What do you think?
Rate this book
Backroads & Byways of Colorado: Drives, Day Trips & Weekend Excursions
With natives as your guides, this new series steers you down the most scenic and historic byways in the areas they cover, with plenty of intriguing points of interest and places to eat, stay, and shop along the way. Mile by mile, Colorado residents Knufken and Daters guide your trip through Colorado's 12 most enchanting byways, over the sky-grappling pinnacles of the Rockies, down the sandstone valleys of the Western Slope, and through windswept prairies. Sidebars and traveler's tips provide expert insight into the state's true must-sees.
312 pages, Paperback
First published April 21, 2008
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 19, 2020
Oh, it's a fine book, there's some good information here, and like any good road-trip guidebook, it's organized by area, which is useful. But I have two main complaints.
1) There's way too much information here. This kind of book isn't meant to be a history book on Colorado's geography or anthropology. It's supposed to give you ideas for roadtrips and suggestions for what to do on said trips. You'll read more about it at the tourist center when you get there. If I wanted to read a book on the history of Colorado, I'll seek that out. But I picked this book up to be a roadtrip guide. (Also, I've read better, more engrossing histories of Colorado in books intended for that purpose, so it's not winning me over on that count either).
Also, this book tries to cram WAY too many suggestions in for each roadtrip. It even includes detailed blurbs on towns that it describes as mediocre and suggests you drive past! Why would I care to read about that?
2) The quality of the physical book itself. It's hard to describe the strange paper this book is printed on (for reference, I read the 2013 edition, with the cover that's more brown, not the one that's mostly blue). The nearest thing it reminds me of: those cheap paperback songbooks in Catholic churches that have a newspaper-like feel to the pages. That's what this book feels like. It's weird to hold in your hands. For a travel book, I'd prefer a glossy-type page, like a textbook.
Not only does this make the book feel weird, but it gives the photos a very poor quality. I'm not sure if they looked good when they were taken-- probably-- but printed on this, they are terrible to look at, grainy and textured. As if you'd just snapped a photo on your iphone and printed them out on notebook paper on your home printer. In another type of book, I wouldn't be too upset, but this is a travel guidebook, where you're supposed to be enticing me in with the visuals. (It's also relatively low on photos-- again, for a travel book, this is kind of a problem).
Verdict:
For these reasons, if you're going to only read one, I'd absolutely recommend the similar Colorado Excursions, with History, Hikes, and Hops instead. It has much better photos/pages and doesn't throw too much unnecessary information at you. It knows it's a guidebook, not a history book.
1) There's way too much information here. This kind of book isn't meant to be a history book on Colorado's geography or anthropology. It's supposed to give you ideas for roadtrips and suggestions for what to do on said trips. You'll read more about it at the tourist center when you get there. If I wanted to read a book on the history of Colorado, I'll seek that out. But I picked this book up to be a roadtrip guide. (Also, I've read better, more engrossing histories of Colorado in books intended for that purpose, so it's not winning me over on that count either).
Also, this book tries to cram WAY too many suggestions in for each roadtrip. It even includes detailed blurbs on towns that it describes as mediocre and suggests you drive past! Why would I care to read about that?
2) The quality of the physical book itself. It's hard to describe the strange paper this book is printed on (for reference, I read the 2013 edition, with the cover that's more brown, not the one that's mostly blue). The nearest thing it reminds me of: those cheap paperback songbooks in Catholic churches that have a newspaper-like feel to the pages. That's what this book feels like. It's weird to hold in your hands. For a travel book, I'd prefer a glossy-type page, like a textbook.
Not only does this make the book feel weird, but it gives the photos a very poor quality. I'm not sure if they looked good when they were taken-- probably-- but printed on this, they are terrible to look at, grainy and textured. As if you'd just snapped a photo on your iphone and printed them out on notebook paper on your home printer. In another type of book, I wouldn't be too upset, but this is a travel guidebook, where you're supposed to be enticing me in with the visuals. (It's also relatively low on photos-- again, for a travel book, this is kind of a problem).
Verdict:
For these reasons, if you're going to only read one, I'd absolutely recommend the similar Colorado Excursions, with History, Hikes, and Hops instead. It has much better photos/pages and doesn't throw too much unnecessary information at you. It knows it's a guidebook, not a history book.
August 14, 2017
Read portions of this book to prepare for. trip to SW Colorado.
June 27, 2019
Good book but I cannot be certain of the accuracy. There was mention of the Hayman Fire being near Trapper Lake but it was actually hundreds of miles away outside of Colorado Springs. Could have been significantly more helpful if the front map numbering of drives corresponded with what chapter they were. Otherwise it was a fun read
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews