AMC's Best Day Hikes in the White Mountains: Four-Season Guide to 50 of the Best Trails in the White Mountain National Forest

This book is an updated version of the previous "Nature Hikes In the White Mountains, 2nd: Great Family Hikes in the Heart of the White Mountain National Forest." The older version had a definite focus on kids & family. For example, each trip description had a "What's in it for kids" section that was very helpful. You have to dig deeper for that in this version. This new version greatly improved the "at-a-glance" trip-planner chart toward the front. It was frustrating that the old chart excluded essential information such as trip numbers corresponding to the guide map, estimated hike time and elevation change. All of this you had to pencil in for yourself from the main descriptions. These are all now included, along with icons indicating if the trip has waterfalls, views, wildlife, wildflowers, steepness, is family oriented, suitability for skiing or snowshoeing, etc. I ordered the old version (out of print) from a used shop and it was our bible on a recent multi-day vacation with our 7-year-old budding hiker. I highly recommend that version, but you can probably enjoy the same results by focusing on the new at-a-glance chart and picking the kid friendly trips. That being said, in this new version, Crystal Cascade, Glen Ellis Falls, the Flume at Franconia Notch and Diana's Baths (all VERY kid oriented trips that we thoroughly enjoyed) are relegated to a general section on natural attractions/walks and are NOT on the new guide map! As a new visitor, I probably would have missed these altogether since the trip descriptions were de-emphasized by being relegated to the back of the book in this way. I made the right decision to leave the new version at home, but purists probably would not have minded missing these as they were a bit over-touristed. So, mixed results depending on your needs. A great set of guides overall.