At besthike we are assessing hiking guidebooks every day. Most are poor: too much dense text, lousy maps, too few photos and graphics.
The worst of the worst are lists of dozens of hikes in a region with a short summary of each. There is no recommendation on “best hikes” because the author has (presumably) not walked them all.
Sadly, there’s no shortage of bad hiking guidebooks.
At besthike we often START by looking at the Lonely Planet walking guide. For example, Lonely Planet Hiking in the USA. Lonely Planet is succinct and has a high standard of quality control.
And in some cases, the Lonely Planet guide is the best available. As an example, Lonely Planet Trekking in the Central Andes.
The very best hiking guidebooks we’ve seen are the newest editions of Chapman’s guides to Australia.
Overland Track and Cradle Mountain Lake St Clair
The Overland Track guide, for example: 64 pages, 48 colour photos, 9 colour topographic maps, costs only A$17.95 (US$14) including tax. Chapman is the undisputed expert on the region. He posts updates on-line.
John Chapman wrote the first editions of the Lonely Planet guides in Australia — then decided to self-publish along with his wife and other co-authors. These guidebooks are near perfect, both informational and inspirational. Elevation profiles, history, climate, vegetation, geology, wildlife.
Other “best” guidebooks that come to mind include Blisters and Bliss, the beloved, venerable guidebook to the West Coast Trail. It uses humour to best effect.
The most compact format for a guidebook is published by Rucksack: waterproof, lightweight, open-flat with built-in map. (Exploring the Inca Trail, for example.)
But the VERY best format is The Canadian Rockies SuperGuide, by Graeme Pole, offered in a 3-ring binder with a plastic sleeve for carrying only those pages you need.
Do you have a favourite guidebook? If so, leave a comment below.
2 responses so far ↓
ronald strickland // Apr 8, 2008 at 8:27 am
Hello:
I like the concept of your site very much.
Please note that sometimes a guidebook is actually designed to promote the development of a new trail. That is why I wrote the 400-page Pacific Northwest Trail Guide (2001) about the 1200-mile Pacific Northwest Trail.
In that regard, someone could make an enormous contribution to the trails world by writing a guidebook (or more exactly a “planner”) to the transcontinental Sea-To-Sea Route.
Happy trails,
Ron “Pathfinder” Strickland
hiker Rick // Apr 8, 2008 at 8:48 am
Good point, Pathfinder.
There are different needs for a NEW trail as opposed to one well matured.
Will go check your site now:
http://www.ronstrickland.com/
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