Best Easy Day Hikes Phoenix

Rating:
Summary: A slightly misleading title.
Review: Falcon Press has produced a number of "Best Easy Day Hikes" guides over the past few years. They usually feature hikes under 8 miles with an emphasis on shorter walks the whole family can enjoy. This guide to Phoenix hiking, however, should perhaps be called "Best Short Hikes" as the trails Green recommends are anything but easy. Quite apart from the weather in Phoenix, which makes hiking anytime from the beginning of May until mid October a real chore, many of these trails are incredibly steep. People used to hiking well graded trails such as the Pacific Crest Trail will be stunned at the number of hikes which gain close to (and in some cases more than) 1000ft/mile. At least a third of the trails described in the book exceed the maximum grade that modern trail designers use. This is at least partly due to the Phoenix Parks department simply picking which of the "use" trails they want to designate as official trails, rather than putting in the expense to build good ones.
That said, this guide is thorough, and it does include a number of hikes which even non-athletes would enjoy. Green's trail descriptions are helpful, especially in light of all the unofficial trails which dart in and about the designated routes of the Phoenix Mountains. Finally, his guide is to be commended for the excellent descriptions of getting to the trailhead. Non-residents wishing to hike in Phoenix will find his directions very easy to follow.
On the whole, a good book for winter conditioning hikes. I visit Phoenix regularly, but would not consider most of these trails in the summer.

Rating:
Summary: A slightly misleading title.
Review: Falcon Press has produced a number of "Best Easy Day Hikes" guides over the past few years. They usually feature hikes under 8 miles with an emphasis on shorter walks the whole family can enjoy. This guide to Phoenix hiking, however, should perhaps be called "Best Short Hikes" as the trails Green recommends are anything but easy. Quite apart from the weather in Phoenix, which makes hiking anytime from the beginning of May until mid October a real chore, many of these trails are incredibly steep. People used to hiking well graded trails such as the Pacific Crest Trail will be stunned at the number of hikes which gain close to (and in some cases more than) 1000ft/mile. At least a third of the trails described in the book exceed the maximum grade that modern trail designers use. This is at least partly due to the Phoenix Parks department simply picking which of the "use" trails they want to designate as official trails, rather than putting in the expense to build good ones.
That said, this guide is thorough, and it does include a number of hikes which even non-athletes would enjoy. Green's trail descriptions are helpful, especially in light of all the unofficial trails which dart in and about the designated routes of the Phoenix Mountains. Finally, his guide is to be commended for the excellent descriptions of getting to the trailhead. Non-residents wishing to hike in Phoenix will find his directions very easy to follow.
On the whole, a good book for winter conditioning hikes. I visit Phoenix regularly, but would not consider most of these trails in the summer.