Product Description
Features 114 hikes of all levels in four California Desert Parks; Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, Joshua Tree and Death Valley national parks, and Mojave National Preserve.
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I have a real fondness for books by Bill and Polly Cunningham. Their ‘Best Easy Dayhikes: Anza Borrego’ introduced me to desert hiking and has left me with an abiding love of California’s desert regions. The off season recreational opportunities in these areas: Death Valley and Joshua Tree National Parks, the Mojave National Preserve, and Anza Borrego State Parks are seemingly endless and this book provides a good introduction to these places. The 114 hikes described in this book range in length from short leg stretchers of 1/4 mile (or less) to all day rambles over difficult terrain from 10 to 16 miles. Each hike description includes a list of key points, mileage between these points, a hypsometric map (GPS compatible) and decent black and white photographs of the area.
Although I like the book, I have a few concerns. I’m not sure the authors rechecked every trail from the first edition. Had they done so, they might have noticed that Squaw Peak and Pond (in Agua Caliente County Parks) have had name changes to accomodate the politically correct crowd. Also, I have twice hiked Mountain Palm Springs Canyon in the last year and failed to note the cutoff trail sign for Indian Gorge. But aside from those minor errors, my major concern is that this book really doesn’t provide a comprehensive view of all the desert has to offer. The author’s narrow view of “parks” precludes them from discussing the many recreational opportunities in county and state parks in the Imperial Valley and around Palm Springs. Hikers seeking coverage of these areas as well should look at John McKinney’s books or to regional hiking guides. Nonetheless, if you are planning a visit to Joshua Tree, Death Valley, the Mojave or Anza Borrego this is an excellent book to get. The authors made a desert rat out of me and they can do the same for you if you give them half a chance.
Rating: 4 / 5
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Very helpful guide to hiking in the parks. Good trail directions and maps. Somewhat limited in descriptions of what you will see on the hikes but they did a good job and I found the guide very helpful.
Rating: 4 / 5
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I have gone on a few hikes in this book and so far find this book to be an excellent source of information.
Out of the parks, I like Death Valley the most and have used the book on 4 of the hikes there. Of those those hikes, the aurthor provides good info on where to find the trailheads, description/length of the hikes, and what to look out for (a dry waterfall here, a turn there…etc). Many of the hikes are considered “off-the-beaten-path” hikes and I wouldn’t neccessarily have known about them if it was not for this book.
The reason for the 4.5 star is that I thought the descriptions could be better. For example, I made several U turns when I was trying to find a few trailheads looking for a “road” when in reality they are more like semi-hidden small gravel pathes. Another example was some trails descriptions were somewhat vague – I had to use supplemental sources to help clarify some of the trail descriptions in this book.
However, there are a lot of good information in this book and is an excellent source for that next hiking trip.
Rating: 5 / 5
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Great book! The roads that lead to the trailheads in Anza Borrego are not marked very well and the information in this book was very helpful in locating where to turn off from the highway so you could get to the trailheads. I would recommend a 4×4 for some of these “roads” but we got by with a regular car for the most part. It was a rental and I don’t think I would take my own car out there.
Rating: 5 / 5
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