Frommer's National Parks of the American West

by Don Laine, Barbara Laine

All the Details on 49 National Parks, Monuments, Preserves, and Seashores Coverage of each and every park reviewed for accuracy by local National Park Service personnel. Frommer's. The Name You Can Trust. Find us online at www.frommers.com

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction

Paperback

First published June 6, 2000

Reviews

[H (trying to keep up with GR friends) Balikov · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have been going to our National Parks for decades. I love the American West. There are so many great places to visit and getting to one National Park or another is also often enjoyable. But you need a plan. Just a few years ago we toured a chunk of the Southwest going to: Bryce, Zion, Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Sedona, Four Corners, Petrified Forest, Hoover Dam, Painted Desert, Meteor Crater, and more. We planned it all well in advance as a big loop and had reservations at National Park lodges and cabins that are often tough to get on short notice. I just used this book for a trip to Arches and it was spot on, even giving elevations and distances for various sites and campgrounds.

Frommer's guide books are some of the most user friendly of all the major publishers. This book is no exception with:
clear maps
details on what you can expect from Park Rangers
things you shouldn't miss seeing
hikes
car excursions
camping
and other interesting things near the parks

Here's my problem: Frommer's hasn't published this book since 2008 (my edition) and its worth diminishes year by year if you are interested in recommendations for hotels, restaurants and other activities. I am hanging onto mine because it so useful in determining what to see and how much time to spend at a particular park. I hope to get to the Northwest and other parks between the Rockies and Sierra Nevada Mountains before I wear it out.

[Pete · Rating 5 out of 5]

Any traveller planning to go to a USA NP should buy this book.

[John Orman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent review of the parks of the west.
Utah has a big part of this book, with Arches, Canyonlands, Bryce, Capitol Reef, and Zion.
I enjoyed reading about the Black Hills area, with Mt. Rushmore, Wind Cave, Jewel Cave, and Custer State Park. Yosemite and the Grand Canyon get a lot of coverage.
I learned a lot of details about Devil's Tower--now I want to see it!
In preparation for an upcoming trip,
I mainly studied the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone sections.

Highly recommended for any visitor to the National Parks in the West.

[Mariah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely useful. Made our trip twice as nice as it would have been.

[James Violand · Rating 4 out of 5]

Terrific for travelers. Gives routes for various tours within the parks.