Top Trails: Yellowstone and Grand Teton: 46 Must-Do Hikes for Everyone

I live about 90 miles from Jackson and 100 from West Yellowstone, so I go to both parks a lot. As a teacher, I have my summers to go camp and hike from time to time, and I just got back from a trip today. While at Lake Hotel, I chanced on this book, and bought it. This was yesterday. The book has 45 different trails in it to hike in Yellowstone and the Tetons (though most are in Yellowstone). I went ahead and hiked one yesterday (Elephant Back) and got a great view of Yellowstone Lake. The directions were very clear and there were guide-points along the route in the book so I knew just where I was. The book even mentioned this is Grizzly habitat in the spring/early summer, and sure enough, when I got down from the hike, there was a bear. This kind of information could be a lifesaver to the inexperienced Yellowstone or Teton hiker. Today, I hiked two more hikes in the book, one short one at West Thumb and a longer one at Biscuit Basin up to a waterfall and overlook. This book is very easy to use, has great maps, grades the difficulty of each hike, and has a variety from hikes under a mile to hikes of over twenty that take several days. My goal, using this excellent book, is to hike them all in a year or so. Great photos, durable cover, great maps. This is the perfect book for locals or for tourists who come often or who are planning a two to three week stay. I would not think it would be good for someone visiting for a day or two, as you could not scratch the surface of this gold mine of information. Two thumbs up!

This book well-deserved to win the National Outdoor Book Award. The books has a great deal of detailed information on each of the 45 trails included in the book. This information was great to help plan a trip to the national parks, matching hikers with hikes of appropriate difficulty.

Yep, there are lots of hiking guides out there for Yellowstone and the Tetons. Too many, in fact. Most of them seem to be focused on quantity, not quality. They simply list trail after trail, but lack detail and advice about how to choose a great hike that matches your tastes and fitness level. After comparing this Wilderness Press guide to the Falcon book and others, I found it to be the most useful and compact. And my on-trail testing this summer has proved my hunch true. It's very specific about which hikes are the best during which seasons, and which trails are the best for avoiding crowds and seeing wildlife. There are good individual maps for each hike, many quality b & w photos, plus lots of background and historical information. For a serious visit, I'd still recommend picking up a guidebook like the Lonely Planet, as well, but for hiking and backpacking, take it from Ramblin' Bob, this is the most up-to-date and best darn guide to Yellowstone and the Tetons available.

We just spent a couple days in the park with this book and would highly recommend it to anyone planning to hike in the park. It has an excellent chart in the front of the book that quickly tells you everything you need to know before chosing a trail. It outlines details about the trail including the possibility of wildlife sightings. This chart helped us decide which trails would be good for the little kids and which ones we would have to do alone. We found the descriptions of the trails to be accurate and packed with info about the flora and fauna we saw along the way. I am sure we'll use this book again and again. This book helped us experience the wilderness of a traffic-packed park.

If you are headed to Yellowstone and/or the Grand Tetons, and you plan getting out of your car, then this is the book you want. It is current, the information is correct and complete. Nystrom, a veteran writer (Lonely Planet Guides), writes clearly and with the authority that only a seasoned outdoorsman can bring to the pages of a book. His book is the result of careful research and time in the field. So, get your gear together, buy this book and head to Yellowstone ot the Tetons.