Utah Books

Author Barnes and Utah Geographic are to be commended for this truly fine work. The color photos, by many of the areas's best photographers, were obviously selected with utmost care. The colors are so real as to brng back memories of being RIGHT THERE.
You can almost feel the heat and smell the dust.

Barnes' text is equally outstanding. It seamlessly addresses the main features you will see, the strata sequences, and, in a series of sidebars, the book addresses such things as slot canyons, fossilized sand dunes, arches, mesas, and other features that confront the visitor. Seemingly, nothing is
omitted in this extraordinarily well-composed review.

I bought this book several years ago at Arches national Park. I used it all during that trip, and I continue to use it every time I go back to what I think is the greatest place on Earth. It never has let me down. 'Nuff said.

Very highly recommended

This is The Book for The Place. No one is more thorough than Stanley Welsh, and there are perhaps six people who know the diverse, Utah flora as well or nearly as well. Welsh is a "splitter," but I recall Askell 'Love saying, "If you are not sure, split and let others review your observation."

This is top-notch writing which will interest anyone who likes railroads, or ghost towns, or history, or the state of Utah. He writes about every railroad that once existed in Utah, but has since been abandoned. Carr delves into the fascinating facts about each railroad, as well as the people and the places surrounding it, but he avoids the dreary technical details that infest other railroad books. He also provides super photos of every railroad, as well as directions for finding old grades, bridges, ghost towns, and other railroad remains. This is a top-notch original book--let's hope Carr writes books like this about every state in the West!

This is THE ultimate book on high school football. Lots of articles, pictures, and (most impressively) stats. Even if you don't live in the state of Utah, if you love high school football, you'll love this depth of information contained in this book. There should be a book like this which documents high school football for the other 49 states in the U.S.!

Some books are just too good to be forgotten, although such is too often their fate. This one, The Journal of Albert Tracy, hopefully won't disappear.

Published by the Utah Historical Quarterly as its entire 1945 (Volume XIII) issue, Tracy's journal is an account of his service in the so-called Utah or Mormon War that erupted in 1857 and ended peacefully the following year. Although there was no actual fighting, President Buchanan sent an army to Utah, and Tracy (1818-1893), the commanding captain of the 10th Infantry, was part of it.

His journal chronicles the years 1858-1860, including leaving winter quarters at Camp Scott, next to old Fort Bridger, where the army hunkered down in the winter of '57-'58 until the mountain passes cleared of snow, traveling through a deserted Salt Lake City, and eventually building Camp Floyd some 35-40 miles south of SLC. Tracy spent over a year at Camp Floyd, and his descriptions of garrison life, the tense relationship between soldiers and Mormon civilians, and the beauty and harshness of Utah winters and summers, make for fascinating reading. Tracy was also a pretty good amateur sketcher and watercolorist, and several of his drawings are reproduced in this edition of his journal.

All in all, a very good read if you can find a copy, although the editor's Introduction is minimal. Hopefully, Captain Tracy's journal (along with Captains Gove's and Phelps, two other veterans of the Utah War who left diaries) will be reissued. They're all invaluable snapshots on garrison life on the frontier right before the Civil War.

Butch Cassidy had become the most wanted outlaw in the whole West. The governors of four states wanted his hide. But he and his Wild Bunch are holed up in a remote part of Utah: Robbers Roost, a natural fortress with armed guards overlooking the few limited entry passes, unapproachable, unassailable. So the marshal, sent by the governors, figured there was only one way to handle Cassidy - hire a long-shooting hit-man - then find some bait to lure the outlaw out of his sanctuary...

Charles Langley Hayes presents his readers with a book that begins with a train robbery then builds gently, and grippingly, to it's exciting conclusion.

Amoungst the action there are plenty of humourous moments and the characters - both fictional and real - are presented well.

I found Cassidy's fascination with an archaeological dig - and Sundance's dismissal of it - made for some of the most entertaining reading of the story.

And does the book present us with another take on what happened to Cassidy and the Sundance Kid? Well that's something you'll have to find out for yourselves. All I can say is the book comes to a satisfying ending.

Charles Langley Hayes is fast becoming one of my favourite western authors, and I'd suggest going to the trouble to find his books will be well worth your time.

Highly recommended.

The book describes how to hike basically any Utah mountain range. It's divided according to a particular area, and larger mountain ranges are split into several sections. Kelsey's writing style is quite specific, each section includes a sketched map, several photographs and description of hikes, difficulties, access routes, ... Once you get used to it, though, it is a quick, general and informative reference for anyone who wants to hike Utah mountains. A word of warning, the author is a fast walker, his times are e.g. about 1/2 of those from Vernath's Hiking the Wasatch

Highly recommended. As I first began to leaf through the glorous pages of Utah On My Mind I was struck with the beauty of the state. The varigated landscape, the deep greens, the canyon reds, and the brilliant whites all came together like the mixed and mingled hues of a navajo rug. The book itself provided me with a hightened sense of respect and awe for the great state that is. . . UTAH!

Excellent book! The route descriptions are thorough and, from my experience so far, accurate in terms helping you find trailheads and ultimately the summits. The maps are likewise very detailed, with major landmarks and junctions carefully labelled. The routes in this book are kind of described in a "choose your own adventure format" (ie, at so-and-so juncture move on to the route description on so-and-so page) which is a little confusing for dummies like me. Overall though an excellent book and a great buy!

We moved to Utah this Summer and have found this book to be by far the most useful guide to Utah available. It is much more interesting than your standard guidebook. We never leave the house for more than a half hour without Kerig's book, and it has yet to steer us wrong. The restaurant guide sections and the sections on skiing and outdoor recreation are especially helpfull. Buy this book if you want to get the most out of your trip to Utah - especially Salt Lake City.