Hiking North Carolina's National Forests: 50 Can't-Miss Trail Adventures In The Pisgah, Nantahala, Uwharrie, And Croatan National Forests (Southern Gateways Guides) Download Free (EPUB, PDF)

                
              
Hiking North Carolina's National Forests: 50 Can't-Miss Trail Adventures In The Pisgah, Nantahala, Uwharrie, And Croatan National Forests (Southern Gateways Guides) Download Free (EPUB, PDF)
North Carolina's 1.2 million acres of national forestland are some of our state's most distinctive and botanically diverse areas. Veteran nature writer Johnny Molloy welcomes you to enjoy these beautiful and often surprising wild areas, guiding you safely there and back again. Molloy renders the sometimes primitive trails accessible to both beginner and more intrepid hikers, from families with small children to dedicated wilderness wanderers. Spotlighting the best hikes in all four of North Carolina's national forests--Nantahala, Pisgah, Uwharrie, and Croatan, ranging from the mountains to the coast--this book includes some of the state's most heralded destinations and invites you to explore many lesser-known gems.Features include* A hike summary, including distance, time, and difficulty of each trip* Detailed instructions to keep you on the trail* GPS coordinates of every trailhead, a narrative of the hike, and can't-miss features* A cultural and natural history of each area* Best seasons to go* Fees and permits, as well as contact information for each area* Photos and maps to orient you
Series: Southern Gateways Guides
Paperback: 264 pages
Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press; 1 edition (March 24, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1469611678
ISBN-13: 978-1469611679
Product Dimensions:  6 x 0.6 x 9 inches
Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review:  4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #250,869 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)   #59 in Books > Science & Math > Nature & Ecology > Forests & Rainforests   #91 in Books > Science & Math > Agricultural Sciences > Forestry   #297 in Books > Science & Math > Nature & Ecology > Natural Resources
With over 1700 miles of hiking trails, North Carolinaâs national forests offer nearly limitless hiking opportunities. The national forestsâ poorly designed website can make finding a trail to suit your interest and ability difficult, but this guide will help you sift through the options to do just that.This guide describes 50 hikes in North Carolinaâs national forests. All four national forests are covered, but 40 of the 50 hikes are located in the two national forests in mountainous western North Carolina: Pisgah and Nantahala. Only 6 hikes come from Uwharrie National Forest, and only 4 come from Croatan. This allocation makes sense: Pisgah and Nantahala National Forests contain far more trails than their eastern brethren. Featured areas include Shining Rock Wilderness, Harper Creek, Panthertown, the Uwharrie Trail, and the Neusiok Trail. Each hike contains driving directions to the trailhead (though some of the gravel forest service roads can make for rough driving), a trail map that leaves somewhat to be desired (see below), and a detailed trail description written to Johnny Molloyâs usual high standards.In spite of this guideâs many good qualities, there is some key information missing. In particular, the trail maps give no indication of elevation change via contour lines or otherwise. Further, the elevation gain is not even reported. This information is critical for any quality hiking guide, but it becomes even more important in areas of high relief such as the mountains of western North Carolina. Without this information, it is hard to assess how hard a hike really is, and you are forced to rely solely on the authorâs subjective easy-moderate-difficult difficulty ratings. I dropped this guideâs rating a star due to the omission of this information.In summary, this guide has the potential to be truly great. As is, it is only kind of good, and I hope the publisher makes some needed improvements in a future edition. I still recommend this guide, but I do so with reservations.
Great book with lots of info and well-written. I was looking for more challenging and longer distance hikes, of which there aren't many in this book, but I would buy it again.
great book. very helpful. had a wonderful time hiking while using this book as a guide.
If you love to hike and live in NC this is the book for you!!
We used it for planning our week in NC mountains
Nice book! Well written with lots of good trails.I'd recommend to a friend, and purchased upon recommendation of a friend
Very useful
good book
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