Day & Overnight Hikes Shenandoah National Park, 3rd (Day & Overnight Hikes - Menasha Ridge) Paperback – June 1, 2007

The other reviews of this book are very positive, but for me, this book simply didn't cut it as a hiking guide. Pros, cons, and what resources you should use instead:Pros:The guide does introduce some off-the-beaten path areas of the park that many people don't visit, such as Lost Cliffs, Furnace Mountain, etc; the author is clearly knowledgeable about the park. The author also suggests creative ways to repackage popular hikes, such as doing Compton Peak from Jenkins Gap rather than Compton Gap, etc.Cons:For starters, this guide has poor maps. Many other hiking resources provide topographic maps to accompany trail descriptions; the trail maps in this book are fairly useless, as they give no information about the terrain on any given hike. There are also very poor trailhead directions; although many of the trailheads are stated to be at a certain gap or parking area, it would be much more helpful if milepost numbers on Skyline Drive were given, since Skyline Drive has very many gaps and parking areas and overlooks. Also, elevation gain is often not provided for many hikes. The hike times given by the author also tend to underestimate the amount of time necessary for these hikes- although certainly some hikers can hike 3 miles an hour in varied terrain, many can't, and it's irresponsible for the author of a guidebook such as this to suggest 3.5 hours for 9 mile hikes.What's better?Many things! For starters, Henry Heatwole's Guide to Shenandoah National Park; although it's no longer in print, you can find it online at <...>. Hiking Upward is another free online resource that gives you very good information about hiking in the park. The Falcon Guide to hiking in Shenandoah is okay, though not necessarily better than this guidebook.

I had high hopes for this guide, but the most important information that such a book should impart is unambiguous directions. After too much time staring at directions that do not match up nicely to the descriptions, and the entirely missing map legend that was suppose to be printed on the inside back cover, I lost much of my faith in this book. If you needed just one guide, this might not suit your needs unless you are looking for suggestions more than a definitive guide.

This book seems as good as the fisrt Johnny Molloy book I purchased. I have not been to SHenandoah to try it out yet but his book on the Smoky Mountains is fabulous and this book is in the same format. All of the information is very accurate and I have had no problems.

This book appears to be a well organized book (I haven't actually done more than flip through it thus far), but it's lacking one thing. Single night hikes. You either have day hikes or multiple night hikes. I'm sure after reading it I can come up with my own itinerary by modifying one presented, but I think at least a few single night hikes would be nice to include.

This is my second copy of this book, it has good description of the trails and other useful information. I like the rating scale in this one and feel so far it has been acurate.(I have done day and overnight hiking trails from this book) Would recomend this book to those looking for trails in the Shenandoah National Park. This book is broken down nicely by type of hike as well as region. Product delivered as described and on-time.

I am a seasoned hiker but this was my first trip to the Shenandoah National Park and I needed a guide book for hiking. The book is teriffic!! It offered all types of hikes -- from the easy to backpacking trips. The descriptions of the hikes was great. I also appreciated the detailed instructions on where the trailhead is located. Highly recommended

The book was what I was looking for. I am planning a loop hike in the spring and want to find one that I could do solo and safe. I think this book has helped me find a good trail.

Good book