Rating: 
Summary: Great guide, but NOT a "100 Hikes" book
Review: Don't purchase this information-dense book thinking you're going to get something that you can use like a Spring and Manning "100 Hikes" guide, with their 100 pre-planned trips. Instead, this book is best used by getting a map first, finding a potentially interesting trail, and then looking it up in the book (it'll be in there!). What you'll find then will be a wealth of information about the trail for planning your trip.The book also includes fairly detailed information about climbing Mt Olympus in an appendix.
Rating:
Summary: Great guide, but NOT a "100 Hikes" book
Review: Don't purchase this information-dense book thinking you're going to get something that you can use like a Spring and Manning "100 Hikes" guide, with their 100 pre-planned trips. Instead, this book is best used by getting a map first, finding a potentially interesting trail, and then looking it up in the book (it'll be in there!). What you'll find then will be a wealth of information about the trail for planning your trip. The book also includes fairly detailed information about climbing Mt Olympus in an appendix.
Rating: 
Summary: Many hikes, but missing key information
Review: First, please note that I have purchased this book but have not yet truly used it (i.e., I haven't yet actually gone to the Olympics). My purpose in purchasing it was to try to get a sense for the hiking options in the area compared to other national park destinations.
I bought two Olympic hiking guides in addition to this one: "Day Hike! Olympic Peninsula" by S. Blair and "Hiking Olympic National Park" By E. Molvar.
Compared to those two books, this one certainly includes a larger number of hikes. To my mind, however, it misses two critical pieces of information. First, no guidance is provided as to the likely degree of difficulty, either in terms of elevation gain/loss or in terms of the author's opinion (e.g., moderate, strenuous, etc.). This makes it much harder to choose hikes that are likely to be within our comfort zone-- especially on days when the knees are feeling sore!
Second, I find the author's descriptions of the hikes to be very clinical and not that helpful in terms of helping me prioritize where to go. I want to know which hikes have outstanding mountain views, or delicious woodsy spots versus long slogs through forested areas with little to appreciate. There is no ranking or rating scheme for this, and it's a bit much to ask a reader to slog through detailed (and often somewhat clinical) descriptions of the 177 hikes mentioned to try to get a sense of that.
I think this book could be useful as a reference-- if one already has a pretty good idea of where to go. But it's not the best in terms of prioritizing how to spend your time. To that end, the "Day Hike!" book by Blair is better, although it includes only about 70 hikes.
Rating: 
Summary: Very detailed.
Review: Good information, strong on detail, plus some maps and photos. A good alternative or companion to "100 Hikes in Washington's South Cascades and Olympics," which is light on the Olympics.
Rating:
Summary: The Very Best Guide to the Olympic Mountains
Review: I have done about 80 hikes or climbs in the Olympics in the past two years. I think every description I have used in this book has been accurate. It includes some handy small scale maps as well. The Olympics is one of the best places to hike, winter or summer, and Woods is certainly the expert on the hikes and the history. A must for anyone who is even considering a hike of any length in the Olympics. Like one other reviewer implied, this book is way beyond the simple hike books that simply describe the popular hikes.
Add this book to "Climber's Guide to the Olympic Mountains" by the Olympic Mountain Rescue and you will have everything you need to explore the Olympic Mountains on foot.
Rating:
Summary: The Very Best Guide to the Olympic Mountains
Review: I have done about 80 hikes or climbs in the Olympics in the past two years. I think every description I have used in this book has been accurate. It includes some handy small scale maps as well. The Olympics is one of the best places to hike, winter or summer, and Woods is certainly the expert on the hikes and the history. A must for anyone who is even considering a hike of any length in the Olympics. Like one other reviewer implied, this book is way beyond the simple hike books that simply describe the popular hikes.
Add this book to "Climber's Guide to the Olympic Mountains" by the Olympic Mountain Rescue and you will have everything you need to explore the Olympic Mountains on foot.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Trail Guide Book Ever Written
Review: I have done dozens of hikes in the Olympics, including a couple two-week hikes and have been to most of the areas described in the book. Robert Wood has done a brilliant job describing the hikes and the area. I grew up hiking the Cascades and reading the Harvey Manning/Ira Spring books, but they don't come close to this one. Wood's knowledge of the history of the area, his experience gained through hundreds of hikes; and his obvious love for the area, clearly show through in this well-written book. As far as I'm concerned, this is the best trail guide book ever written and I doubt that it will ever be topped.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Trail Guide Book Ever Written
Review: I have done dozens of hikes in the Olympics, including a couple two-week hikes and have been to most of the areas described in the book. Robert Wood has done a brilliant job describing the hikes and the area. I grew up hiking the Cascades and reading the Harvey Manning/Ira Spring books, but they don't come close to this one. Wood's knowledge of the history of the area, his experience gained through hundreds of hikes; and his obvious love for the area, clearly show through in this well-written book.
As far as I'm concerned, this is the best trail guide book ever written and I doubt that it will ever be topped.
Rating:
Summary: The best got better...
Review: I owned the 2nd editon for many years and it guided me on numerous trips. But there were some gaps and the age of the book was becoming noticable. So when the 3rd edition came out, I was very excited. Was I let down? NO. Wood accurately describes ever wonderful mile of these mountains and fills in the gaps present in his earlier editions. The new maps are wonderfully done (though still a bit cartoonish) and the new Trail Info summaries make life even easier. I'd recommend this book to anybody hiking anywhere in the Olympics. His 2nd edition was pretty darn good to begin with, but the 3rd some manages to improve on it.
Rating:
Summary: Enrich your Olympics Experience
Review: Really the best thing you can buy to maximize your enjoyment of these mountains. A wealth of practical advice on trails as well as enough "extra" to stimulate your interest in this area.
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