Utah's National Parks: Hiking, Camping, and Vacationing in Utah's Canyon Country: Zion, Bryce, Capitol Reef, Arches, Canyonlands

Rating:
Summary: Wow- Beg, steal or borrow another guidebook
Review: Just back from a 9 day backpacking trip in Utah, using both this book and Adkison's book on Escalante. It left me with poor trail descriptions, (scarily) poor or wholly incorrect maps, and an "interesting" (read: madman-style insane) style of giving directions to trailheads. I am by no means new to the outdoors, nor to getting to remote trailheads, routefinding, etc; I can say with a degree of confidence that this is the poorest guidebook I have ever purchased. The second star is given for his "reccomended" hikes, which were, on the whole, generally right on.

Rating:
Summary: Wow- Beg, steal or borrow another guidebook
Review: Just back from a 9 day backpacking trip in Utah, using both this book and Adkison's book on Escalante. It left me with poor trail descriptions, (scarily) poor or wholly incorrect maps, and an "interesting" (read: madman-style insane) style of giving directions to trailheads. I am by no means new to the outdoors, nor to getting to remote trailheads, routefinding, etc; I can say with a degree of confidence that this is the poorest guidebook I have ever purchased. The second star is given for his "reccomended" hikes, which were, on the whole, generally right on.

Rating:
Summary: Ron Atkinson's Hiking Guide to Utah's Canyon Country
Review: Many people think that the best way to experience the unique landscapes of canyon lands parks is to drive through them. But you will have no sense of these places unless you get out of your car and take a walk. You don't have to be a backpacker to experience these places on foot. This is a great book for learning about the opportunities for short, medium and long hikes and for finding the hike that is best for you and your physical condition in Utah's great canyon country parks.

Rating:
Summary: Ron Atkinson's Hiking Guide to Utah's Canyon Country
Review: Many people think that the best way to experience the unique landscapes of canyon lands parks is to drive through them. But you will have no sense of these places unless you get out of your car and take a walk. You don't have to be a backpacker to experience these places on foot. This is a great book for learning about the opportunities for short, medium and long hikes and for finding the hike that is best for you and your physical condition in Utah's great canyon country parks.

Rating:
Summary: Hikes for evey level of experience
Review: We have just returned from hiking & camping in Zion, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Arches And Canyonlands (Island in the Sky area), and found this book to be one of the best of any guide book we have used (over 30 years of hiking). The hike descriptions were so interesting I read them again after doing the hike! The description of how one gets to the trailhead in in a separate section titled "driving to the trailheads", which may cause problems for individuals who don't read scan through the chapters first before deciding on a hike. We found the descriptions of the trees and plantlife on each trail very useful and I would not hesitate to buy another of Ron Atkinson's guide books, they are obviously very well researched.

Rating:
Summary: Hikes for evey level of experience
Review: We have just returned from hiking & camping in Zion, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Arches And Canyonlands (Island in the Sky area), and found this book to be one of the best of any guide book we have used (over 30 years of hiking). The hike descriptions were so interesting I read them again after doing the hike! The description of how one gets to the trailhead in in a separate section titled "driving to the trailheads", which may cause problems for individuals who don't read scan through the chapters first before deciding on a hike. We found the descriptions of the trees and plantlife on each trail very useful and I would not hesitate to buy another of Ron Atkinson's guide books, they are obviously very well researched.