Rocky Mountain National Park: The Complete Hiking Guide

This is not a guide for tourists.DO NOT BUY FOR A ONE-TIME VISIT.If this is a family vacation trip and stay on the designated or well known paths, this is not the book for you. Buy something else.However, If you hike in RMNP often, this is the MUST-HAVE bookThis is the book to have to go "off-trail". It's not a technical climbing guide. But if you want to know if that off-trail lake or peak is non-technical and within your capabilities, this is your guide. Unfortunately only peaks are rated, I wish other destination were rated too (a few lakes are above 2+ for example).I've been using this for several years and I'm very happy. The maps, descriptions, and cairns sometime conflict, but that's how off-trail route-finding goes. Research your route and conditions, this book is only the first and best step in your off-trail adventure.ONLY REQUEST - Please push out a digital version so we don't have to take pictures of the pages to bring on hikes!

This book is incredible in the amount of comprehensive information it contains. I don't know what to say that hasn't been said in other reviews, except to say that yes, MANY of these hikes will get normal people in way over their heads. We have had to turn back from our hikes more often than we have achieved our goals. This is totally normal! Trying routes and destinations that you can't always achieve is part of the awesomeness of hiking, and of RMNP in particular. Without this book we may never have known these amazing places existed.The best endorsement ever was when a ranger ambled over and asked where we were going that day. I don't want to say the destination because it's uncrowded and we'd like to keep it that way, but he said "I think you should try XX lake instead, it's a pleasant hike". I whipped out this book and started to look up his recommendation and he said "oh, you've got the GOOD book!" and moved on to the next hiking party.PS. don't go hiking off marked routes without a topo map even with a great book. I would say if you get lost and you don't have a topo map, it's sort of your fault (not the book's).

great book

I liked the wealth of trail information in this book, "....The Complete Hiking Guide."Not having been in RMNP in years, and planning bigger hikes with my seventeen-year-old this time around, I wanted a comprehensive book that would provide information on the breadth of hikes available in the Park. This book served the purpose.It is fairly well organized with reasonable maps and nice trail descriptions (borne of the author's personal experiences). I did agree with a couple of the other reviewers who pointed out that non-peak hikes aren't graded and that the author uses the Yosemite point system to rate peak hikes - which might be too technical for those not familiar with this rating scheme. Also, the author puts basic hike descriptors (elevation gain, for example) in the back of the book in the Appendix instead of with each hike. This doesn't make sense to me as it requires flipping back and forth to get a full sense of the hike.Still, this book provides a wealth of useful information and I found to be a helpful planning guide.

Like the other reviewers said, the wealth of information in here is incredible. But using this book by itself is not a good idea. Another writer hit the nail on the head: you have to flip all over the place to put all the information together for a single hike you might be interested in. First you get the trail description, then you have to find out which trail head to use, then find out where that trail head is. The topo-based maps are HORRIBLE. I can't tell what's a trail and what's a road. Plus, they're zoomed in so much, I can't even tell where in the park that topo map is actually in or how to get there. The big destinations chart in the back is also overwhelming. How about breaking it up and putting a similar chart at the end of EACH SEPERATE REGION section? The flipping, cross-referencing, and vagueness of finding where these trails and how to get to them is truly maddening. Some GPS coordinates would be nice. That's how everyone gets around these days. This book will drive you nuts.

To start, I buy a good amount of product off of Amazon and I normally don't write reviews about them (even though i probably should). Quite frankly, this book deserves more than 5 stars. Lisa Foster went through an arduous process that took her many years and miles of hiking and climbing to create such a fantastic book. The book is organized into sections of the park. Withing those sections you have a total view topographical map, zoomed in topographical maps, locations, marked trails, off-trails, trailheads, individual backcountry campsites, wheelchair accessible paths, scenic lookout points, and much more. Each location (mountain, waterfall, lake, etc...) is clearly labeled and has a minimum of two paragraphs talking about it. The first paragraph talks about the features and scenery of the location. The second paragraph explains how to get to the trailhead, which path to take, how far you will be hiking, and everything you need to know while on the path. I have planned an entire 8-day trip to Rocky Mountain National Park using ONLY this book. It has absolutely everything that you need to know to plan your own trip to this beautiful park. Do yourself a favor and buy this book. You will not regret it

This is a great book with huge amount of information. If you are looking to climb every peak in the park, and leave every trail behind, this is the book for you!I am a trail hiker, and although I feel confident in my abilities, most of this book covers hikes that I will never do. If you are a trail hiker, and are looking for a good solid trail hiking guild, I recommend the Falcon book, "Best Hikes Rocky Mountain National Park". This book covers trails also, but not in much detail. The book does a great job of explaining routes to get to the places that the trails do not go.If you want to leave the crowds behind and see the park that almost no one else will see, then get this book. It is an amazing guide for your adventure.