 A Fine Selection of Bay Area Hiking |
| Review Date: April 24, 2007 |
| Reviewer: Fritz R. Ward, Crestline, CA United States |
The San Francisco Bay area has some of the best hiking in the state. Indeed, when I found myself with time off from work this April I left southern California and flew my father in from Idaho to enjoy a week in the region. Between Point Reyes National Seashore, the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, and the many state and local parks in the Santa Cruz mountains, Bay area hikers pretty much have it all. I'm actually envious of all the area has to offer and periodically threaten to move there until I remember that home prices are positively prohibitive. Still, spring is a wonderful time to visit and this new edition of Huber's 60 Hikes within 60 miles, San Francisco, is a good place to start.
This book has all the nice features found in the "60 Hikes, 60 miles" series, including a nice locator map, decent trail sketch maps, and a list of author hiking recomendations broken down by hiking distance, best places to take kids, and areas where you can actually walk a dog in the canine unfriendly Bay area. Each hike also includes a "key information at a glance" section where readers can learn the mileage, elevation gain, a rough estimate of hiking time, and the GPS coordinates for each trailhead. In all, the book provides solid information for each trail.
But what makes this book so special is the care Huber has taken in selecting the trails. As the webmaster for bahiker.com, she is very familiar with all the Bay area has to offer, but this guide does an excellent job of selecting some of the best. Included are several hikes on Mt. Tamalpais, Point Reyes, and numerous walks among redwoods. The latter are my favorites and I have hiked the routes she describes in Henry Cowell Redwoods (often overlooked) and Big Basin State Park on multiple occasions. Berry Creek Falls in Big Basin has to be one of the top hikes in the state. Huber has also gone to great effort to select a variety of different trails for readers. Hikes range from 3/4 of a mile to over 11 with the vast majority falling in between 4 and 7 miles. Literally anyone can find a hike suited to their abilities within this book. Finally, Huber is something of a self trained naturalist and she shares her extensive knowledge of plants and animals found along the trails in her detailed route descriptions.
I try to get to the Bay area a couple of times a year to hike. For the most part, my explorations have been confined to Marin county and the Santa Cruz mountains, both of which can feel quite remote despite their close proximity to the city. I've hiked several of the routes Huber describes here, and am interested in doing many more on my next trip. I am also keen to explore the many regional parks in the East Bay area now that I have read this book. In all, this is a great guide to Bay area hiking. If you are a resident or frequent visitor, it will be a nice addition to your outdoor library. |
Favorite North Bay Hiking Book
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| Review Date: June 12, 2007 |
| Reviewer: Stacy J. Hoblitzell, Santa Rosa, CA. |
I've really been searching for a great introductory book to get me started hiking at all the great state parks in the North Bay section of the Bay Area and this book came up. [...].
Each park has an introductory section detailing distance, trailhead location, directions to the trailhead and much, much more. I usually use the introductory information to start my hike and then when I'm finished I go back and read the details. If I find I've gotten lost or found an unmarked trail, I can usually discover which is the correct direction.
So far, I've only made it to five parks here in Sonoma and Napa County, but with the help of Huber's book, I'm looking forward to exploring farhter and discovering a new favorite hike. |
Terrific Resource
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| Review Date: January 7, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Roberta J. Morris, Menlo Park, CA USA |
| This book is a terrific resource for people who like to walk and find themselves in the Bay Area. I found the book because it is mentioned on Jane Huber's wonderful website (www.bahiker.com). I bought the book out of gratitude, but I should have bought it out of pure self-interest. Having an actual book to page through, WITHOUT being hooked up to a computer, is a joy, and I rediscovered the simple truth that cross-referenced lists on paper (and a good table of contents and index) can be superior to links on the screen. With the book, it is a snap to compare hikes by location and difficulty at an information-packed glance. Huber organizes the book so that every question I can think of is answered, easily, clearly, helpfully. Hats off! |
Well organized, thorough book!
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| Review Date: June 29, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Lauren, |
Jane Huber's book is very well organized, very thorough with notes for various needs such as if a trail is dog-friendly, bike-friendly, plus overall elevation change, climate you may encounter, etc. She also has clear, clean maps. The only thing lacking is mileage on the maps. She does mention trail mileage (and a breakdown of it as you hike) in the text, but I'd love it on the maps too, so if choose a detour (shown on her maps many times), I'd like to know my adjusted approx. mileage.
I like how she describes the plant life around the trails. She also does a turn by turn description of the trails. Very helpful. Thanks to Jane and her book, (and website) I've discovered many new places in the Bay Area. |
love this book
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| Review Date: September 12, 2009 |
| Reviewer: T. White, San Ramon, CA United States |
| written as if i did it myself. Full of details, drawings, descriptions. And has things broken up into easy to find sections for various needs. The author has really thought this book through and make it a very user friendly book. I've been on several of the hikes before buying the book and the descriptions are accurate and helpful. |
Get High with a Little Help from Jane Huber
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| Review Date: October 27, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Feral Puma, Northern California, USA |
We'd better get healthy if we're going to endure these times. I recently hiked the Mist Trail of Yosemite NP and discovered that I'd been missing out on quite a lot in life. Hiking a mountain does more for self esteem than anything I've found. From elevation looking down on the rat maze is enlightening to say the least. So if you want to go hiking in and around the bay area, this book will at least serve that purpose, and there are many great trails around. It's been an excellent reference point for me while I'm working on gaining enough stamina to eventually hike Mount Whitney (east of Fresno, highest point in the lower 48 States), and to also hike the famed Cactus-To-Clouds Trail near Palm Springs. Going from Jane Huber's suggestion, I did the 14-mile hike of Mount Diablo with 4,000 ft. of total elevation gain; I highly recommend it, it's a great one and I wouldn't have found it without her help. Hiking does wonders for physical endurance of course, but it is magic for mental health, perhaps more so than anything I've found. The dayhike in that it allows one to venture out far enough to taste nature, stillness, openness, and solitude, and to discover that, this is as sacred as the higher elevations which it embraces are.....
Snow Mountain (East) - 7,056 ft. (Lake Co.)
Junipero Serra Peak - 5,862 ft. (Monterey Co.)
Cobb Mountain - 4,720 ft. (Lake Co.)
Mount Hamilton (Copernicus Peak) - 4,360 ft. (Santa Clara Co.)
Mount Saint Helena - 4,327 ft. (Sonoma Co.)
Mount Diablo - 3,849 ft. (Contra Costa Co.)
Mount Tamalpais - 2,570 ft. (Marin Co.)
.....just to name a few that are around. Going up is optional, getting down is mandatory, now, go take a hike!!!
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Excellent reference
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| Review Date: July 10, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Jane Newhagen, Key West, FL United States |
| I bought this as a gift and looked through it thoroughly before I presented it. I was very impressed with the information in this guide from difficulty of walk and elevation profile to recommended seasons for hiking. I feel certain the recipients, who live in the Bay area, will derive a lot of pleasure from using it. |
Got me starting on hiking
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| Review Date: February 24, 2010 |
| Reviewer: R. Kaw, California |
Concise and well written book complements the [...] website that the author maintains. It got me started on hiking and I am already enjoying it. For SF area folks it is good buy if you are into hiking OR want to get into hiking.
I really like the "Hiking Recommendations" section of the book. This section provides a quick and easy look up, if you want to find out kid friendly hikes or most challenging hikes or scenic hikes etc.
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HIghly recommended..
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| Review Date: June 26, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Nudger, |
| Thanks - great book with good assistance for people with kids. The "child friendly" walks are specified and the detailed descriptions are great. Highly recommended if you like walking and are in this area.... |
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