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Rating: 
Summary: This is a really great guidebook!
Review: I've lived in San Diego for more than a decade and I didn't know about some of these great hikes until I bought this book. The trail descriptions are easy to follow and dead accurate. Plus, every trail in the book is really fun. These aren't just places to trudge around and get tired. The author picks very beautiful destinations. My two kids even love doing the hikes! One reviewer said the book needs trail maps, but the trails are so well described and easy to follow that you don't need them. Great book! I'm going to look for more by this author.
Rating: 
Summary: Out of Date and Useless for Angelenos
Review: Perhaps it is helpful for those living in the San Diego and Santa Barbara areas, but anyone living in Los Angeles looking for day hikes within a reasonable distance of the city should not waste their money.
Rating: 
Summary: OK hike descriptions, but no trail maps
Review: Since we bought this books, we've been on two trips. We found baby abalones, fish, and anemone in tidepools and walked through a secret cave in the Mojave dessert with no one else around. It was wonderful, and not too strenuous either. Just pack a lunch, bring enough water, and head off early :).
Rating:
Summary: Passport to adventure
Review: Since we bought this books, we've been on two trips. We found baby abalones, fish, and anemone in tidepools and walked through a secret cave in the Mojave dessert with no one else around. It was wonderful, and not too strenuous either. Just pack a lunch, bring enough water, and head off early :).
Rating:
Summary: Excellent and informative, with detailed descriptions
Review: This is a terrific book for the introductory hiker to begin with, or for more experienced hikers to explore Southern California. There are 100 hikes covering everywhere from San Diego to central California, with regional maps to show roughly where the hikes are.Each hike contains pretty much all of the information that you would want: how long is the hike (in distance and in time), how do you get there, how difficult is the hike, how much does it cost to enter (a few of the prices may be a little outdated), what do you get to see on it, and when is the best time to go on the hike (i.e., when are flowers most likely to bloom). Many of the hikes have black and white pictures, although the written descriptions tend to be more helpful in assessing the desirability of the hike. Moreover, an outstanding feature of this book is that for many of the hikes, the author includes a short section on how to make the hike more (or less in some cases) challenging. Thus, hikers of different experience and physical condition can tailor the hikes to their own desires. My wife and I like this book so much that we're thinking of getting the author's book on easy hikes in Northern California, just for future visits.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent and informative, with detailed descriptions
Review: This is a terrific book for the introductory hiker to begin with, or for more experienced hikers to explore Southern California. There are 100 hikes covering everywhere from San Diego to central California, with regional maps to show roughly where the hikes are. Each hike contains pretty much all of the information that you would want: how long is the hike (in distance and in time), how do you get there, how difficult is the hike, how much does it cost to enter (a few of the prices may be a little outdated), what do you get to see on it, and when is the best time to go on the hike (i.e., when are flowers most likely to bloom). Many of the hikes have black and white pictures, although the written descriptions tend to be more helpful in assessing the desirability of the hike. Moreover, an outstanding feature of this book is that for many of the hikes, the author includes a short section on how to make the hike more (or less in some cases) challenging. Thus, hikers of different experience and physical condition can tailor the hikes to their own desires. My wife and I like this book so much that we're thinking of getting the author's book on easy hikes in Northern California, just for future visits.
Rating:
Summary: Still the best comprehensive Guide
Review: When I put together my Amazon list of Southern California hiking guides some time ago, I listed Ms. Brown's book as the best of the comprehensive guidebooks to the area. Since then several good books have been published including Rod Adkinson's 'Southern California Hiking' and Jerry Schad's 'Top Trails: Los Angeles.' Nonetheless, I still find myself looking at Brown's book first when I want to go somewhere new, although that is getting harder and harder to do since I have walked over 60% of the trips described in this book. Simply put, it is still the best book on the market. Generally speaking, an "easy" hike in Brown's book is less than 5 miles long and can be walked by just about anyone. Although short, the trails are scenic and often lead to relatively isolated destinations. Some of the wonderful hikes Brown describes in this guide include Mt. Waterman in the Angeles National Forest, the "Champion" Lodgepole in the San Bernardino Mountains, and Needles Lookout in the newly created Sequoia National Monument. For those who want more hiking she often includes notes to make the trips "more challenging." But even when these notes are not included hikers can often combine two or more trips from this guide. On a recent visit to Sierra National Forest, I did the Fresno Dome hike and the Shadow of the Giants walk in Nelder Sequoia Grove on the same afternoon. Both are short beautiful walks and I found ample additional trails nearby to fill out my visit. Some other reviewers have complained about a lack of maps. I too wonder why Foghorn Press does not include short sketches of the trails in their guides. That said, I have never gotten lost on any of the trails in this guidebook. They are all very well marked and easy to follow. So, if you are a beginning hiker or someone who is looking to go someplace new and scenic in Southern California, this book is still the first place to look.
Rating:
Summary: Still the best comprehensive Guide
Review: When I put together my Amazon list of Southern California hiking guides some time ago, I listed Ms. Brown's book as the best of the comprehensive guidebooks to the area. Since then several good books have been published including Rod Adkinson's 'Southern California Hiking' and Jerry Schad's 'Top Trails: Los Angeles.' Nonetheless, I still find myself looking at Brown's book first when I want to go somewhere new, although that is getting harder and harder to do since I have walked over 60% of the trips described in this book. Simply put, it is still the best book on the market. Generally speaking, an "easy" hike in Brown's book is less than 5 miles long and can be walked by just about anyone. Although short, the trails are scenic and often lead to relatively isolated destinations. Some of the wonderful hikes Brown describes in this guide include Mt. Waterman in the Angeles National Forest, the "Champion" Lodgepole in the San Bernardino Mountains, and Needles Lookout in the newly created Sequoia National Monument. For those who want more hiking she often includes notes to make the trips "more challenging." But even when these notes are not included hikers can often combine two or more trips from this guide. On a recent visit to Sierra National Forest, I did the Fresno Dome hike and the Shadow of the Giants walk in Nelder Sequoia Grove on the same afternoon. Both are short beautiful walks and I found ample additional trails nearby to fill out my visit. Some other reviewers have complained about a lack of maps. I too wonder why Foghorn Press does not include short sketches of the trails in their guides. That said, I have never gotten lost on any of the trails in this guidebook. They are all very well marked and easy to follow. So, if you are a beginning hiker or someone who is looking to go someplace new and scenic in Southern California, this book is still the first place to look.
Rating:
Summary: OK hike descriptions, but no trail maps
Review: While the trip descriptions in this book are fine, there are, inexplicably, no maps of the trails. While there are maps showing where the hikes are located, the trails themselves are not mapped. So, one is forced to either buy a map from another source or just attempt to follow the description sketched out by the author. There is absolutely no reason not to have trail maps.
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