Moon California Hiking: The Complete Guide to 1,000 of th...
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle. Learn more
Flip to back
Flip to front
Moon California Hiking: The Complete Guide to 1,000 of the Best Hikes in the Golden State (Moon Outdoors) Paperback – March 6, 2012
$15.61
FREE Shipping on orders over $35.
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
Gift-wrap available.
NO_CONTENT_IN_FEATURE
Start reading Moon California Hiking on your Kindle in under a minute.
Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.
Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?.
|
Editorial Reviews
About the Author
For 30 years, Tom Stienstra's full-time job has been to capture and communicate the outdoor experience. This has led him across California - fishing, hiking, camping, boating, biking, and flying - searching for the best of the outdoors and then writing about it.
Tom is the nation's top-selling author of outdoors guidebooks. He has been inducted into the California Outdoor Hall of Fame and has twice been awarded National Outdoor Writer of the Year, newspaper division, by the Outdoor Writers Association of America. He has also been named California Outdoor Writer of the Year five times, most recently in 2007. Tom is the outdoors columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle; his articles appear on sfgate.com and in newspapers around the country. He broadcasts a weekly radio show on KCBS-San Francisco and formerly hosted an outdoor television show on CBS/CW San Francisco.
The author of 13 outdoor guidebooks, Ann Marie Brown is a dedicated California outdoorswoman. She hikes, bikes, and camps more than 150 days each year in an effort to avoid routine, complacency, and getting a real job.
Ann Marie's work has appeared in Sunset, VIA, Backpacker, and California magazines. As a way of giving back a little of what she gets from her experiences in nature, she writes and edits for several environmental groups, including the Sierra Club and National Resources Defense Council.
Tom is the nation's top-selling author of outdoors guidebooks. He has been inducted into the California Outdoor Hall of Fame and has twice been awarded National Outdoor Writer of the Year, newspaper division, by the Outdoor Writers Association of America. He has also been named California Outdoor Writer of the Year five times, most recently in 2007. Tom is the outdoors columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle; his articles appear on sfgate.com and in newspapers around the country. He broadcasts a weekly radio show on KCBS-San Francisco and formerly hosted an outdoor television show on CBS/CW San Francisco.
The author of 13 outdoor guidebooks, Ann Marie Brown is a dedicated California outdoorswoman. She hikes, bikes, and camps more than 150 days each year in an effort to avoid routine, complacency, and getting a real job.
Ann Marie's work has appeared in Sunset, VIA, Backpacker, and California magazines. As a way of giving back a little of what she gets from her experiences in nature, she writes and edits for several environmental groups, including the Sierra Club and National Resources Defense Council.
More About the Author
Tom Stienstra is best known as the outdoors writer for the San Francisco Chronicle, and in 2008, won first place for best outdoors column in America. He is America's first Back Country Sportsman of the Year, and the only two-time National Outdoor Writer of the year.
His books include California Camping, twice awarded by Amazon as No. 1 best seller of the year, parks and recreation. His television show on CBS/CW won first place as America's best outdoor recreation show, and his radio show won first place in 2010 for best environmental feature show in America.
In 2013, he published his first novel, "The Sweet Redemption, An Inspector Korg Mystery."
Tom has hiked 25,000 miles, caught world-record fish, led dozens of expeditions and taken part in all phases of the outdoor experience. He was the fourth living member inducted into the California Outdoors Hall of Fame.
His books include California Camping, twice awarded by Amazon as No. 1 best seller of the year, parks and recreation. His television show on CBS/CW won first place as America's best outdoor recreation show, and his radio show won first place in 2010 for best environmental feature show in America.
In 2013, he published his first novel, "The Sweet Redemption, An Inspector Korg Mystery."
Tom has hiked 25,000 miles, caught world-record fish, led dozens of expeditions and taken part in all phases of the outdoor experience. He was the fourth living member inducted into the California Outdoors Hall of Fame.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
20 of 20 people found the following review helpful
By
Fritz R. Ward
TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE VOICE on March 4, 2012
Format: Paperback
Verified Purchase
5 Comments
Sending feedback...
This book just keeps getting better with age. Now in its ninth edition, California Hiking by Ann Marie Brown and Tom Stienstra is simply the most popular, most comprehensive, and in this edition, the most accurate volume of its kind. Hiking guidebooks almost never see nine editions, but this one has a loyal following and deserves a wide readership. Why? Because no matter where you are in the Golden State, this book will lead you to some spectacular hikes close by.
In all editions since 2002, California Hiking is organized by regions. Chapters run from the northern part of the state (Redwood Empire) to the southern deserts. Each chapter features a set of maps to help you locate trailheads, and each also highlights the authors' favorite hikes found in that chapter. As might be expected, some of these chapters are more extensive than others. The chapter on the greater San Francisco Bay area, with its profusion of national, state, and local parks, includes 209 different routes, nearly one fifth of the total hikes in the book. Lake Tahoe, the southern Sierra, including Sequoia and Kings Canyon, and Yosemite also receive a lot of attention. But even the shorter chapters include some real gems. The coastal hikes in Monterrey, Big Sur, and Santa Barbara are some of the best trails in the state. I have used this book for years to plan my vacations and will continue to do so in the future.
In this new (2012) edition, California Hiking features 1,014 hikes of varying difficulty. Some are short leg stretchers of a quarter of a mile. Others are long one way treks of up to 112 miles. The average hike is about 7 miles.Read more ›
In all editions since 2002, California Hiking is organized by regions. Chapters run from the northern part of the state (Redwood Empire) to the southern deserts. Each chapter features a set of maps to help you locate trailheads, and each also highlights the authors' favorite hikes found in that chapter. As might be expected, some of these chapters are more extensive than others. The chapter on the greater San Francisco Bay area, with its profusion of national, state, and local parks, includes 209 different routes, nearly one fifth of the total hikes in the book. Lake Tahoe, the southern Sierra, including Sequoia and Kings Canyon, and Yosemite also receive a lot of attention. But even the shorter chapters include some real gems. The coastal hikes in Monterrey, Big Sur, and Santa Barbara are some of the best trails in the state. I have used this book for years to plan my vacations and will continue to do so in the future.
In this new (2012) edition, California Hiking features 1,014 hikes of varying difficulty. Some are short leg stretchers of a quarter of a mile. Others are long one way treks of up to 112 miles. The average hike is about 7 miles.Read more ›
Thank you for your feedback.
If this review is inappropriate, please let us know.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By
J. Ingersoll
on April 27, 2012
Format: Paperback
Verified Purchase
Comment
Sending feedback...
I purchased an earlier edition to this in the mid 90s and loved it. My old edition was used so often it is starting to come apart!..So I decided to upgrade this year to this updated version, which just arrived. There are numerous things to point out about this reference.
Organization: I love this book for the way it is laid out. The front shows a diagram of the state of California divided into key hiking zones. On this diagram, it identifies the page number for that zone. When you flip to your zone of interest, you will find a blown up diagram of that zone with sub-zones and page #s which then identify trail reference numbers all over them. So, in about 20 seconds, you can focus on an area of interest and identify a series of trails in your area. When you flip to a trail number, it has the trail name, length, estimated time to hike, level of difficulty from 1-5 and level of beauty from 1-10. This is an absolute perfect way to quickly introduce a trail. The paragraphs that follow are well written and brief descriptions of the trail; accessibility to hikers, dogs, bikes, horses or wheelchair; Permits and fees; Identification of USGS maps for the trail; Directions to the trailhead; and Ranger station contacts including phone # and web address if applicable. You can complete the initial planning of a new hike with this book in a matter of minutes. A fantastic reference for California hiking.
Content: 1000 trails! I didn't count them all, but I believe the number. The first trail description starts on pg.45 and the last on pg.882, so I believe the 1000 trail claim. Obviously the John Muir trail, PCT and Yellowstone are completely covered, so are areas in the less obvious areas such as the desert areas in the south western area of the state.Read more ›
Organization: I love this book for the way it is laid out. The front shows a diagram of the state of California divided into key hiking zones. On this diagram, it identifies the page number for that zone. When you flip to your zone of interest, you will find a blown up diagram of that zone with sub-zones and page #s which then identify trail reference numbers all over them. So, in about 20 seconds, you can focus on an area of interest and identify a series of trails in your area. When you flip to a trail number, it has the trail name, length, estimated time to hike, level of difficulty from 1-5 and level of beauty from 1-10. This is an absolute perfect way to quickly introduce a trail. The paragraphs that follow are well written and brief descriptions of the trail; accessibility to hikers, dogs, bikes, horses or wheelchair; Permits and fees; Identification of USGS maps for the trail; Directions to the trailhead; and Ranger station contacts including phone # and web address if applicable. You can complete the initial planning of a new hike with this book in a matter of minutes. A fantastic reference for California hiking.
Content: 1000 trails! I didn't count them all, but I believe the number. The first trail description starts on pg.45 and the last on pg.882, so I believe the 1000 trail claim. Obviously the John Muir trail, PCT and Yellowstone are completely covered, so are areas in the less obvious areas such as the desert areas in the south western area of the state.Read more ›
Thank you for your feedback.
If this review is inappropriate, please let us know.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By
Arthur Black
on March 19, 2014
Format: Kindle Edition
Verified Purchase
Comment
Sending feedback...
I recently used this book for hiking a number of trails on the northern California coast.
The book covers a very large number of trails. I found the authors "best of" listings to be a helpful way to sort through the trails for a region.
On the trails I hiked, I found the author's descriptions to be accurate, but somewhat terse. Perhaps a natural result of the large number of trails covered.
I would suggest if author does an update to the guide book that he includes the GPS coordinates of the trail head. This would be much more useful for locating the trail than providing directions from assumed starting points. The trail head location for a few of the trails I hiked were poorly marked. GPS coordinates would have been a big help.
The book covers a very large number of trails. I found the authors "best of" listings to be a helpful way to sort through the trails for a region.
On the trails I hiked, I found the author's descriptions to be accurate, but somewhat terse. Perhaps a natural result of the large number of trails covered.
I would suggest if author does an update to the guide book that he includes the GPS coordinates of the trail head. This would be much more useful for locating the trail than providing directions from assumed starting points. The trail head location for a few of the trails I hiked were poorly marked. GPS coordinates would have been a big help.
Thank you for your feedback.
If this review is inappropriate, please let us know.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By
Melanie LeGro
on September 22, 2013
Format: Paperback
Verified Purchase
Comment
Sending feedback...
This book is very useful. I often get lost on websites trying to find a new trail to hike that is no father than a 3 hour drive away. It's nice this book has all of the hikes and backpacking trips listed by region. It has fairly detailed descriptions of each hike and a rating system that tells you how difficult the hike is. It lets you know what kind of terrain and views to expect which can be crucial to picking a good day adventure.
The only reason why I did not give this book 5 stars is because it does not give detailed directions for finding the trail or a clear map. I used it to pick out this moderate hike that was only 5 miles but we took a wrong turn. The 5 mile hike turned into a 9 mile hike that extended into dark. So i recommend looking up a map for the hike or backpacking adventure to supplement the book's description.
It would be impossible for a book with this many hiking spots to offer maps for 1000+ sites. But this book is great for seeing what hikes are available and giving ideas for day and backpacking adventures.
The only reason why I did not give this book 5 stars is because it does not give detailed directions for finding the trail or a clear map. I used it to pick out this moderate hike that was only 5 miles but we took a wrong turn. The 5 mile hike turned into a 9 mile hike that extended into dark. So i recommend looking up a map for the hike or backpacking adventure to supplement the book's description.
It would be impossible for a book with this many hiking spots to offer maps for 1000+ sites. But this book is great for seeing what hikes are available and giving ideas for day and backpacking adventures.
Thank you for your feedback.
If this review is inappropriate, please let us know.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Most Recent Customer Reviews
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
