Hiking Indiana

Rating:
Summary: Indiana Finally Gets a Great Hiking Guide
Review: As an avid hiker in southwest Ohio, I had searched for years for a decent hiking guide for my neighbors in the Hoosier state. I saw Falcon had one out, so I decided to give it a shot. What I found was a real gem.

There are 65 destinations described in this book with one hike per destination. The destinations range geographically from Indiana Dunes in the north to Hoosier National Forest and the famous Knobstone Trail in the south. Distances range from 1.5 miles to multi-day backpack treks, with the average at around 3 or 4 miles. Thus, there is something in here for every ability and every location.

Each hike contains a summary of the "critical facts" about the trail (length, difficulty, land management, nearby campgrounds, etc.) and a map of the trail that includes only the essential, but still enough, information. Trail descriptions are excellent, as are directions to the trailhead. The only minor drawback to this guide is the lack of a trail summary in the front of the book, a feature I have come to expect in most top-notch guides these days. Thus, you might have to do some page flipping to find a hike of interest to you. There is, however, a table of contents, so the impact of this omission is lessened.

In summary, this book is a great source of information and a real joy to read and use. You will find the best hiking Indiana has to offer described here. Further, this book easily beats any other guide to Indiana hiking on the market. I enthusiastically recommend this guide for purchase.

Rating:
Summary: A Great Resource for Midwestern Hikers
Review: My family enjoys day hiking and recently completed the Knobstone Trail in southeastern Indiana. We purchased this book in order to get ideas for future hiking trips. If you enjoy hiking, you'll find this book an interesting read and a great resource. It begins with a short introductory section containing general information, especially useful for novice hikers or people (like myself) who are relatively new to this part of the country. The remainder of the book consists of sections organized by geographical or geological themes, with each section summarizing from five to ten possible hiking trips. With hikes ranging in distance from less than a half mile to over twenty miles, both novice and experienced hikers should find something to suit their fancy.

The summary of each hike is complete in a broad sense, including driving directions, general information about the location, decent (though not topographic) maps, mileages to key points along the trail, and somewhat detailed hiking descriptions. Having just completed the Knobstone Trail, I would have benefited from having the mileage and hiking descriptions in this book which are not available in this detail in any other source.

The only details that detracted from this book, in my opinion, were two apparent factual errors -- one in a road name, the other in describing a short segment of the route of the Knobstone Trail. I have seen both errors in other sources including some official publications cited by the author. Although some readers may question the lack of topo maps, the author includes details of elevation gain in each description. Furthermore, most hikes which are lengthy or strenuous enough to require such information are likely to be located in state forests or other public lands for which topo maps are frequently available.

Overall, I highly recommend this book especially for people like myself who enjoy rugged day hiking. There are certainly some hikes described which will appeal to campers and through hikers, as well as some moderate to easy hikes for novices. Whether you live in Indiana or a nearby metropolitan area such as Chicago, Louisville, or Cincinnati, you will likely find several hikes within a drive of an hour or two.