking guidebooks for my recent trip to the Smokies. Molloy's book and Albrights' Hiking Great Smoky Mountains. I tried to use both of them, but time and time again I returned to Molloy. His guide is concise and you can quickly find what you're looking for without reading ten to twenty pages. His rating system, distance, and time charts are extremely valuable. His time estimates are a bit on the faster than average side, but you should allow extra time anytime you go hiking. Keep in mind too that most of the trails in the park involve going up and down hills as trails take you up to crests and ridges. Mainy of these trails would be hard to find on your own, with an overwhelming amount to choose from. I did trails in Tennessee including Injun Creek, Mount Cammerer, Sutton Ridge Overlook, and Walker Sisters Place. I would recommend doing a three or four hour hike before jumping to the six hour hikes. I think the only bad think about this book is after doing most of the hikes, you wish he would mention more.
As for the other reviews, Molloy spends a little time on suggesting you take rain gear, plenty of water/ water treatment tablets/filters. You don't need too much gear to just go hiking, but you should be prepared for nearly anything. I would say this book is geared to someone that has been hiking, backpacking before, but there is no reason a beginner couldn't benefit from using Molloy's guidebook. You can always ask a park ranger where to find various wildlife, but spend any amount of time on the trail, especially quietly, you're bound to run into some of the diverse wildlife found in the Great Smoky Mountains.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent book - concise, helpful, the right amount of info.
Review: If I were to write a hiking book, I would do it exactly as Molloy has done: the right amount of info (not too little, not too much), with good overnight hike itineraries, and with helpful info like the key things you'll see on the hike. Very well done.

Rating:
Summary: Best Smokies Handbook
Review: Johnny Molloy's "Day and Overnight Hikes in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park" is a superb handbook for anyone wanting to hike in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. In each trail description, he provides a map and rates all of the most popular hikes, including day and overnight loops, in distance, hiking time, difficulty, scenery, suitability for children, trail conditions, and solitude, as well as giving a brief summary of the outstanding features, such as waterfalls, mountains streams, rock formations, etc. He tells me everything I need to know to help me decide on a trail to hike. His book easily fits into my back pocket, so I always carry it and refer to it quite often during the hike. It's the best Smokies guidebook I've seen.

Rating:
Summary: Best Smokies Handbook
Review: Johnny Molloy's "Day and Overnight Hikes in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park" is a superb handbook for anyone wanting to hike in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. In each trail description, he provides a map and rates all of the most popular hikes, including day and overnight loops, in distance, hiking time, difficulty, scenery, suitability for children, trail conditions, and solitude, as well as giving a brief summary of the outstanding features, such as waterfalls, mountains streams, rock formations, etc. He tells me everything I need to know to help me decide on a trail to hike. His book easily fits into my back pocket, so I always carry it and refer to it quite often during the hike. It's the best Smokies guidebook I've seen.

Rating:
Summary: Best Smokies Handbook
Review: Johnny Molloy's "Day and Overnight Hikes in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park" is a superb handbook for anyone wanting to hike in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. In each trail description, he provides a map and rates all of the most popular hikes, including day and overnight loops, in distance, hiking time, difficulty, scenery, suitability for children, trail conditions, and solitude, as well as giving a brief summary of the outstanding features, such as waterfalls, mountains streams, rock formations, etc. He tells me everything I need to know to help me decide on a trail to hike. His book easily fits into my back pocket, so I always carry it and refer to it quite often during the hike. It's the best Smokies guidebook I've seen.

Rating:
Summary: Accurate, brief, and precise
Review: This book, particularly the useful rating system, helped us to make the most of our visit to GSMNP. Thanks to the precision of the directions we city folks didn't have to backtrack once during four days and over 30 miles of dayhiking the trails. Although I like the small size and the brevity, it would be useful if the book included elevation charts and more map detail. However, serious hikers should use a detailed topographical trail map to complement any guidebook.

Rating:
Summary: Trail guide
Review: This is an excellent little book that I will take with me when I return to the Smokeys. It is clear and concise although not quite complete. It does not tell you where you would be most likely to run into a Black Bear, see a Bald Eagle or where you will find the most deer. It does not go into the recommended equipment. If it contained this information it would be much too large to take with you on the hikes. The maps lack elevation lines, but that is why you should carry a real map for the difficult multi-day trips. It does rate the Senery, Difficulty, Trail Conditions, Solitude, and difficulty for children. It also has the Distance and Hiking times. See ya on the trail.

Rating:
Summary: Trail guide
Review: This is an excellent little book that I will take with me when I return to the Smokeys. It is clear and concise although not quite complete. It does not tell you where you would be most likely to run into a Black Bear, see a Bald Eagle or where you will find the most deer. It does not go into the recommended equipment. If it contained this information it would be much too large to take with you on the hikes. The maps lack elevation lines, but that is why you should carry a real map for the difficult multi-day trips. It does rate the Senery, Difficulty, Trail Conditions, Solitude, and difficulty for children. It also has the Distance and Hiking times. See ya on the trail.