North Bay Trails: Outdoor Adventures in Marin, Napa, and Sonoma Counties

Rating:
Summary: An excellent reference promising lasting value.
Review: David Weintraub's North Bay Trails will please California residents who want to locate hiking areas north of San Francisco. This is the first comprehensive guide to cross county lines to include Marin, Napa and Sonoma Countries, exploring scenic routes and trails for both avid hikers and casual walkers. An excellent reference promising lasting value.

Rating:
Summary: North Bay Trails: Outdoor Adventures in Marin, Napa and Sono
Review: I found North Bay Trails and the author's previous work, East Bay Trails, to be excellent. It provides great direction and is written from a hiker's perspective without confusing and unclear information that haunts so many guidebooks. The maps are always accurate and as fine as a bound format allows while the excellent photos help us choose where to go. The historical background is fascinating and the information on wildlife and flora keep me and my child going from discovery to discovery along the trail. This book has guided us to wonderful places we would not have thought or known to hike rather than take us to the often hiked Mt. Tam and Pt. Reyes areas (although his picks in these areas are jewels). This is a must-have if you want to hike the glorious North Bay - now, if Weintraub could just pack our lunch...

Rating:
Summary: North Bay Trails: Outdoor Adventures in Marin, Napa and Sono
Review: I found North Bay Trails and the author's previous work, East Bay Trails, to be excellent. It provides great direction and is written from a hiker's perspective without confusing and unclear information that haunts so many guidebooks. The maps are always accurate and as fine as a bound format allows while the excellent photos help us choose where to go. The historical background is fascinating and the information on wildlife and flora keep me and my child going from discovery to discovery along the trail. This book has guided us to wonderful places we would not have thought or known to hike rather than take us to the often hiked Mt. Tam and Pt. Reyes areas (although his picks in these areas are jewels). This is a must-have if you want to hike the glorious North Bay - now, if Weintraub could just pack our lunch...

Rating:
Summary: Skimpy with bad maps
Review: I have all books in the Bay Area "Trails" series including Weintraub's previous "East Bay Trails". I was very happy to hear of this book since I have long awaited comprehensive coverage of all the parks in the North Bay. Sadly it proved very disappointing and I returned it two days after buying it.

Though it targets the North Bay, it has just one or two hikes per park, e.g. there are just two hikes described for Mt Tamalpais State Park and I think two again for the Marin Headlands and a similarly minimal number for Point Reyes. These are places where it would take many many weekends to exhaust all the great trails. There is a thick book devoted to hikes around Mt Tam alone! Weintraub's book falls far short of providing a good single resource for the area. Also his computer-generated maps are hard to read and do not show other trails besides the route described so it is hard to get the big picture.

His trail descriptions seemed pretty accurate and useful. So if you want an introduction to what's in the area it could be worth buying but given the great trails in the North Bay, you will immediately have to rely on more specific regional guides like the Hip Pocket series, Mt Tamalpais Trails, Hiking Marin and Hiking Point Reyes.

Rating:
Summary: Skimpy with bad maps
Review: I have all books in the Bay Area "Trails" series including Weintraub's previous "East Bay Trails". I was very happy to hear of this book since I have long awaited comprehensive coverage of all the parks in the North Bay. Sadly it proved very disappointing and I returned it two days after buying it.

Though it targets the North Bay, it has just one or two hikes per park, e.g. there are just two hikes described for Mt Tamalpais State Park and I think two again for the Marin Headlands and a similarly minimal number for Point Reyes. These are places where it would take many many weekends to exhaust all the great trails. There is a thick book devoted to hikes around Mt Tam alone! Weintraub's book falls far short of providing a good single resource for the area. Also his computer-generated maps are hard to read and do not show other trails besides the route described so it is hard to get the big picture.

His trail descriptions seemed pretty accurate and useful. So if you want an introduction to what's in the area it could be worth buying but given the great trails in the North Bay, you will immediately have to rely on more specific regional guides like the Hip Pocket series, Mt Tamalpais Trails, Hiking Marin and Hiking Point Reyes.