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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

The Capitol Reef Reader

We all know what incredible cauldrons of beauty and history national parks hold for visitors to marvel at. You can view them as libraries of natural and cultural history. And like most libraries, you can get lost in the stacks if you don’t have a guide. Stephen Trimble has put together the guide you need to more fully appreciate Capitol Reef National Park in Utah. It’s not your typical national park guidebook. No trail, dining, or lodging information.

Granite And Grace: Seeking The Heart Of Yosemite

Any visitor to Yosemite inescapably encounters granite – it is the essence of the park. Few if any know granite like Michael P. Cohen, who has climbed big walls, wandered on and around its less than vertical presences, read deeply into its geomorphology and mineralogy, and intimately explored and reflected on the nature of Yosemite granite for over a half century. Granite and Grace is a meditation on what he has come to know of it in all these ways and years.

Hike the Parks | Redwood National & State Parks: Best Day Hikes, Walks, And Sights

Redwood National and State Parks is not your typical national park. That's quite evident from its name. But when you look at a map of the park located in northern California, it becomes more clear. This is a narrow park that roams and meanders along the Pacific Coast, interspersing national and state parklands. And you need to know that if you're planning to do some hiking there. That's why you'll find the full-page map in John Soares' upcoming book on hiking this park so helpful.

Civil War Places: Seeing The Conflict Through The Eyes Of Its Leading Historians

If you savor American history, particularly the years of the Civil War, can you ever have enough books to help understand what transpired during those bloody years? In Civil War Places, Seeing the Conflict through the Eyes of its Leading Historians, a roster of historians who studied the war offer a rich collection of essays to lend some perspective to individual battles.

Legacy On The Land: A Black Couple Discovers Our National Inheritance And Tells Why Every American Should Care

Many national park enthusiasts can recite the history of the system or their favorite site by memory. They laud the conservationists and leaders who knew we must protect precious natural landscapes for future generations, they know the first national park (Yellowstone), and the year the National Park Service was founded (1916). But how many know of the contributions of people of color to our national parks?

Wild Migrations: Atlas Of Wyoming’s Ungulates

This book is an atlas unlike any that I have seen. Its focus is not on a national park but on the state of Wyoming in which two national parks, Grand Teton and Yellowstone, are very much at the core of migrations of elk, bison, and mule deer. Many migrations in the state do not touch on these national parks, but the point of the book is that migratory ungulate populations, once nearly eradicated by overhunting and other factors, are mostly on the rebound.

Aztec, Salmon, And The Puebloan Heartland

Five years ago I visited for the first time the “Puebloan Heartland,” defined in this book as the area between Mesa Verde to the north and Chaco Canyon to the south. I knew of Mesa Verde National Park and Chaco Canyon National Historical Park but was unaware that these famous Ancestral Puebloan places bounded other sites of archaeological significance. My wife suggested we visit Aztec National Monument, which puzzled me. What were the Aztecs doing way up here in northern New Mexico? Aztec turned out to be a remarkable site, and I knew I had a lot to learn.

Path Of The Puma: The Remarkable Resilience Of The Mountain Lion

Bison, wolves, grizzly bears, and elk are all categorized as “charismatic megafauna.” These are animals that have popular appeal to many and are often used as symbols of wildness. Not so often mentioned under this category is the mountain lion, also known as the puma, the panther, and the cougar. And while these big cats often fly under the proverbial radar of wildlife advocates, not only are they out there, but their range is expanding and they’re showing up in some previously unlikely places.

Good Books For Understanding Bear Behavior

There have been quite a few comments this past week or so in light of an incident at Great Smoky Mountains National Park about bear behavior and what to do with a bear that either mauls a human or feeds on a dead body. There are some good books out there about bear behavior, and what you can do to protect yourself from bears, both blacks and grizzlies.

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.