How to Select Hiking Guides

There's a great deal to consider when preparing a hike: where to go, how to get there, how long the hike will take and how difficult the hike will be. These are but a few of many hikers' most common concerns. Thankfully, you can select local hiking guides to help find answers to these, and many other, questions before you embark on your outdoor adventure.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

1. Look for guides that include explicit directions for getting to and from the location of your hike, as well as guides which include clearly-marked starting and ending points.
2. Favor guides that offer more than one way to navigate a particular route. This is a signal that the guide is more comprehensive, and such information will be very useful if you encounter a leg of the trail that's closed for repairs and you need to navigate the trail using an alternate route.
3. Give precedence to guides that go into greater detail regarding the terrain, wildlife and other landscape features. Guides that provide elaborate detail will prepare you better for the challenges you're going to face when you actually hike the trail.
4. Choose guides published by reputable, well-known publishers of materials for travelers and people who enjoy the outdoors. Some good choices are include Wilderness Publishing, Falcon Guides, and Lonely Planet Publications (see Resources below).
5. Look for guides that contain information regarding local medical facilities. In emergency situations, this may prove to be the most vital piece of information of all.
6. Peruse both the table of contents and the index when considering a particular guide. It's an excellent way to get a sense of how comprehensive the guide is without spending a great deal of time reading it.
7. Select hiking guides that go into detail about the local area beyond what you'll find on the hiking trail. The best guides will tell you about a particular region's attractions and amenities to help you plan a visit, not just a hike.
8. Search for guides written by experienced hikers, rather than writers for hire. Guides that include an "About the Author" section make a better choice, since those that don't include one usually neglect to do so because there's nothing to say about the author that will help sell the book.

Tips & Warnings

• Entertain yourself by selecting a guide with background history and a unique, personal narration style. The more engaged you are by the text, the more likely you are to the entire book and absorb all its important information.
• Use online guides, too. Trails.com is one of the best (see Resources below).
• Do not select older hiking guides, or guides lacking edition updates, as some of the data is likely to be inaccurate.