Boater's Guide to Lake Powell: Featuring Hiking, Camping, Geology, History & Archaeology

After decades of saying that America will soon adopt the metric system Mr. Kelsey finally puts distances and elevations in miles/feet in addition to meters. His hikes also include dates and lake level at the time as this has a big effect on what you will find when you go. I had his Second Edition of this book, which was written when the lake was near full (3700 feet above sea level). The Fifth Edition was researched in more recent times when the lake was around 3600 feet. His maps also show the water line in some of the canyons at these lower lake levels, in addition to the high water mark that you will find on any other map of Lake Powell. It still has all of the great geology and history that you come to expect from a Kelsey guidebook. Although it is called the "Boater's Guide", it is really a hiking guide. Don't expect to find too much advice on boating here.

Good details for hiking from your boat and how to find the interesting historic and archaeologic teasures in an already amazing area.

From what I can tell, Kelsey appears to be the foremost authority on Lake Powell and the surrounding area. I can't see how you could get more information out of another book. That being said, it isn't the kind of book you read cover to cover for sheer enjoyment of reading and learning. Think of it as a user manual for the lake and you will be on the right track. There are a lot of pictures (in black and white) and a lot of very detailed maps and informative graphs. To use this book, I would suggest that you plan your trip and then consult the book to see what it says about that area. If there is ANYTHING of interest to be seen there, it will tell you where and what it is. It is divided into the following parts:I - Condensed history of the lake area (19 pages) - very fact filled (survey like).II - The marinas on Lake Powell and other possible launch sites along with weather and climate for each season, a word about hiking season and equipment, photography and film type, insects and pest, drinking water, and places to camp and their fees.III - Geology, the types of stone seen in the colorful strata and suggested maps for the area. Then it launches into sites of interest in the area and gives good maps (quite technical) of each. There are 34 of these and may well cover all of the canyons and hikes on the lake. If you want to get the most out of your trip, I would highly recommend this book. If you were wanting to just read about the history of the area, it will be about as much fun as reading the dictionary.

We've used all 3 editions on 4 houseboat trips. From the descriptions of what to see, we decide on which canyons to visit. We use the detailed maps to navigate to the beach campsites. We use the trail descriptions to reach arches, waterfalls, petroglyphs, pictographs, ruins and narrow slot canyons. Things we used from the latest edition: new cost and time info on famous Antelope Canyon, more detailed directions on locating the petroglyphs in Llewellyn Gulch, and new info on upper West (slot) Canyon. I recommend this Guide to anyone boating on Lake Powell. Not recommended for extremists who want to drain the lake!

Of the books I have read it is the most helpful. It gives descriptions on boating, hiking, fishing, camping, artifacts and geology. I wish the photograph had been in color and not black and white, but it keeps the cost down. Includes cross-sections of the canyons and tributaries. It helped us plan our trip on what to see.