New Yosemite National Park Guide
Lonely Planet Book Also Covers Kings Canyon, Sequioa National Parks
Latest edition of Lonely Planet guide to Yosemite, Sequioa and Kings Canyon National Parks, with trips to Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest and Gold Country too.
This terrific guide to the Yosemite, Sequioa and Kings Canyon National Parks is one of a new series of excellent updated National Parks guidebooks published by Lonely Planet. At 296 pages it's long enough to fit in all the information you need (the authors did 2000 hours of in-park research and hiked over 400 miles of trails), yet compact enough to take with you even if you're hiking, biking or camping.
The guides aren't only aimed at the hardy outdoor types, as they'll be just as useful if you're driving, and each one includes a special chapter on Kids & Pets, with family-friendly activities listed along with local dog kennels and equestrian activities.
There are other sections common to each of the four guides published in the series, so to get a fuller picture of what's in each one, read all the reviews (the links appear at the end) as each one covers slightly different aspects.
Yosemite Hikes
Each guide has a few dozen hikes included, this one containing 53 of them which take you 'through valleys, around lakes, up peaks and into the backcountry'. The hikes have their own special index at the back of the book, and are summarised in the Activities chapter, and this cross-references to the page number where the actual walk information and route description appears.
There are 33 hikes given for Yosemite National Park, and 12 more for Sequoia and Kings Canyon. They range from easy kid-friendly hikes of 2 miles or less, up to 2- and 3-day hikes into the back country. Each one is graded for length, difficulty, time, elevation change, and features, wth a full description of the hike and the facilities nearby too.
Itineraries
Near the start of each guide are a few pages devoted to possible itineraries you might consider. Do you have 2- weeks to do a Grand Tour? Do you have 7-10 days and want to do the Best of Yosemite? Do you want to do Yosemite Valley in a Day? Do you want to do a special hike and bike trip? Each of the 9 itineraries has a pick and mix list of options, al of which you can do in the time allowed but some you might want to drop while extending others, depending on your own preferences.
Environment
Each guide has a lengthy chapter on the environment, so you understand what you're seeing and experiencing. It runs from what happened 225 million years ago to create the breathtaking Sierra Nevada landscape, to what's happening today to try to preserve it – or destroy it. It was a shock to read that today only a few dozen salmon exist in the whole Sierra Nevada, and that Yosemite National Park violates federal smog standards. A lot of the problem comes from cities well outside the National Parks, which shows why control of air pollution eveywhere is so vital. It's not just your own backyard you may be destroying, but everyone's National Park many miles away.
Summary
This series of guides is written with passion and enthusiasm, and they make you want to get out and get into Yosemite and the other National Parks right now. You can't ask more from a guidebook than that.
The Lonely Planet Guide to the Yosemite, Sequioa and Kings Canyon National Parks, 2nd edition, was published in April 2008 at $19.99 in the USA and £14.99 in the UK.
Other guides in the National Parks series are:
For further details visit the Lonely Planet website.
