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Hiking Southern California's Desert Parks: Featuring Anza-Borrego, Joshua Tree, Death Valley, and the Mojave Preserve
250 pages, Paperback
Published October 28, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 6, 2025
More reviews (and no fluff) on the blog http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/
These Falcon Guides are among the best out there - thorough, comprehensive, intelligently laid out, informative, and yet very concise. This book on Southern California's desert parks is no exception.There is an introduction that discusses the area as well as cautions and things to be aware of before hiking. This includes the flora, fauna, geology, camping options, and advice for desert hikes. There are 9 hike locations in this book - from Anza Borrego state park to Death Valley National Park. All hikes include maps and also images; there is a legend in the beginning for the maps. Each of the 9 sections has several hikes with detailed descriptions.
Each hike breaks down as follows: Introduction. Overview (e.g., elevation, distance, difficulty, fees and permits info, other users, pets, nearest town, start area, emergency contact info, etc.). A detailed discussion of the hike is given with tips and tricks as well as options and specifics to the area. A separate call out box breaks the hike down into sections with step by step directions for each mile. Each hike as 1-2 black and white images.
In all, this really is one of the best resources to making the most of your hiking and the interesting locations. Worth every penny for the hike information/parking/permits, etc. alone. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.
February 1, 2026
A thorough guide to hiking trails in the desert regions of Southern California.
The authors have actually gone through and hiked every trail listed. They describe details about the trail: where it is, how to access it (often with GPS start points), and what resources are and are not available. They then describe a bit about the trail (what to look for, what to look out for, how to keep on the trail, watching out where there might be difficulties or temptations to turn the wrong way, etc.). They also list about how many miles each trail lasts.
The definition of desert parks in Southern California is rather generous: Anza-Borrego, Joshua Tree, the Mojave, yes, but also a lot of the trails around the Palm Springs/Coachella areas and Death Valley, which geographically is more central than southern California.
Pictures also included. A very effective trail guide.
*-- galley received as part of early review program
The authors have actually gone through and hiked every trail listed. They describe details about the trail: where it is, how to access it (often with GPS start points), and what resources are and are not available. They then describe a bit about the trail (what to look for, what to look out for, how to keep on the trail, watching out where there might be difficulties or temptations to turn the wrong way, etc.). They also list about how many miles each trail lasts.
The definition of desert parks in Southern California is rather generous: Anza-Borrego, Joshua Tree, the Mojave, yes, but also a lot of the trails around the Palm Springs/Coachella areas and Death Valley, which geographically is more central than southern California.
Pictures also included. A very effective trail guide.
*-- galley received as part of early review program
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews