The Southern Oregon Mail Tribune posted an article online about some of the best hiking guidebooks covering Oregon trails. The author mentions that there is no such thing as a “perfect” hiking guidebook but there are several factors that make some guidebooks more useful than others. Most of us expect to find directions to the trailhead, the length and difficulty of the hike, a description of the route, and a map in any good hiking guidebook and there are few (if any) I’ve used that don’t at least have these features.

One thing the Mail Tribune author looks for in a hiking guide book is photos and frankly this is where most hiking guidebooks fall flat in my experience. In general hiking guides are in black and white and are printed on dull, lightweight paper leading to underwhelming photos that tell you very little about the scenery along the trail. Guidebooks are also inherently limited in the number of photos they can show for any given trail, especially when a book has dozens of trail listings.

These days my guidebook of choice isn’t a guidebook at all - it’s the internet. Full color photos, unlimited space for maps, route info, directions, etc. and even space for reviews of the trail by multiple hikers. It’s great to get the perspective of an experienced hiker (i.e. the guidebook writer) but it’s always helpful to get a second and/or third opinion from regular hikers. Plus internet trail listings are often more up-to-date than books that are revised only every few years. Instant updates on trail closures, reroutes, etc. are possible online.

Some may argue that internet hiking guides are limited because they’re not portable and that’s true to a degree. But with new devices like the iPhone you can take your trail information with you (just download the info before you’re out of cell phone range!). You can even keep it old-school and print out hiking guides you find online and SAVE paper compared to a book that includes dozens of printed trail listings you’ll never use. Plus most websites (like this one) offer free trail info - not many free books out there!

Obviously we’re pretty big believers in putting hiking trail information online and we’re working on adding trail maps in addition to the photos, directions, descriptions, and reviews already on tripleblaze.com. Check out our online catalog of hiking trails and add or review your reviews!

Related posts:

1. Hiking trail maps posted
2. Hiking every trail in the White Mountains
3. Trails.com review
4. NC Mountains to Sea Trail
5. Campground & Hiking Trailhead Maps

Tags: books, guides, tripleblaze

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 11th, 2009 at 6:17 am and is filed under hiking. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.