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NPT Reviews of Books and other Material

A collection of book reviews to help you pick the perfect read for your national park escape

Review | Mountains And Desire: Climbing Versus The End Of The World

Mountains and Desire and The Third Pole happened to land in my reading pile together and have given me rich food for thought about mountains, mountaineering, and “the end of the world.” One takes work to understand and one captivates with mystery and adventure, but they are complementary and both are well worth the effort required to glean insights into some of our often inexplicable desires.

Review | Four-Fifths A Grizzly: A New Perspective On Nature That Just Might Save Us All

This beautifully written and designed book is pure advocacy - of the idea that we humans are nature, and our future depends on accepting this fact. This seems obvious to many of us, but as a species we don’t act as though we understand its implications. We are special. We are exceptional. The laws of nature do not apply to us. The Earth is made for us, and we can do whatever we want to it with impunity, like remove the forests, kill the coral reefs, and drive myriad fellow travelers to extinction, among other things.

A Window To Heaven: The Daring First Ascent Of Denali, America’s Wildest Peak

A Window to Heaven is a valuable addition to the extensive literature on the history of Denali. It is a meticulously researched “window” through which we can gain insight into the unusual man who made the first ascent possible, into the lives of those who joined him on the climb, and into the ways that cultural conflict in early Alaska played in the ascent and its aftermath.

Review | Wonders Of Sand And Stone: A History Of Utah’s National Parks And Monuments

The southern half of Utah is canyon country, a land of aridity, sparse vegetation, and unique and scenically spectacular topography and geology. It is a land rich in sites of archaeological importance and parts of it are sacred to indigenous people. It is also mostly public land, owned by the American people, part of their national legacy, and for a century it has been contested terrain.

Review | Leave It As It Is: A Journey Through Theodore Roosevelt’s American Wilderness

Leave it as It Is is the most engaging and powerful book about Western public lands that I have read in a long time. Gessner published a terrific book in 2015 titled All the Wild That Remains: Edward Abbey, Wallace Stegner, and the American West, and I find some Abbey and Stegner in this new book, both in style and content. He traveled the West in search of Abbey and Stegner in that book as he does with Teddy Roosevelt in this one. He looks at all these icons in the context of the modern West with a clear and analytical eye.

The Essential RVing Guide

The Essential RVing Guide to the National Parks

The National Parks RVing Guide, aka the Essential RVing Guide To The National Parks, is the definitive guide for RVers seeking information on campgrounds in the National Park System where they can park their rigs. It's available for free for both iPhones and Android models.

This app is packed with RVing specific details on more than 250 campgrounds in more than 70 parks.

You'll also find stories about RVing in the parks, some tips if you've just recently turned into an RVer, and some planning suggestions. A bonus that wasn't in the previous eBook or PDF versions of this guide are feeds of Traveler content: you'll find our latest stories as well as our most recent podcasts just a click away.

So whether you have an iPhone or an Android, download this app and start exploring the campgrounds in the National Park System where you can park your rig.