Regional Guides

Exploring Arizona's Wild Areas: A Guide for Hikers, Backpackers, Climbers, Cross-Country Skiers, Paddlers
Scott S. Warren

Part of The Mountaineers' Exploring Wild Areas series, this book will show you areas you may not have known even existed in Arizona. If you're looking for other places to explore in the Grand Canyon State and don't know where to start, this book is perfect. Not a step-by-step instruction manual describing where every bend in the trails is, but an excellent primer covering many of Arizona's wilderness and primitive areas. With basic information on geology, flora and fauna, history, this book provides practical information on what topographical maps you'll need, which seasons are best suited for hiking the area, what elevations and terrain you'll experience, and what activities are best suited to the region.

The Ultimate Desert Handbook: A Manual for Desert Hikers, Campers and Travelers
Mark Johnson

There is a book I really enjoy and feel is a great resource for hiking or traveling in the desert, which of course the Grand Canyon's Inner Gorge is! I'm very excited about it because it is a manual for desert adventurers—a topic dismally ignored by most books on the subject of outdoor adventure. There are plenty of books covering oceans, mountains, and prairies, but you'd almost think the desert didn't exist judging by how few books cover it. And I guarantee that hiking in the mountains and the desert are completely different from one another. This is an invaluable book for those hiking in Canyon Country.

Adventuring in Arizona
John Annerino

Many Grand Canyon hikers are familiar with this author. John Annerino has written one of the most comprehensive trail guides ever for the Grand Canyon, Hiking the Grand Canyon. However, this book includes more activities than just hiking. You'll find car tours, river expeditions, canyoneering, trekking, and climbing covered throughout southern, central, and northern Arizona.

With each description you find information pertaining to that particular endeavor: primary access, elevation, elevation loss and gain, mileage, water sources, cache points, escape routes, seasons, maps needed, nearest supply points, managing agencies, backcountry information, and biotic communities.

This book is helpful for those who want to see more of the state than only Grand Canyon. There are activities for everyone in this guide; so bring the family and do a little exploring!

A Field Guide to Mysterious Places of the West
Salvatore M. Trento

This is a fun book for those wanting to do some exploring of unusual sites and structures throughout the west. The author is an archaeologist who has spent almost twenty years locating, researching, and recording mysterious places across the United States. This book covers strange, sometimes difficult-to-explain things found in Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, California, Washington, Idaho, and Wyoming. And most of the sites are easy walks from your automobile.

Some of the sites and structures are man-made and others are odd geologic formations. What I like best about this book is that you'll find many places not listed anywhere else. This is an especially great book for those of you fascinated with marvels and mysteries of ancient civilizations.