Afoot & Afield in Los Angeles County

We've just started hiking and this book was exactly what we were looking for. It has a large variety of routes, all the relevant information, clear descriptions, good maps, and a very easy to read format. My only wish would be a summary of all 192 trips so we could quickly scan for specific criteria like difficulty and time.

This book is indispensible to me. I moved down the LA area after living in a rural forested area of northern california for many years. Needless to say - I greatly missed the outdoors, and I got this book to get acquanted with my new surroundings. I try to go on a hike every other weekend, and right along with me is this rumpled, wrinkled, dogeared, inked-on book. There are hikes for everyone, some appropriate for children - some catering only to the experienced hiker, and everyone in between. So, wether I feel like going on a 2 mile hike - or a 12 mile hike....this book is straped to my daypack. The author has covered every hike in good detail - there are, of course, a few exceptions - but in general, the directions and writing are reliable. He also provides interesting histories of some trails, appropriate times of the year for maximum enjoyment, and little hints on things to pay attention to or watch out for. Buy this book - then get out and use it.

My sister got me this book when I first moved to LA and I was so excited after browsing the book that I made a goal to go on one of the listed hikes every other weekend. One of the hardest parts about hiking in LA is finding the trail. Afoot and Afield provides detailed driving instructions needed to reach the trailhead as well as directions once you are on the trail itself (which is very helpful considering sometimes the hike is not really even a trail). I often take the book with me on the hike to make sure I don't get lost. The book also lets you know what the best times of the year and the day (i.e. make sure to go at sunset) are for the specific hike and it estimates the difficulty and duration of the hike..which i've found to be quite accurate. Readers will be amazed at how many diverse & interesting hikes there are in LA. And it always is amazing how going on one of these hikes makes you totally forget that the big bustling city of LA is just minutes away. Keep this book away from friends though. You'll never get it back, they'll love it so much! In fact, you really can't be a hiker in LA without it.

THIS BOOK, HAS ALLOWED ME TO EXPLORE THE BEAUTY THAT, SURPRISINGLY SURROUNDS THE LA AREA. IT'S AN EASY READ WITH LOTS AND LOTS OF GEMS TO BE SEEN, SUCH AS BEAUTIFUL VISTAS, MOUNTAIN TOPS, WATERFALLS, DAYHIKES, BACKPACKING, CAR CAMPING, AND THE LIKE. THIS BOOK HAS BECOME MY BIBLE AND I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE NEXT ADVENTURE TO BEGIN. ONCE YOU BEGIN EXPLORING, YOU WILL BE AMAZED AT ALL THE BEAUTY THAT ABOUNDS RIGHT ALONG THE OUTSKIRTS OF SMOG, CRIME, AND TRAFFIC. YOU CAN FEEL LIKE YOUR FAR AWAY, BUT YOU'LL BE RIGHT IN YOUR OWN BACK YARD. THIS AUTHOR HELPED ME SEE BEYOND THE HIGHRISES AND THE FREEWAYS. THANKS JERRY!

This is an excellent guidebook for both beginners and experienced hikers. The way Schad has organized the 175 hikes into more than 30 subsections complete with accurate trail maps, directions, and the length and difficulty of each hike makes this an easy to use book. His knowledge of the geology, topography, history, and flora and fauna of the regions and trails he describes is excellent. The index, complete with his choices of best hikes (for mountains, canyons, suburbs, views, waterfalls, etc...), provides a list other recommended readings, local organizations, agencies, and information sources. This is a must have book.