Product Details
Day & Overnight Hikes in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park (Day & Overnight Hikes - Menasha Ridge)

Day & Overnight Hikes in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park (Day & Overnight Hikes - Menasha Ridge)
By Sheri McGregor

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Product Description

Anza Borrego Desert State Park is the largest desert park in the United States, drawing approximately 650,000 visitors per year. Combining detailed narrative with GPS-based trail maps, Day and Overnight Hikes: Anza-Borrego Desert State Park breaks down the best of the best hikes, both day and overnight. Whether it’s the best view over Culp Valley, a walk through Hellhole Canyon, or a flat walk through hills and dales near the Salton Sea, Day and Overnight Hikes is the definitive go-to guide to enjoy the largest desert park in the United States, just an hour’s drive from San Diego.

Catalog Copy (Final): Combining detailed narrative with GPS-based trail maps, the Day & Overnight Hikes series leads hikers and backpackers to sites of exceptional beauty and solitude. Each Day and Overnight Hike contains four key elements to help you plan and enjoy the perfect day or overnight:
GPS-Based Trail Maps
GPS-Based Elevation Profiles
Directions to the Trailhead
Trail Descriptions
Each trail description offers precise commentary on what to expect along the way and rates each hike for
SceneryTrail Condition
Difficulty
Accessibility for Children
Solitude
Designed to fit easily in a back pocket or pack, Day & Overnight Hikes points hikers to the best and least crowded trails for each destination.

Product Details

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #718377 in Books
  • Published on: 2007-01-04
  • Original language: English
  • Number of items: 1
  • Binding: Paperback
  • 144 pages

Editorial Reviews

Review
...easy to use, extremely well organized, and full of vital information for anyone interested in hiking this magical desert park. -- Southwest Blend Magazine

This is easily the most comprehensive and authoritative hiking guide to date on the sprawling Anza-Borrego Desert. -- Annette McGivney, Southwest Editor for Backpacker Magazine

This is the most comprehensive and authoritative hiking guide to date on the sprawling Anza-Borrego Desert. -- Annette McGivney, Southwest Editor for Backpacker Magazine

From the Back Cover

Anza Borrego Desert State Park is the largest desert park in the United States, drawing approximately 650,000 visitors per year. Choosing the best day and overnight hikes within Anza Borrego’s 600,000 acres is a major undertaking. But whether you’re out to spot endangered bighorn sheep, revel in the spring flower show, or seek out desert waterfalls, author Sheri McGregor has got you covered.

Each Day and Overnight Hike contains four key elements to help you plan and enjoy the perfect day or overnight:
GPS-Based Trail Maps
GPS-Based Elevation Profiles
Directions to the Trailhead
Trail Descriptions
Each trail description offers precise commentary on what to expect along the way and rates each hike for
SceneryTrail Condition
Difficulty
Accessibility for Children
SolitudeDesigned to fit easily into a back pocket, this guide leads hikers and backpackers to sites of exceptional beauty and solitude. Whether it’s the best view over Culp Valley, a walk through Hellhole Canyon, or a flat walk through hills and dales near the Salton Sea, let Day and Overnight Hikes help you discover the best that Anza Borrego Desert State Park has to offer.

About the Author

As a child growing up in San Diego, internationally published author Sheri McGregor remembers lying in the grass watching tiny bug worlds crawl by. As an adult, she still watches bugs . . . and sometimes feels just as tiny among the big trees, majestic mountains, and free-flowing waters in San Diego County. Authoring this hiking book allows her to do what she likes to do -- explore and write! She is also the author of 60 Hikes within 60 Miles: San Diego.

Customer Reviews

Don't Judge a book by its Cover: A guide to Rugged Desert Adventure4
Anza-Borrego Desert State Park is one of pre-eminent outdoor recreation sites in Southern California. It is the largest state park in California and offers lots of recreational opportunities including off road vehicle travel, numerous nature walks, wildlife and (in season) spectacular flower blooms. For this reason it is a very popular winter and spring destination and many guidebooks and maps can lead visitors to some of its many charms.

What sets this book by Sheri McGregor apart from the others is that this one focuses on long overland desert trips, many of which require a four-wheel drive or high-clearance vehicle to access. Some classic shorter hikes are also included. The trip up Ghost Mountain where poet Marshall South used to live is included as is the Borrego Canyon Nature Trail. But the bulk of the book is devoted to long loops up desert canyons with little in the way of trail tread and even less in the way of fellow hikers. Readers, and those daring enough to try these hikes, will be treated to a pine forest (hardly typical desert fare) atop Whale Peak and a hidden Palm oasis in Flat Cat Canyon, a mere 5 miles but 5 - 7 hour round trip hike. You will want to be in good shape to attempt these hikes.

The book does have a number of virtues. Each hike includes a decent sketch map and an elevation profile. Directions to trailheads are adequate and are GPS compatible. There is a nice appendix listing local outdoor shops and hiking clubs. On the whole, this is a decent book, but as noted in my review title, don't judge this book by its cover. The picture on the front shows a hiker walking a flat trail through a dense deciduous forest. You will find precious little of that in Anza-Borrego. But if you want to discover remote destinations and solitude, and are willing to work for it, this is the book for you.