Campsites Books

I was surprised to find how many places in Wisconsin that I've camped at are not listed in this book. It is huge but still far from exhaustive. The emphasis by far is on commercial RV parks over national, state, and regional campgrounds. My view of Trailer Life's RV-camping guide is similar. Between the two of them, they cover enough RV-friendly places in Wisconsin to be useful, but even combined are woefully far from complete. The CD is handy if you bring a laptop with you, can't seem to find a "turn here for camping" sign, and don't want to spend another night at Wally World.

Excellent book, very informative. The CD makes it a whole lot easier looking things up while traveling.

Great value for the money. Includes a handy CD. This is very useful if you have a laptop.

Thankfully a CD is supplied because the book is as big as a New York City phone book! I'd be hard pressed to lug it around the country with me.

It's heavy with ad space, too. The campgroud descriptions are brief but given the volume, I guess that is by necessity.

We replaced an older 1997 version with this new Woodall's directory as we plan an RV trip to Yellowstone and adjoing states this summer. Remembered how handy the older one was during our other excursions and obviously wanted the newer/updated version.

Have found the included CD to be a compliment to this directory. Loaded it into our PC and work strictly off of the CD to plan our summer excursion. If RV campsites have websites, you can just click on the link and they come up. Pretty nifty and much easier than looking them up in the directory... much faster. If you have a laptop, I can see how nice and handy it would be on the road.

The only reason I gave it 4 stars is because I can't find any information on "reservations accepted or not" at any of the various RV campsites we are looking at. This would be a real plus and great addition to the directory, otherwise you will need to call each one individually.

The first thing you notice about this book is the beautiful photographs by Michael H. Frances. May you take a single photograph in your visit that is as gorgeous as any of these!

Wilkinson provides a few pages of information about each of the charismatic megafauna in the parks: bison, wolves, elk, cougars, lynxes, and so on. These "chapters" are easily accessible and written at about a middle-school level. The book as a whole is very kid-friendly, though it wasn't necessarily written that way.

The book has very good advice for how, where, and when to spot mammals in these parks. The section on each animal concludes with "where to find bighorn sheep" (or whatever). We've successfully spotted most of these animals, initially relying on the advice here, though we now have a few secrets of our own.

Our favorite charismatic megafauna are bears, wolves, and cougars. We haven't spotted a cougar yet, and we haven't read as much about them. We do have a Wolf Freak in the household, though.

I found the book to be very helpful. Especially paired with "Scenic Driving in Yellowstone & Grand Teton". Other than the cats, we where able to get out early and find the wolves, grizzly, moose etc.

A great resource in identifying what you see in the parks. The pictures allow you to see what these animals look like unlike some books where there is just a drawing.

After buying many books like this I would suggest checking them out of the library for the length of your visit. We did not see the animals in this guide to back up the information and the locations but found it good for basic information about the animals and their habitats etc.

The animal descriptions are very brief and basic. This book might be good for someone with little knowledge of wildlife but doesnt go into much detail on any animal. It also spends too much time on animals that it even states are rarely found in Yellowstone(ie Lynx) and says almost nothing about more common, although less exciting animals(various bird and small mammals).

A new, completely updated ed. was issued in April 2008. Surely you'd rather spend $19.99 and get the up-to-date info?

...there really is too much hiking expected at the Grand Canyon. Are you really expected to hike to the bottom? Can't they build an escalator or some kind of teleportation device? Can't we all have free airplane flights over it with park admission? I had always heard so many great things about the Grand Canyon, but I never imagined that if I wanted more than taking pictures at the rim, physical exertion might be involved. Lets just take some pictures and then go to Vegas, I heard Celine Dion has a riveting show... [and yeah I'm being sarcastic... was an alternative book suggested? If one isn't going to hike or do a raft trip, there are limited options at the Grand Canyon. The South Rim, most commonly visited, has about a 15-25 mile scenic drive with several observation points and a campground. There is a visitor center. If you go in summer it will be hot. Free maps are available on the NPS website. Were they disappointed with the book or their options at the Grand Canyon?]

The primary and principle purpose of a travel guide is to assist the traveler to have the most successful trip possible. When visiting the Grand Canyon, one of America's true scenic wonders, the Lonely Planet edition of the "Grand Canyon National Park" travel guide offers detailed itineraries for exploring the South and North canyon rims with seventeen specific itineraries (plus side trips to Las Vegas, Route 66, Sedona, Flagstaff, and Skywalk!). Enhanced with forty hikes for all levels of difficulty, ranger programs, mule trips, and useful tips for traveling with children and pets; and sound, practical advice for adventure experiences ranging from Colorado river rafting, to horseback riding, to biking, to helicopter rides, and so much more, the "Grand Canyon National Park" is very strongly recommended guide for novice visitors and experienced travelers alike.

sweety, please don't tell me you would like an escalator to go down to Grand Canion... if you don't want to hike you do not deserve to see it...

Couch potatoes should not write reviews for books intended for those of us who have the ambition to explore a region with our own two feet! This is an excellent book intended for an audience that wants to experience the Grand Canyon, not simply get out of the car and walk to a viewpoint and look at it. You do not need a guide book for that, the Park Service brochure is excellent and will be all that is required. Since the Grand Canyon is such a vast place, this guide book will be invaluable in helping you decide just how much you can experience in the time you have to spend here. And to help you determine just what you should attempt for your own physical condition! I highly recommend it for those interested in seeing and experiencing the Grand Canyon from other perspectives, in addition to the excellent viewpoints provided by the Natrional Park Service.

Just like the first book, these stories keep you smiling! You simply have to enjoy being able to read a short story that makes your laugh AND then be able to share it with your friends and family. That is what Jim Burnett gives you with this book. Mr. Burnett painstakingly sets up the stories so that you see the trouble coming and that is where my grin starts to grow! A definite camp-fire read for those who want to laugh instead of jump!

I had high expectations for this book but I had to put it down after a couple of chapters. There were too many instances where Mr. Burnett tried way too hard to make a story funny that really wasn't funny. The book is basically about stupid people asking stupid questions and doing stupid things. My advice is to just tell the stories and let the reader decide if it's funny, sad, ironic, etc. Also, there are way too many cliche's. I really hate reading books with cliche's. They should be stricken from every piece of literature ever written!
Anyway, there are some funny stories but the writing is just not really worth wading through.

I would first like to thank and congratulate Mr. Burnett for his hard work serving our parks. I didn't read the first one and I didn't know what I expected from this one, but I was very disappointed. The book seemed to lack solid substance. Most chapters seemed to drag on by the addition of filler text that made it simply boring to read. For example, there were several pages dedicated to the "humorous" events of trying to scare a snake out of a canoe. Or an in-depth analysis of how people were confused over his mailing address when he lived in one area but his mail was delivered to some other area. As time went on in reading the book, I simply had to start skimming the pages rather than reading them until I found something that was potentially interesting. Unfortunately, this isn't a book that I would even give to another family member to read.

This sequel to the author's first Hey Ranger book is a lot of fun to read, and if you pay attention to the reasons the characters in this book had a misadventure, there's some good information to be gained as well. I enjoy his folksy, conversational style and the occasional acronyms he invents to describe some of the situations in the book. The short chapters make this a good book for travel reading.

Having enjoyed Mr. Burnett's first book, I was eager to read his sequel. This book was also fun to read. A good vacation book that as each chapter is short and can stand alone.
It's hard to believe that people come to our National Parks so ill-prepared. It taught me a lot of what not to do!
This is a book that is great for the whole family - I shared it with my 85 year old mother and she is still laughing.

The way the books of this series work is that they took a guide for new rangers in Yosemite with the 100 or so most frequently asked questions, and wrote their own answers for each park. So in each book the questions are very similar but the answers might be very different.

It's a great format because it makes for easy reading beforehand, but it's also quick as a reference when you're there because they're arranged in an intelligent order. There's also a huge reference section at the end with lists, copies of permit forms, and so forth. So the thing to do is read the FAQ before you leave but bring the book and refer to it once you're there.

I've only been to Yellowstone once and had no idea where to stay, or which hotels were near which sites and so forth. This book really cleared it up for me and we had a great time.

I was very disappointed in this book, especially since all the reviews were highly favorable when I ordered it. The only redeeming value of this book was that adding it to my order had put me over the order total required to qualify for a $5 discount. I would have sent it back but the refund would not have been worth the bother.

The book is primarily in question and answer format. Most of the answers range in length between one paragraph and a couple of pages. This isn't too bad when using the book for reference but it does not make for great readability.

My biggest complaint is that the book claims to be "an insider's guide" but it provides limited guidance. For example, there are ten pages of outfitters listed. But for the most part the only guidance to them is the category the outfitter is listed under. There is no information on what the differences among the outfitters are as far as what they offer or the quality of their services. A couple of outfitters are mentioned in a general description of guide services, but again there are no reasons given for why you would want to select one of them.

Another example of this lack of guidance is the description of the lodging available in the park. The descriptions are very limited and would not be enough to make an informed decision on where to stay.

I later purchased "Yellowstone - Grand Teton Handbook" by Don Pitcher (Moon Handbooks). I found this book to be much more helpful. Instead of giving a long list of outfitters, Pitcher provides descriptions and opinions about some of the outfitters. He also provides a much better description of what the different lodging options are like. These two examples are representative of the general difference between these books. As an added bonus, "Yellowstone - Grand Teton Handbook" also provides much more information about the Grand Tetons and other areas around Yellowstone.

Don't let the cover fool you. This book is great. Lots of details. Great recommendations on hotels to stay outside the park when the inside ones are book. My niece and I had a blast reading it as we went. We even ran into a bear jam, you'll have to read the book to find out what that is all about. If your looking for a book to simplfy your life and make this trip the best. Buy it! Don't let the cartoons fool you this book has all the details in great form for all. Buy it before you leave so you know where your going. THE BEST, ENJOY.

This book helped me plan the trip, and served as a great guide once we arrived in Yellowstone.

We just returned from a three-week cross-country trip, with a four day stop in Yellowstone. This book was o.k. to read before the trip to familiarize yourself with the park, but was useless as a reference guide once we were there. We basically gave up on it and used our Frommers Guide to the Western National Parks. The index is incomplete, the maps are cartoonish and difficult to read, and some of the explanations in the question-answer format with"ranger Norm" made me feel as if they were questioning my intelligence. My husband and I both couldn't believe they showcase this book prominently in the Yellowstone visitor's Centers!

This book was a huge help in planning our first trip to California. I love to hike and wanted a better description of each park than the California State Parks website offered. This book delivered, we had a fantastic time and knew exactly what each park had to offer. It was our first time seeing the Redwood trees (totally awesome) and knew in advance which parks had the tallest trees, and gave background information on each park as well. This is a must have for anyone wishing to visit the State parks (state beaches as well).

This is another great resource for folks who like to camp and hike the state parks.

This is the best reference for the parks in the California system. Very specific directions,activities and some pictures highlight the text. We used it this summer to plan our camping trips. No Tom Steinstra in its doggedness,it still provides useful information.

Great book that should be brought on all California road trips. There are good descriptions of each park, directions, contact information, and activities available at the park. These activities are mostly short hikes, or bike trips around the park. California is a beautiful and vast state with a diversity of environments to explore. There are parks throughout to state that allow the active explorer access to the state's beauty. This book is a helpful guide in that exploration.

I wish this book covered camping information better.So I do not have to buy another book for that. I would like less words about how the sunlight glistens through the trees ,and more about facilities ,the size of camp sites and if trailers or RVs allowed and what size .(20ft) 25 - 30 or just car camping.

Save your money the Lonely Planet Guide "Grand Canyon National Parks Guide" is much better. Better written, better descriptions, more information and I found more accurate. An all around better guide. It is also available through Amazon.Lonely Planet Grand Canyon National Park (Lonely Planet National Park Guides)

Perfect guide. Great reccomendations. I spent 6 days on both the north and south rims( I thought the north rim was so much better) and the book was helpful for both. it also contains info on places in northern Arizona. There is plenty of info, it is very detailed and descriptive. The size is small and can fit in a bag or a pocket. Great choice!!

Wow this book was great! We recently used the book as our resource during our visit to the canyon. A few price listings were slightly off (by $1-$3) but this book gave us more information than anything available at the park. The information on different viewpoints (geographical points on the rim of the canyon) was wonderful and we knew more than anyone around us about what we were seeing.

The restaurant information was right on the nose, and the wildlife information was so accurate that by following the books information we were able to see and photograph a bighorn sheep!

This is the only guidebook you need to visit the Grand Canyon.

This guide provides all the information that you will need for an initial visit to the grand canyon. Both the North and South Rims are covered in some detail and although someone seeking a back-county guide may be disappointed, the average visitor should find more than enough material to plan and enjoy their visit.

This guidebook has everything: maps, hotels and categories for everything a traveler needs. Unfortunately these guides no longer have titles like "The Grand Canyon on $5 a day."

This book has been very helpful in planning our upcoming trip. Helped make decisions and find alternatives.

Excellent reference guide for RV travelers and snowbirds. We just spent six weeks traveling throughout Arizona and New Mexico with additional brief trips to Las Vegas and Lake Havasu City. This book became our first choice for campgound selection and tourist destination ideas. The section on snowbird parks is the best. This is truly a comprehensive and easy to use guidebook.

Guess I should have read the title better. Book was written to follow their destinations. If you have your own itinerary book was hard to use, if not impossible. It listed campground location in longitude and latitude, good if your using a GPS. Not so good if you weren't. It did not have a complete list of campgrounds for the areas.
Just wasn't what I needed.

This book does list many campgrounds, but it fails to give any kind of a rating or opinion. If you're trying to decide on where the best place to camp is, it isn't helpful at all. All you get is a list a amenities and the location. No pictures, but it does include a few maps.

This book is intended to be a travel and adventure guide and succeeds extraordinarily well. Don't expect it to replace the Woodall's or Trailer Life catalogs and their rating systems. You want this book to help you plan RV vacations or weekends filled with adventure, historic way points and scenic sites. Additionally, it includes extensive listings of parks for snowbirds who spend more time in the southwest.

Rather than offering us a history of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Brown conceives this book as a "biography" of the Smokies. As a result, she tries to focus the story on the personal level, in terms of how people have experienced this land. Naturally, the residents of this land get top billing but visitors increasingly crowd the stage.

Brown makes extensive use of oral histories, which changes the focus of this history. She sees the traditional forest economy from the standpoint of mountaineers and Cherokees, and tells us how the entry of lumber companies into the area changed that economy. Then she moves to more familiar stories around creation of the park, the damming of the Little Tennessee River by the TVA, and the growth of automobile tourism. As other reviewers have noted, she spends surprisingly little time on the role of Kephart in creation of the park, a lacuna that I cannot explain.

Brown writes academic prose, but in a lively style. Though not a local, she now lives and teaches nearby and she has clearly developed a passion for this land. If you're a visitor to the Smokies and want to know more about the people of this land, this may be the best book for you.

Margaret Lynn Brown has written a fine first book about the Smokies, a park in which I have hiked almost annually for the better part of thirty years. The history of the area is familiar to me, but I was still fascinated by the details of such topics as "The Road to Nowhere," the wild boar controversy, the introduction of horseback riding, and other choices about wildness ratified by the National Park Service. The author writes well enough, and the illustrations have been well chosen.

Like many revised dissertations, this book includes too many quotations, especially pedestrian ones from park service personnel whom the author has interviewed. Brown is also a "tongue clucker" who treats people of the past as if they should have known better than say, to feed bears or clear-cut old growth forest. Nor do I believe that the greatest threat to the environment is "unregulated industrial capitalism," a notion that some concentrated thoughts about the environmental disaster of sub-Saharan Africa might disabuse. At least Brown and I agree on the crassness of contemporary tourism in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge.

This book is a wonderful review of the history and management of Great Smokies National Park.

The author brings to life the dirty details of the heroic political triumphs and failures associated with the park. As well as, the ecological changes that swept the Appalachian mountians and the new challenges still faced. In addition, she drives home the social cost inherent in the changes that have occured in the Smoky Mt. region.

Her book sheds light on the key poltical, ecological and social issues facing the park today.

If you are looking for a book that paints a "quaint" picture of Appalachia, don't look here. If on the other hand you want a book that will make you think about the complex interactions of ecology, human relationships and politcal struggles, read on!

Margaret Lynn Brown's "The Wild East" is an important contribution to the field of environmental history. The author seems to know the region where the Great Smoky Mountains is in, well. She traces the history of the Smokies and of the people living there. She analyzes how the Smokies came to be under the federal government's jurisdiction and how the landscape was changed profoundly.

What I find most interesting is the attempt by a superintendent's effort to preserve the mountains as pristine as possible but he came up with some strong objections by surrounding residents who were concern about bringing money in to the region. Also, surrounding towns began to flourish as attractions like Ripley Believe it or Not and even Dollywood became the focus of tourists going to the Smokies to get away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. It's almost ironic that there is such drastic difference between the Smokies, where wilderness is preserve and the very commericialized towns surrounding the mountains.

M.L. Brown's The Wild East: A Biography of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park is the amazing story of the centerpiece of eastern wilderness. Introducing herself and her work with a refreshing and highly personal account, Brown immediately enlightens the reader as to her motivations. What proceeds is a history that is so meticulously researched that the wildness of the park seems almost suburban, making The Wild East simultaneously fascinating and slightly disappointing. But pathos is bound to ensue after the mythical GSMNP is taken off of its pedestal, and Brown delivers a heavy dose of reality by focusing on prior land use within the park, the contradictions of park management, and the nebulous concept of 'wilderness'. The result is an accurate account of the park's creation that de-shrouds it of some of its wild mystery, an effect that might not be enjoyed by every reader.

In Brown's defense, she had few complete histories of the park to update and examine (outside of D.S. Pierce's The Great Smokies), and the litany of personal accounts, newspaper articles, and other histories that she unearths make for a tremendous piece of scholarship. Brown leaves no stone unturned in describing the opportunism of the Tennesseans and consternation of the North Carolineans, and she fully reviews both sides of every major argument that enveloped the park to the present. Of particular interest is her focus on making the history of park and area residents seem less like 'hillbillies' and more like average Americans of a century ago, with many personal accounts of day-to-day Appalachian life.

But missing in her attempt to please everybody is a sense of the rancor and vitriol that must have surrounded the park's formation, guided by a healthy dose of eccentricity from all of the wonderful folk who gave a hand in helping of hindering the park's will to survive. Her most flagrant omission is an unbiased discussion Horace Kephart and his contributions to both regional anthropology and the park's development; Kephart is only mentioned in passing. For a park with such a dynamic history, one might wish for a more dynamic story, with a greater sense of the conflict and character that makes the Great Smoky Mountains the centerpiece of eastern wilderness.

Again, a good portion of the park was settled, and thus its status as 'wilderness' is a matter of debate. To this end Brown inexplicably addresses eminent environmental historian William Cronon on the topic of wilderness in her conclusion, which is a departure from her storyline and should have been omitted. Had she debated wilderness directly throughout the book her conclusion would not be so disjoint.

An argument that Brown does develop is the issue of land management both within and around the park, with a focus on the Gatlinburg area and conflict surrounding park managers and policies. Her bear management discussion is particularly strong, as is the history of contrasting land development on the North Carolina and Tennessee sides of the park and park management of Cades' Cove.

In short, despite its shortcomings, The Wild East is a necessary read for all GSMNP enthusiasts. Brown's honest history might make the park lose some of its luster, but will also surely create new leagues fans for the dynamic GSMNP.

Yes,the price was attractive but book is outdated,no e-mail addresses
and no color inside.Plus its not all Europe.

As editor of a web site (GetawayWeddings.com) devoted to romance travel, Dream Sleeps piqued my interest. I was very interested in learning about fairy-tale vacation destinations in Europe. And, more importantly, how to find the most romantic castles and how to make reservations for a stay. Happily, Pamela L. Barrus answers aof these questions - and more - in her latest revision of Dream Sleeps: Castle & Palace Hotels of Europe.

Every chapter is devoted to a different region including Austria, France, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, and Spain. Chapters begin with a short introduction that will give you a sense of the country, historic significance, and regional customs. Contact information for relevant departments of tourism are also included. Then, it's on to the matter at hand! Which castle is right for your next vacation? Each property is described in one or two pages and most entries include a black and white photograph. A handy "fast facts" section follows the description and includes basics like contact information, room types, rates, dining options, facilities for the disabled, on-site recreation, nearby attractions, and much more.

An intriguing book. I have already dreamt up enough vacations to last the rest of my life, and I've only had this book two days. The book has short, two or three page descriptions of 132 hotels. Most of them are based on old castles or palaces, though there are a couple based on convents, and at least one is an old royal hospital. They are all appropriate for the book. There is usually an exterior photo and an interior photo, and good information on the history of the place, both as a castle (or whatever) and how it came to be a hotel. There is fairly detailed information on accommodations, including comments on virtues and vices of specific rooms in some of the hotels (at least one specific room is listed as allegedly haunted). I could wish for a bit more detail in some cases, but that is probably unrealistic.

I hadn't planned to go to Europe in 2001, but now may have to change my plans....

Then this book is for you. You will need more detail and updated information as the book is from 1998. However, this extra info can usually be found on the internet. The book provides a great starting point for finding places to stay (in different price ranges as well). I would definitely recommend this book because it saved me time and energy. It doesn't have every castle but it sure has a bunch. Even staying at just one of the places listed can possibly turn your trip into a great one.