Hiking Rocky Mountain National Park: The Essential Guide

I own dozens of guide books from the mass producing publishers, but this is far superior to all of them! First, the printing. Unlike other guide books with thin pages, a tiny font, and photos that are meh, Rocky Mountain Press spared no expense with thick glossy pages, a legible font size, rounded edges for durability, and photos that are frame worthy! I bought this as a gift and the recipient immediately commented on the quality of the book and then later reached out to tell me how well organized and impressed they were with EVERY FEATURE of the guide book. This is coffee table worthy.Second, I wish all guide books were written by individuals that are passionate residents of the area. Eric Stensland is not only a Colorado resident, he has spent decades exploring and photographing the Rockies, giving him a broad perspective to write about the Rockies for every age, from young families or young adults to retirees. This book is for everyone.If you are a lover of guide books or a lover of the west, purchase a copy for yourself. This would also make an amazing housewarming gift for someone moving to the west or perhaps the Rockies are on their bucket list. I also cannot recommend this highly enough for families. I bought this (as a gift) for travel to the Rockies with toddlers.

Wow! This is an amazing book. It has solid information in the opening pages, some of which will be new to most users. But the real value is in the hike maps and comments, which are excellent. The author is also a great photographer, so pictures along the way make various walks seem enticing. My only caveat is that the book is heavy for a paperback (because it is printed on very good paper that can show off glossy photos). You may want to read it carefully before hiking, or find a place to photocopy what you need for the day or week. If you are hiking for more than a day or two and are not already deeply familiar with the park, buy this book!

I have a lot of books like this for RMNP but this is one of my favorites. It's an excellent resource for planning hikes and the author is highly qualified to share the trail data. Definitely a book to keep on your shelves.

If you are planning a trip to RMNP, you need to buy this book. This might be the most detailed book I have ever read on any subject. Not only does he cover the trails, but the author also covers everything from hiking etiquette to how to be a good steward of the environment.The book is well organized, with a comprehensive introduction which covers everything from the ecosystems of RMNP, times to go to the park, wildlife, etc. There is then a whole section covering the various trailheads and how to get to them. Then, when the book gets into the trails themselves, they are organized by difficulty level - ranging from accessible to strenuous. Each trail is then described in detail, including landmarks that you'll see along the way, best time of the day to hike that particular trail, distance, possible wildlife, trail conditions and more. He also shows elevation start and gain along with difficulty ratings.We initially bought the hard copy book prior to our trip, which we used to plan out our hikes. Then, just before leaving, we also bought the kindle version so that we could have the book with us on the trail on our phone without having to take the relatively heavy hard copy book with us.

We love, love, loved this book. It described the Rocky Mountain National Park hikes perfectly and thoroughly. There were also many organized ways to use this book to reference hikes (ex: by trailhead, difficulty level, etc.). I highly recommend. It's a little heavy but we just took iphone pics of the hikes we planned to take each day to reference on the trails.

The book is great knowing everything about the hikes and for planning purposes. The only thing I wish it had was some opinion as to which hikes are the best, can’t miss hikes in the park. The descriptions are very neutral, so it’s hard to tell which hikes are the very best. Update: the book proves very useful. After being there, the book missing a few things. First, how does the author not include hiking Mt. Ida??? Websites rave about this hike as the best in the park. - and it’s true!!! Second, there should be better descriptions of the extent to rock scrambling and better words of cautions so that hikers don’t bite off more than they can chew.

This is one of the best books, for all levels, about hiking in RMNP. I almost didn’t buy this book because I thought it just a collection of information available on the internet. Boy was I wrongThe level of detail is astounding. Elevation profiles, distances, the authors insights, all of it is just amazing. Clearly the author went through a lot of time, effort, and energy to put this book together and it showsStunning photographs, fantastic details. I’ve been lucky to hike RMNP for the past few years and in the short time I’ve had this book my entire perspective on the park has changed. I’ve uncovered new hikes I didn’t previously know about — cannot say enough about this wonderful guideHats off to the author for all his amazing work

I wanted to take a trip to the Rockies and this is the book that I planned my whole trip with. Very comprehensive book. Eric knows the Rocky Mountain's like the back of his hand. He live in Estes and has a great shop there also. The one nice thing about the book is that it is broken down by the level of the trails. It worked out great for me. Also love all the photos that Eric took for this book. The book is thick but for a beginner hiker out in the Rockies this is what I wanted. I will be using this book for many years.