Day Hikes of the Smokies
Day Hiker's Guide to Great Smoky Mountains National Park
The book is broken down five major sections. The first section includes several chapters that cover how to use the guidebook, safety concerns, trailhead information, weather, pets and what to bring for a day hike in the Smoky Mountains. The following four sections are where you find all the information on the hikes. They are broken down into "Easier Day Hikes," "Moderate Day Hikes," "Strenous Day Hikes," and "Self-Guided Nature Trails."
What you get in the book
The book does not cover every trail in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, but it does an admirable job at providing coverage for just about every section of the park. The trips are all described in great detail and are great for someone who is new to the National Park and is looking for the best hikes in the area. I know on our first visit to Great Smoky Mountains National Park, this guidebook proved to be indispensible for us as we took several different day hikes while we were there.
Each trail description begins with a vertical profile of the trail, so you know how much climbing and descending will be involved. The length, trip highlights, map information and trailhead information are all provided in short order. Then the guide launches into the trip description providing information on the trail itself, the history of the area the trail traverses and information on the trail conditions, trail junctions and any other information you will need for your hike.
The maps that go along with each trip are nice too. They are shaded relief maps so you can get an idea of elevation changes without topographic lines and they give enough detail that you can use them as you are hiking to track your progress.
The book is also illustrated with black and white photographs taken along the trails that are described in the book.
My Thoughts
On our visits to Great Smoky Mountains National Park we have made great use of Day Hikes of the Smokies. I have found the book to be a great place to start planning your day hikes in the park. Between the detailed descriptions, the photos and the maps, this one book is all a visitor really needs to start planning day hikes throughout Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
If you are visiting Great Smoky Mountains National Park and want to go on some day hikes, I would definitely recommend picking up a copy of Day Hikes of the Smokies.
Published by jps246
I like to write about what interests me. I also write on other online review sites under the same name. I maintain a blog of my reviews - ReviewThis and being a big fan of the outdoors, I also have the A... View profile
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- The book uses detailed shaded relief maps for each hike
- The book covers hiking trails in most of the National Park
- Hikes for every ability level are provided in the book
2 Comments
Post a CommentA national park I've never been to... wondering if they would seem like real mountains to a Left Coaster...
Great travel write up as usual, Jeff! :)