Best hiking books for Gunks and Catskills?

[kybeaver]

I am planning a trip to the Gunks and Catskills. Any opinions on the best hiking guides for the area? I am leaning toward the Ranger's Guide series by Edward G. Henry.

Thanks.

 

[MattC]

Hey KY,

Those Henry books are great as interpretive guides, but I wouldn't recommend them as the best trail guides. He gets into forest ecology, natural history and a host of interesting things, so they're great for that. However, he only covers one route for each hike, and there are no large pull-out maps, only small topo maps inside. Not the best as pure trail guides.

For both areas, I'd first recommend the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference maps, if you don't already have them. They're virtually indispensable. Maps and books can be purchased at the Trail Conference site:
http://www.nynjtc.org/ They also have some book/map combo offers, and you get a discount if you join the Conference.
For guides, try Peter Kick's AMC "Catskill Mountain Guide" or the ADK Catskill Region guide.
There are some other good Catskill guides that are out of print if you can find them used, including Lee McCallister's "Hiking the Catskills"
As for the 'Gunks, I've heard good things about Jack Fagan's book, and there are several others as well. If you wait until you get up there you can check out the bookshelf at Mohonk Preserve Visitors Center for all your Gunkly needs. Whatever you go with, you'll love it up here. Both the 'Gunks and the Catskill offer fantastic hiking, climbing, xc skiing, etc.

Matt

PS Here's the Preserve site:www.mohonkpreserve.org

PPS We're finally getting some real snow up here! As I was writing this, a little bird perched on my window sill for about a minute as if it needed a respite from the storm. Can't wait to get out w/ the snowshoes...

 

[Mark Schaefer]

As Matt says the NYNJTC map sets are indispensable. The Catskill maps have good trail descriptions on the back of each map which means you might get by without a guidebook. The AMC and ADK books are both comprehensive of all trails, although the ADK covers more trailless areas. My preference is the newer, more up-to-date AMC Catskill Mountain Guide (2002) over the ADK Guide to Catskill Trails (1994). The ADK book is due for an update late this year at which time it may become preferable. I do like the Ranger's Guide books, however, they only cover a relative few, more popular trails.

P.S. I agree with the comments about the out-of-print Hiking the Catskills book. I do treasure my dog-eared copy. If anyone is looking for it try abebooks. I was able to obtain a copy from abebooks about a year ago for a friend. It was then sent to me by a bookstore in Nyack (but that may vary).

For the Shawangunks, the NYNJTC maps do not have trail descriptions so you will want a guidebook. The most comprehensive is the 2003 Jeffrey Perls' Shawangunks Trail Companion. It may be a little larger than the typical guidebook. The 1999 Jack Fagan's Scenes and Walks in the Northern Shawangunks is another good, more compact option. Again the Ranger's Guide is good, but covers fewer trails.

 

[budster2]

Old but usefull Catskill books

Two books (if you can find them ) that have a lot of detailed info are:

Walks in the Catskills - John Bennet & Seth Masia [Eastwoods Press]
Guide to the Catskills - Arthur G. Adams, Roger Coco, Harriet Greenman,
Leon R. Greenman [ Walking News, Inc]

These were printed in 1974 and contain old trails that have been either rerouted or are not maintained anymore.

Just my two cents - Budster of the Catskills

 

[Jay H]

I dunno, I find the folks here at VFTT, an invaluable guide. In fact, I didn't realized I owned the ADK Catskill Guide until I stumbled upon it on my bookshelf. It was like spot clean and new. When I did BC/Friday, I inquired here about where to park on Moon Haw and I noticed that the ADK book does have a short blurb about where to park.

The only book I have on the catskills (or the gunks for that matter) besides my ADK book is Alf Ever's Catskills: From Wilderness to Woodstock but that is a history of the catskills and not a guidebook.

Jay

 

[MattC]

I think Woodstrider may have misread one letter in the name of this thread, but what the heck, there's never a bad place to talk about boots.

Anyhow, I just received my copy of Hiking the Catskills, which I mananged to find through Amazon. It looks to be a fine little book. Lots of great photos, and it covers some more out of the way stuff, as E. Schlimmer points out. There's a list of the Catskill 50 highest in the appendix.

I also have an copy of Walks in the Catskills given to me by my dad. As Budster points out, Walks in the Catskills is 30 years old and the trail system has changed. It's still a fun, readable little book though. Some nice stuff about wildlife and leave no trace.

I agree with Jay that this site is an excellent source of info, but I still like trail guides. They're more portable for one thing, and also, you don't have to post a question to a trail guide and wait for it to get back to you. Plus, I'm just a book-geek and like to read about the mountains and trails when I can't be on 'em.

Matt

 

[John Graham]

I have seen most of the Catskill Guide books and the one most used by peak baggers and hikers who just want the hiking information is The ADK Catskill Guide, the one drawback to it is that it does not have maps, but as Jay said, it tells you how to get to the trailess peaks and is small enough and concise enough to carry. The ADK Guide has gone to a second edition for a simple reason, because more people buy it, likewise, the Trail Conference book was allowed to go out of print because not enough people bought it. I read the Ranger series guide book, and I really didn't think much of it. Likewise the AMC jumped into this limited guidebook market, their new digital map is the best thing about the book, but only for an overview. On principle, they have totally ignored the trailess peaks, and so most hikers I know are ignoring their book, it won't go to a second edition either. Nobody who hikes the Catskills should do so without the Trail Conference maps, and the same goes for the Gunks. I don't know of any hiking guides dealing purely with the gunks, I would like to see one.