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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

Before Yellowstone: Native American Archaeology In The National Park

Most of us go to Yellowstone National Park for the wildlife, the scenery, the amazing geothermal features, or simply for outdoor adventure. Early Euro-Americans visiting the area were amazed by natural features like geyser basins and hot springs on a scale encountered nowhere else in their travels. Ultimately this place became the world’s first national park, but for millennia it had been a place of human spiritual and subsistence importance.

Adventuring With Kids

Youngsters are essential to the future of national parks, for they will be tomorrow’s advocates and possibly even stewards. But taking children who can barely ride a bike or aren’t old enough for their learner’s permit for driving into a national park can seem daunting. Hiking in Yellowstone’s backcountry with grizzly bears? Exploring the somewhat technical route to Angels Landing in Zion?

100 Classic Hikes: Montana

There are multiple wonderful things that Douglas Lorain brings to 100 Classic Hikes: Montana. Good descriptions and beautiful photography are crucial to any guidebook, and they’re plentiful here. Toss in a little attitude, and you have a guidebook that strives to give you the lowdown truthfully, not simply to fill pages.

A Mountaineer's Life

I first heard Allen Steck’s name when I was flying and climbing in the Owen’s Valley of California in the early 1980s. His exploits, along with Norman Clyde, Doug Robinson, Galen Rowell and John Salathe, were legendary. Known by the moniker, the Slim Fox, the mountains have been his home.

Gates Of The Arctic National Park: Twelve Years Of Wilderness Exploration

Retired from college teaching, still healing from combat in Vietnam, Joe Wilkins found peace and solace in some of the most remote wilderness in the United States – Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve. For a dozen years he volunteered for the National Park Service, accompanying rangers on patrols into remote corners of this 8,472,566-acre preserve in northern Alaska. He took many photos and kept careful notes of the places and people he encountered in his travels there, and in this photo-memoir he shares his experience of this remote and remarkable landscape.

First Impressions, A Reader’s Journey To Iconic Places Of The American Southwest

This is not a book for light reading. It is, though, one that takes a historical approach to examining the hallmarks of the Southwestern landscape. Canyon de Chelly, El Morro, Rainbow Bridge, Chaco Canyon, Mesa Verde, and the Grand Canyon are among the destinations to which we are reintroduced through the writings of the first non-natives who encountered.

Flying Home: The Colorado Plateau From Above And Below

No one writes today about the Colorado Plateau and the American Southwest with the eloquence and insight of Craig Childs. With his five books about this region he joins Mary Austin, Joseph Wood Krutch, Ann Zwinger, Ed Abbey, and Terry Tempest Williams in describing and celebrating the natural and cultural heritages of this region.

The Pipestone Wolves: The Rise And Fall Of A Wolf Family

Günther Bloch set out to study the Pipestone wolves “to outline the difference between a wolf ‘pack’ and a wolf family, and we wanted to describe the wolves’ different personality types and how this impacted their survival rates in the Bow Valley." This book is not, however, a dry scientific report. It is a large format (9”x11”) description, complemented by Marriott’s terrific photographs, of the fate of one wolf family in Canada’s flagship national park.

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.