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Lonely Planet Yosemite, Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks (Travel Guide) Paperback – February 1, 2012
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
By
Ursiform
TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE VOICE on March 26, 2012
Format: Paperback
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I haven't been to Yosemite for a few years, which means it's been too long. There are many books that go into great detail on specific activities for Yosemite, Sequoia, and Kings Canyon, so this guide should be seen as a starting point for planning a trip, with more detailed resources consulted for specifics once you have a general plan in mind. For example, the cover advertises "54 hikes". While the descriptions of these hikes are good enough to get you on the trails and through the hikes, if you want to hike in the area you can find far more detailed guides in book form or on line.
The guide is regional, which is helpful for those not familiar with the region. While Yosemite (which is more than the valley!) is a candidate for the most spectacular place on Earth, the spectacle doesn't end at the park's boundary. To the south, Sequoia and Kings Canyon, while officially two different parks, are adjacent and co-managed. Were there no Yosemite, they would be rightly thought of as one of the great natural wonders to visit. As is, they offer amazing scenery and wilderness with fewer tourists than Yosemite. They are surrounded by a national monument, also co-managed and wonderful. And the whole area is surrounded by a national forest. An amazing place!
While, in my opinion, too brief a guide to fully plan a trip to the area, the brevity of this guide makes it a good choice for making a rough plan, to be supplemented by other sources for more detail.
The guide is regional, which is helpful for those not familiar with the region. While Yosemite (which is more than the valley!) is a candidate for the most spectacular place on Earth, the spectacle doesn't end at the park's boundary. To the south, Sequoia and Kings Canyon, while officially two different parks, are adjacent and co-managed. Were there no Yosemite, they would be rightly thought of as one of the great natural wonders to visit. As is, they offer amazing scenery and wilderness with fewer tourists than Yosemite. They are surrounded by a national monument, also co-managed and wonderful. And the whole area is surrounded by a national forest. An amazing place!
While, in my opinion, too brief a guide to fully plan a trip to the area, the brevity of this guide makes it a good choice for making a rough plan, to be supplemented by other sources for more detail.
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful
By
korova
on April 10, 2012
Format: Paperback
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The 2012 edition of Lonely Planet's guide to Yosemite, Sequoia, and Kings Canyon National Parks lives up to LP's usual high standards. The guide contains a good blend of practical advice, historical facts, travelers' stories, and inspiring photographs. It is the sort of guide that is useful both for trip planning and for taking along on the trip itself.
Those who are unfamiliar with Lonely Planet should know a few things before purchasing this book:
* LP targets independent travelers who have a high interest in outdoor activities, such as backpacking, hiking, and backwoods camping.
* Travelers who are focused on day trips to the region, prefer short and easy walks, or like car-camping probably won't find LP to be as useful as guidebooks that have a softer perspective.
* New editions of a guide usually are updates of previous versions and are not entirely rewritten from scratch.
If you're the sort of traveler who fits the LP profile, then, this is a fine guidebook. It was written by just two contributors, so there is a consistency of voice and perspective that is often missing from guidebooks with a larger number of authors. There is good coverage of three main topics: Yosemite proper (approximately 80 pages), the surrounding areas to the west, south, and east of the National Park (20 pages), and Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks (40 pages).
The only glaring omission is that the bane of many Sierra Nevada trekkers, poison oak, is described in words only. A drawing or photograph should have been included to help people who are new or inexperienced visitors to the Sierras identify and avoid poison oak, especially given the outdoors emphasis of the guide.
Bottom line: I have used LP guides for many years and have always found them to be very useful. This guide is excellent in just about every respect. Four stars.
Those who are unfamiliar with Lonely Planet should know a few things before purchasing this book:
* LP targets independent travelers who have a high interest in outdoor activities, such as backpacking, hiking, and backwoods camping.
* Travelers who are focused on day trips to the region, prefer short and easy walks, or like car-camping probably won't find LP to be as useful as guidebooks that have a softer perspective.
* New editions of a guide usually are updates of previous versions and are not entirely rewritten from scratch.
If you're the sort of traveler who fits the LP profile, then, this is a fine guidebook. It was written by just two contributors, so there is a consistency of voice and perspective that is often missing from guidebooks with a larger number of authors. There is good coverage of three main topics: Yosemite proper (approximately 80 pages), the surrounding areas to the west, south, and east of the National Park (20 pages), and Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks (40 pages).
The only glaring omission is that the bane of many Sierra Nevada trekkers, poison oak, is described in words only. A drawing or photograph should have been included to help people who are new or inexperienced visitors to the Sierras identify and avoid poison oak, especially given the outdoors emphasis of the guide.
Bottom line: I have used LP guides for many years and have always found them to be very useful. This guide is excellent in just about every respect. Four stars.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By
Bill A. Belt
VINE VOICE on March 30, 2012
Format: Paperback
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We have traveled to Yosemite and Kings Canyon however have never really planned one of the trips by using a travel guide. After reviewing the Lonely Planet Yosemite, Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks guide, I think our minds have been changed and we will use a professional guide in the future. This guide we obtained is listed as the 3rd edition, February 2012.
As with other Lonely Planet travel guides this one is well written and contains loads of information. There are over 250 pages in the book. The overall map is located on pages 4 & 5 of the guide and is not removal. I would suggest you obtain a large map of the area to use during your planning and travels. The first few pages list "20 Top Experiences", many of which you will be able to see depending upon your travel season time.
Following that section is a "Need To Know" followed by an Itineraries section which we found to be very good and complete with several pages on hiking.
"Regions By A Glance" follows with each of the three sections contain a lot of useful information. In the back of the guide is the usual Lonely Plant "Survival Guide" which covers a large variety of very useful subjects.
I would suggest you supplement this guide with information you can obtain from the state of California as well as the National Park Service
As with other Lonely Planet travel guides this one is well written and contains loads of information. There are over 250 pages in the book. The overall map is located on pages 4 & 5 of the guide and is not removal. I would suggest you obtain a large map of the area to use during your planning and travels. The first few pages list "20 Top Experiences", many of which you will be able to see depending upon your travel season time.
Following that section is a "Need To Know" followed by an Itineraries section which we found to be very good and complete with several pages on hiking.
"Regions By A Glance" follows with each of the three sections contain a lot of useful information. In the back of the guide is the usual Lonely Plant "Survival Guide" which covers a large variety of very useful subjects.
I would suggest you supplement this guide with information you can obtain from the state of California as well as the National Park Service
Thank you for your feedback.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By
Karen Joan
VINE VOICE on April 25, 2012
Format: Paperback
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I hate travel guides that seem to have been written by a tourism board. My favorite guides are the Frommer's Irreverent guides because they sound like they were written by a friend who knows all the inside poop. So I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the LONELY PLANET GUIDE TO YOSEMITE, SEQUOIA & KINGS CANYON was more in the spirit of the latter than the former.
I had the great pleasure of visiting Yosemite once when I was very young. Since then, every year, I contemplate going back for a Summer vacation. Hmm, if not Summer, then Fall. Yikes, Fall's no good. When do they shut down for Winter? That early? Well maybe next year... Then I think about where to stay, where to fly into, what to do once we've seen the buffalo, bears, and Old Faithful, and is that old lodge still standing? You get the idea.
Well, the LONELY PLANET GUIDE TO YOSEMITE, SEQUOIA & KINGS CANYON helps to answer all of those questions and plenty more. I really like how it's broken into useful sections such as "Traveling with Children," "Traveling with Pets," and "If You Like..." which gives you suggestions of what to do if you like things like hiking, winter activities, and even extreme activities. One option under that last heading was "Canyoneering Boyden Cavern." Pretty sure that was not going to be my cup of tea, I was nevertheless intrigued and found myself on page 168 learning about canyoneering. Sadly, phrases like "rappel and wade in the chilly darkness for things that go bump in the night" seemed to describe it pretty well and sent me scrambling for more comfort-oriented sections.
Once you've homed in on the type of adventure you're interested in (I chose "traveling with children") then the LONELY PLANET GUIDE TO YOSEMITE, SEQUOIA & KINGS CANYON helps you layout your itinerary.Read more ›
I had the great pleasure of visiting Yosemite once when I was very young. Since then, every year, I contemplate going back for a Summer vacation. Hmm, if not Summer, then Fall. Yikes, Fall's no good. When do they shut down for Winter? That early? Well maybe next year... Then I think about where to stay, where to fly into, what to do once we've seen the buffalo, bears, and Old Faithful, and is that old lodge still standing? You get the idea.
Well, the LONELY PLANET GUIDE TO YOSEMITE, SEQUOIA & KINGS CANYON helps to answer all of those questions and plenty more. I really like how it's broken into useful sections such as "Traveling with Children," "Traveling with Pets," and "If You Like..." which gives you suggestions of what to do if you like things like hiking, winter activities, and even extreme activities. One option under that last heading was "Canyoneering Boyden Cavern." Pretty sure that was not going to be my cup of tea, I was nevertheless intrigued and found myself on page 168 learning about canyoneering. Sadly, phrases like "rappel and wade in the chilly darkness for things that go bump in the night" seemed to describe it pretty well and sent me scrambling for more comfort-oriented sections.
Once you've homed in on the type of adventure you're interested in (I chose "traveling with children") then the LONELY PLANET GUIDE TO YOSEMITE, SEQUOIA & KINGS CANYON helps you layout your itinerary.Read more ›
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