Rockhounds Guide to New Mexico

Rating:
Summary: 2003 summer review
Review: I enjoyed reading this book the author has put a good amount of time and effort in the collection of collecting sites. I like the format used including the best time of the year to collect. In the southwest it does get really really hot in the summer. The elevation is also important for people with mid winter cabin fever. I used that data to successfully collect petrified wood in Cuba in January. The forward introduction is important to read for people not used to living and hiking in New Mexico. I have given this book a three star rating based mainly on it's age. It's been around since 1995. that means that the site data is eight years old. I found that the sites near big cities like Albuquerque tended to be picked over or even worse closed to collecting. All of the west has had a population boom and New Mexico is no exception. the sites near smaller towns were fairly well intact. If you are going to use this book or any other guide I would check with local rock shops before traveling any distance to a new site. If the author or the published ever reads this review I would like to suggest that in the site location that they include the GPS data for main turn - offs and the initial starting points for collecting. In the case of this book eight years is a long time for forest service roads to stay intact or new ones created. I also use Mapping software on my PC to pull up topo and aerial maps of the area. I would also suggest a notation on every site listing the date when it was visited.