San Bernardino Mountain Trails: 100 Hikes in Southern California

Great book! All the hikes are well described with easy to follow instructions. I would recommend this book to anyone looking to hike the San Bernardino National Forest.

This book is a must-read for anyone who enjoys hiking and wants to experience the San Bernardino National Forest. I bought it after a hike to the summit of Mt. San Gorgonio, when I realized I was not very well prepared and needed some good advice. I read the book and realized how little I have seen of the local mountains and all they offer. The book details the location and degree of difficulty of each trail, which is very helpful in planning your trips. I highly recommend it to anyone who ventures into the San Bernardino wilderness.

Still the best guide for local hikes in the San Bernardino Mountains, though I'm a little nostalgic about John Robinson's retirement (the original author of the book, that I have carried on many a hike since the early 80's). I like the fact that the new book is slightly larger, which makes the photographs easier to examine. I also like the new map which is in color and on gloss stock, though I do miss the topography lines which have been omitted, making it less useful on the trail. One concern, is about some of the hikes that are replacements for a handful of the originals, as I'm finding it hard to consider them hikes. I would certainly delete hikes that are located in amusement parks, and consider instead more cross country locations and trails utilizing abandoned fire roads, if necessary, to keep the "100". That said, it is still a great book, and David Money Harris is certainly keeping the legacy alive.

A revised edition of a classic book on hiking San Bernardino mountains. This new edition of the book includes key GPS way points and multiple tables of the various hikes to make finding a hike that matches your criteria as easy as it could be. Furthermore, the descriptions of each hike are sufficient to permit the reader to determine if the hike would be of interest. The book concentrates on San Bernardino but also covers the Santa Rosa hikes more extensively than I have seen anywhere else.

I own about 30 hiking guides and this book is the one I use the most often and consult before any hike. John Robinson is one of the gurus of Southern California hiking and his guides are usually dependable, accurate and full of information that will ensure your safety while in the mountains. He provides an adequate history of each hike, driving directions and fairly precise descriptions of where to locate each trailhead. It's important to note that some of his information is outdated; for example, you always must display your Forest Adventure Pass when parking your car in a California National Forest. Robinson doesn't mention this because his guide was written before the Pass became "essential."Another strength of this book is that Robinson usually provides separate descriptions of various ways to summit a peak. He details the standard way of climbing San Gorgonio, as well as three alternate treks to the peak and this is a valuable tool for the experienced hiker. He does the same for San Jacinto, perhaps the premiere hike in Southern California (as well as the most arduous!) The guide is tailored towards seasoned hikers and if you're a neophyte, this probably wouldn't be your best choice. But if you love to hike and live in the L.A. area, the Robinson guide provides indispensible information. Highly recommended.