No comments about Yellowstone: A Visitor's Companion (National Parks Visitor's Companions).

2 comments about Great Trails for Family Hiking: The Tetons.

1. This book was the most well used and helpful of the several that we took along on our Teton vacation. It was absolutely exact in everything from its trail descriptions, to which forks to take for what results, to whether or not insects would bother us on a particular hike. We used it daily to plan our upcoming adventures. I appreciate having a hiking book geared toward young families, and this one surely enabled us to enjoy many great and unforgetable hiking experiences with our 3 children. I love the off the beaten path and hidden places that the author so expertly describes. Many times we felt that we were the only people in the park.



2. I bought this book as a last minute item before our trip to the Grand Tetons. We traveled with our 7 and 10 year old children. We had the best family vacation and I contribute much of that to this guide. Each day we explored a new place and we were never disappointed. On our last full day in Wyoming, we found String Lake and it was breathtaking. After that find, none of us wanted to go back home. The author's description of every trail turned out to be true. We loved it. We didn't get through half of the trails we wanted to see so next year we will return with this trusty book in hand and continue to explore this beautiful part of our country. If you want to hike with your kids, this book is worth the money!

4 comments about Great Hot Springs of the West: Arizona California Colorado Montana Idaho Nevada New Mexico Oregon Utah Washington Wyoming.

1. depending on what your looking for you may not want this guide. it has a fairly well established list to many commercial hot springs, but little else. If your looking for hot springs where you can hook up your RV then this guide may work for you. If on the other hand your looking for real, natural hot springs off the beaten path, then this guide is worthless.



2. We have tried one hot spring listing and enjoyed our hot soak, found one shut down, one remodeling and one a bit too pricey for us. Would like to see some reference to actual costs rather than than reasonable or free or deluxe. One place inacessible without 4 wheel drive but we will keep trying, the maps are good.



3. This book does a great public disservice. The information in the book has not been updated in years and is terribly outdated. Quite a bit of the information is absolutely wrong. Send the publisher a message - don't buy the book until they update it. Save your money, there are much better, current books out there such as "Hot Springs and Hot Pools of the Southwest" & Northwest - which are updated ever two years



4. The only useful thing about this writer's books on hot springs are the USGS maps and the latitude/longitudes. I bought a book of his nearly 20 years ago and was thoroughly dissatisfied, & was incensed when it seemed to me he was more interested in providing info for the land yacht crowd. I wonder if his book alleging that the lunar landings were hoaxes is any better. I doubt it. He probably denies the Holocaust took place, too. If you want a book on hot springs, check out Jayson Loam's books. They are much better. If you want info on faked lunar landings, get the movie "Capricorn One."

No comments about Continental Divide GPS Companion : Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico.

1 comments about Kip Carey's Official Wyoming Fishing Guide.

1. The keys to any successful (self-guided) fishing trip are research and common sense. Kip's book has lots of small snippets on locations of lakes and streams...and some information on types of fish, sizes of fish, and overall rating of the fishery. This book is best used with the Wyoming DeLorme Atlas and Gazetteer, which shows specific streams, lakes, highways, roads (and camgrounds). Overall, I really enjoyed the book and can not wait until this summer to check out some of his recommended locations.
   
   One (minor) drawback of the book is his lack of labeling the photos...I like to know which picture goes with which stream or lake. Another (minor) drawback is his use of terms "fair" ... "decent" ... "good" ... "noteable" ... and "very fishable" when describing fishing quality. This is where your 6th sense of fishing comes in to play. Is the author tipping his hand?...or just wetting our whistle?
   
   Other good books on Wyoming Fly Fishing include: Wyoming Blue-Ribbon Fly Fishing Guide, by Greg Thomas...The most complete guide to Wyoming fishing by John Baughman...and the Flyfishers Guide to Wyoming by by Ken Retallic. Each of these books compliments the other (and sometimes contradicts).
   
   Whenever planning a trip DO RESEARCH. Research comes in several forms, the most effective being advice from a trusted friend (who's been there), conversation with fly shop owners and guides from the area you will be (they will usually only provide snippets), and lots of reading. Since becoming a "serious researcher" my trips to the Rockies have been VERY productive and more memorable.

4 comments about Exploring the Yellowstone Backcountry: A Guide to the Hiking Trails of Yellowstone with Additional Sections on Canoeing, Bicycling, and Cross-Country Skiing (Sierra Club Totebook).

1. Bach does a wonderful job of describing each hike in brief detail. The book guides you in every direction, from locating the trailhead to the start and finish of each hike. As he describes each significant turn of the trail, he also points out natural features and wildlife to watch for. A great addition to your Yellowstone library.



2. This is the best trails book for any of the mountain states national parks. I have not found a book for Glacier or Rocky Mountain National parks as good as this book. The Kent and Donna Dannen guide to RMNP comes close. This book may look as if it is for backpackers, but it has lots of info for day hikes, too.



3. This is the best trails book for any of the mountain states national parks. I have not found a book for Glacier or Rocky Mountain National parks as good as this book. The Kent and Donna Dannen guide to RMNP comes close. This book may look as if it is for backpackers, but it has lots of info for day hikes, too.



4. Planning a trip out west to visit the National Parks, Bach's book was one of my first purchases. I'm glad I did. It not only prepared me for Yellowstone, but it also prepared me for my visits to Glacier and Yosemite National Parks. The gear lists and the general guidelines for hiking in the backcountry were invaluable in preparing a beginner backcountry hiker to the path ahead.

5 comments about Scenic Driving Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park.

1. We used our copy of this book to plan our main drives around both parks. Except for a very few instances the scenes were exactly as described and exactly where they were supposed to be. The wildlife viewing recommendations for the most part were spot on. We recommend this a an invaluable resource for those planning to drive most of the roads and entrances to both parks. We lent our well beaten copy to other couples since our return and both couples raved about how useful this book was to their planning and daily events.



2. My kids and I just got back from Yellowstone and Grand Teton, and this book made our trip even better than it would have been without it. The funny thing is that I almost didn't buy this book. I refused to be one of those people who experience Yellowstone from my car, so a book called "Scenic Driving" didn't appeal to me at first. But Yellowstone is so huge that even if you plan to hike every day you still need to drive between trailheads, and as a result, you spend a lot of time in the car. My 13-year-old son narrated the entire drive and we ended up seeing things and doing things that we wouldn't have otherwise done. This book helped us understand what we were seeing and led us down roads I would have passed up if it weren't for this book telling us what was around that corner. (By the way, "A Ranger's Guide to Yellowstone Day Hikes" was a great book too!) I can't recommend this book enough. It's a must!



3. I purchased many books as a reference for our first trip to Yellowstone, this is the one book I decided to take with us and we used it everyday, the information given was interesting and easy to follow. We felt like we had our own personal guide. Would recommend this book to anyone.



4. I love the detailed descriptions she writes mile by mile which will be very helpful to have in the car as I drive through the parks myself. It has also prepared me for what to look for.
   
   As a "map lover" I like the detailed maps of different sections of the park even more. But . . . I have two complaints: 1) Her maps do not include everything she describes. To me, that is the purpose of a zoomed in map of one section of the park! 2) In her written description she talks way too much about the fire of 1988! But overall I have found the book helpful in my preparation for a visit to both parks and plan to carry it with me.



5. Amazon is not so great about removing older versions of books and this is one example - if you are going to buy it, get the 2006 version. Now, about the 1999 version....I will agree that it is helpful for driving through the park, but it's only good if you are traveling in the direction she has written it in. For example, if you are traveling a particular leg from north to south but she has written the guide traveling south to north, it is really difficult to follow. The book Yellowstone Treasures by Janet Chapple is written with mile markers regardless of which direction you are traveling in, so I recommend it over this one. Chapple's book is also more comprehensive.

No comments about Wyomings Snake River.

5 comments about The Yellowstone Handbook: An Insider's Guide to the Park: A Related by Ranger Norm.

1. This book helped me plan the trip, and served as a great guide once we arrived in Yellowstone.



2. Don't let the cover fool you. This book is great. Lots of details. Great recommendations on hotels to stay outside the park when the inside ones are book. My niece and I had a blast reading it as we went. We even ran into a bear jam, you'll have to read the book to find out what that is all about. If your looking for a book to simplfy your life and make this trip the best. Buy it! Don't let the cartoons fool you this book has all the details in great form for all. Buy it before you leave so you know where your going. THE BEST, ENJOY.



3. The way the books of this series work is that they took a guide for new rangers in Yosemite with the 100 or so most frequently asked questions, and wrote their own answers for each park. So in each book the questions are very similar but the answers might be very different.

   It's a great format because it makes for easy reading beforehand, but it's also quick as a reference when you're there because they're arranged in an intelligent order. There's also a huge reference section at the end with lists, copies of permit forms, and so forth. So the thing to do is read the FAQ before you leave but bring the book and refer to it once you're there.

   I've only been to Yellowstone once and had no idea where to stay, or which hotels were near which sites and so forth. This book really cleared it up for me and we had a great time.




4. We just returned from a three-week cross-country trip, with a four day stop in Yellowstone. This book was o.k. to read before the trip to familiarize yourself with the park, but was useless as a reference guide once we were there. We basically gave up on it and used our Frommers Guide to the Western National Parks. The index is incomplete, the maps are cartoonish and difficult to read, and some of the explanations in the question-answer format with"ranger Norm" made me feel as if they were questioning my intelligence. My husband and I both couldn't believe they showcase this book prominently in the Yellowstone visitor's Centers!



5. I was very disappointed in this book, especially since all the reviews were highly favorable when I ordered it. The only redeeming value of this book was that adding it to my order had put me over the order total required to qualify for a $5 discount. I would have sent it back but the refund would not have been worth the bother.

   The book is primarily in question and answer format. Most of the answers range in length between one paragraph and a couple of pages. This isn't too bad when using the book for reference but it does not make for great readability.

   My biggest complaint is that the book claims to be "an insider's guide" but it provides limited guidance. For example, there are ten pages of outfitters listed. But for the most part the only guidance to them is the category the outfitter is listed under. There is no information on what the differences among the outfitters are as far as what they offer or the quality of their services. A couple of outfitters are mentioned in a general description of guide services, but again there are no reasons given for why you would want to select one of them.

   Another example of this lack of guidance is the description of the lodging available in the park. The descriptions are very limited and would not be enough to make an informed decision on where to stay.

   I later purchased "Yellowstone - Grand Teton Handbook" by Don Pitcher (Moon Handbooks). I found this book to be much more helpful. Instead of giving a long list of outfitters, Pitcher provides descriptions and opinions about some of the outfitters. He also provides a much better description of what the different lodging options are like. These two examples are representative of the general difference between these books. As an added bonus, "Yellowstone - Grand Teton Handbook" also provides much more information about the Grand Tetons and other areas around Yellowstone.

No comments about Compass American Guides: Wyoming, 5th Edition (Compass American Guides).