[.ca] Best Easy Day Hikes Grand Canyon, 2nd (ISBN 0762736585)

Outdated but well written:
This is an interesting and well written book, but a few cautionary notes are in order. The book is severely outdated, especially regarding parking and locating trailheads. The South Kaibab can no longer be driven to, you must take a shuttle bus. This is integral information for the casual tourist or the serious hiker. In addition, the title of the book is a little misleading. If you visit in the summer, there really are no easy hikes within the park. This is because of the extreme heat on the south rim and the unusually dry conditions that prevail there. I've hiked in the canyon for 25 years, including many rim to rim hikes, and anyone who underestimates the canyon will probably end up humbled, at the very least. This is a good book for couch potatoes who want to experience the Grand Canyon but aren't interested in strenuous or long treks. Just be wary of the parking info contained within, it is outdated.

Good Book, Needs Updating:
This is an excellent guide to the different day hikes available in the park. The book has some organizational problems, and day hikers should beware that no hike below the rim can be categorized as "easy" despite what it says in the front of the book. Some of the information is now dated, including road names, when shuttles run, and the location of the main visitor center. The Rim Trail does indeed exist and the description in the book is accurate, although the trail has now been extended to Pipe Creek Vista and does not end at Yavapai Observation Station as the book states. For ideas about what to do at Grand Canyon in terms of day hiking, this book is hard to beat.

A good guide, but not up-to-date.:
Our family found this to be a good guide to Grand Canyon trails during our visit in August, 2000. The descriptions of the Bright Angel trail and South Kaibab trail were accurate. However, the Rim trail, which is described in detail in the book, seems to no longer exist. I don't know who's at fault. The NPS does a terrible job of marking its Grand Canyon trails. Don't assume that every trail described in the book will be there. Check with an NPS employee first.

A Handy Pocket Size Guide to South & North Rim Hikes:
For those folks looking for a handy guide to easy Grand Canyon trails they can't go wrong with this guide. Each of the 17 descriptions includes basic facts such as trail mileage, elevation change, water availability, type of trail, directions to the trailhead and other information. Each hike is described in appropriate detail including comments about the vegetation. Upon reaching the hike's destination the author has excellent descriptions of the views encountered. Adkison's writing style is clear and easy to understand. Each hike has an easy to understand map. For those wanting to pick out more canyon details I recommend the National Geographic Trails Illustrated Grand Canyon National Park Topo Map. His mix of hikes includes not only those where one would meet a lot of other people but those where one is likely to enjoy much solitude. Both rim trails and below the rim trails are included in the book. The handy small size of this book makes it easy to carry in one's pocket or pack.