Hiking from Here to WOW: Utah Canyon Country (Wow Series)

I just wanted to say what a fantastic book the WOW utah guide is! Myself and my girlfriend just got back from spending 3 weeks this may in canyon country, and used this book extensively throughout - in particular, we hiked the arches' devils garden & delicate arch, dead horse point, canyonlands peekaboo and chesler park/joint trail, mule canyon, natural bridges, calf creek, hole-in-rock canyons peekaboo, spooky & brimstone (also explored egypt-3 off egypt bench, outside of the scope of the book) and willow & fortymile gulches, bryce canyon & zions angels landing. Outstanding memories came especially from the canyonlands and escalante hikes. Fortymile gulch was *so* much fun, deeper water than expected, and peekaboo slot was just incredibly beautiful - also we met a rattlesnake here, under a rock, and had to chimney up the walls to pass over it! Peekaboo and the joint are both just classic hikes in a crazy landscape- unforgettable. I dont normally write book reviews, but I felt this book gave such great advice in an outspoken style of writing that certainly paralleled my feelings towards the great outdoors - we quickly learnt to trust the book, full of little details that made things better, esp. with regard to avoiding the tourist hordes and finding camping. The only thing we found was that the approach to brimstone slot was more strenuous than expected, and described in the book - we hiked it at the hottest part of the day, and found it to be pretty brutal as the canyon floor is very sandy, and there was zero shade the whole way. The return was considerably easier, once it had cooled off. I suppose you could say that about a lot of the hikes in utah, but this particular stretch did seem particularly menacing, and reminded us how nasty it could be to be out there without enough water. Another thing that could be mentioned in passing - is the devils garden off hole in rock rd - its a pretty neat distraction! and fun to be somewhere like that without the aforementioned hordes. Anyway I cant wait to go back again. It's great to find a set of hiking books you can rely on

The articles on each trail and overlook are quite extensive, beginning with a general introduction, followed by a series of highlights of what you'll find. In addition, there is a clear map of each trail, a description of how to get there, and a few photographs. The statistic of each trail include length, elevation gain, level of difficulty, and probable length of time necessary to hike it and back. When used in conjunction with Laurent Martrès's photographic guides to the Southwest in several volumes, you can really plan a trip to the region like a professional tour company could, but with exactly your goals, ambitions and limitations in mind. Couldn't be more bespoke! It could use some more photography and a better overview map in the eBook version.

My wife and I used this guidebook during last fall's weeklong adventure through Zion, Bryce, and Grand Staircase. Although we both love the outdoors, my wife and I don't share the same "skill level". WOW allowed me to focus in on exactly the right trails to keep both of us happy! The skill level recommendations and expected durations are spot on but best of all are the great color pictures. My wife was much more excited about the challenge when she could see a preview of the amazing landscape. I flip through the book from time to time to get excited about planning a return trip! Pros: - Good directions to difficult to find trailheads - Great color pictures - Accurate distances and ratings - Well written and easy to read - Each hike starts with an Opinion which paints a picture of the trail before diving into the details Cons: - We didn't have enough time to do them all!

Has all the relevant information. Very useful tool. The Copelands can write. I like their sense of humor. Personally I prefer guidebooks that give only basic information, rather than details about what you'll encounter on the hike. Much of the beauty of hiking, for me, is stepping into the unknown. But that's me. Tell me there's no water source; that's useful. Otherwise let things unfold. A great book, but I don't see the need for glitzy photos and long descriptions of hikes. The 411 is thorough and, as I said, very effective. Note: this text is dense and heavier than you would expect.

I purchased this book after finding the authors' website, utahslickrockguides dot com. And then, I was very lucky to meet the authors and do an unmarked trail day-hike over slickrock with one of the authors in Grand Staircase Escalate Monument, just outside of Boulder, Utah. The hike was fantastic! I then followed their recommendations and hiked the Upper Muley Twist Canyon trail, toured by 4x4 the Burr Trail and Notom Road to see the Waterpocket Fold in Capitol Reef, and hiked two recommended trails in the Needles area of Canyonlands. The descriptions are spot on, very detailed, and an excellent resource just to simply read. As another reviewer noted, these are very experienced hikers, so their version of an "easy" or "moderate" trail might overestimate those of us who are only able to hike Utah once or twice a year!

I highly recommend this book for anyone considering a hiking trip to Utah. I am writing this while sitting at the airport in Vegas, having just concluded six days of hiking in southern Utah with three of my sons. We did a total of seven hikes described in the book and were not disappointed by any of them. The descriptions and directions were spot on. We also used another guidebook (not to mention any names) but the directions in it were misleading, and in the end we only followed the instructions in WOW. The only time we had trouble finding the trailhead for a hike we were going to do was the first hike (Wire Pass) when we failed to bring along the book. We ended up taking an unplanned hike, returning to the car to retrieve the book, and easily finding the correct trailhead with guidebook in hand. The book was very useful in helping me plan the trip, both in helping to select hikes that would give us a variety of experiences, but also in preparing us for what we will encounter. Today, one of my sons asked me what I learned on this trip are the three most important things to bring on a hike. I replied: a good guidebook, good socks and good shoes, in that order. This book more than qualified itself as a good guidebook!

The bad: no overview map of the area; no lists of different hikes (slot canyons, backpacks, low visitation, etc.) that many guides have. You have to read long descriptions to determine what the hike is like. Often the descriptions include some kind of story that is unrelated to the hike. The good: The detailed descriptions are excellent; I was able to use this book to find the best hikes for my family, accuracy is good. If I bought again, I would not choose this book. I would buy a couple of the books by the other prominent Utah canyon author.

Of the several books describing the slot canyons of Utah for the avid hiker, THIS is the one to buy. I have at least a half dozen of the more popular books on this topic and this one was the only one which also provided photos and maps!

I had never been to Canyon Country before but had used the Copeland's Don't Waste Your Time series in Canada and was confident that I would be led to the best trails in the area. I was not disappointed. The book is more than a guide, it is about the spiritual philosophy of nature that leads us to back to the earth and to the special places in this world. Nearing the end of my (first) trip to Southern Utah, I ended up selling my copy to an American couple who couldn't find a book like it in the States. Like me, they thought the book was well organized, thoughtful and thought provoking, full of spectacular colour photos, easy to understand and entertaining. Thank you Craig and Kathy for sharing a most excellent book.

Fantastic book, clear route instructions, map and photos to help choose which canyons to explore and I fully endorse the philosophy behind it. Too heavy to carry in an overnight bag but a quality guide.

The book is everything I expected and more, I have another hiking book written by the Copeland's so the style and descriptions are familiar which is a big help when hiking in new territory. I particularly like that there is a map for each hike and colour photos. The book is printed on premium thick glossy paper which makes a great read but a heavy addition to your pack should you choose to carry it with you. I highly recommend this book for anyone headed to Utah to hike.

Excellent practical guide with detailed trail descriptions, useful maps and inspirational introductions to the 90 trails reviewed. Good value, especially the Kindle version downloaded to a portable device for boots-on-the-ground checking.

Like other books by the Copelands, this book suffers from too much pseudophilosophical bla bla. It does have the practical information that is essential to any hiking book (hence the 3 stars), but it has lots of useless stuff called "Opinion" that isn't even that. Every single hike description starts with an "Opinion" section. That might be somewhat interesting if it had some differentiating content like in the "Opiniated guide to…" series by the same authors (although I don't like those either), but the problem here is that many of those "Opinion" sections are completely interchangeable and don't tell the reader much about the route. Some examples, each taken from different hiking "descriptions": "Canyons are like people. Both are more interesting when scoured to their essence." "Canyons are terrestrial lacerations. They range from gaping wounds to mere paper cuts." "What evening light does to canyon-country stone is alchemy." "Ahhh, canyon country. It poses physical challenges that deter human visitation, so it's among the loneliest landscapes on earth. Canyons are sanctuaries of silence. Temples of tranquility. Cathedral of quietude." "Science and history do not make the Earth interesting any more than a beard and robe make God powerful." "The phantasmagoria of southern Utah inspire imaginitive comparisons." "There are two keys to knowledge: your left foot and your right." "Walking serves the same purpose for people that tennis balls do for wet down bags." If I were interested in such semi-funny pseudo-philosophical bla bla, I would have bought a book called "thoughts on the trail". Behold: the Copelands have actually written such a book: Heading Outdoors Eventually Leads Within--Thoughts Inspired by 30,000 miles on the Trail . Perhaps that interests some, but when I go hiking I'm more interested in the practicalities. This book does include the practicalities, but much of it is hidden between paragrahpcs of pseudophilosophical bla bla. Instead of this book, I recommend to buy the Falcon Guides: Hiking Grand Staircase-Escalante & the Glen Canyon Region: A Guide to 59 of the Best Hiking Adventures in Southern Utah (Regional Hiking Series) , Hiking Canyonlands and Arches National Parks: A Guide to the Parks' Greatest Hikes (Regional Hiking Series) , Hiking Zion and Bryce Canyon National Park: A Guide to Southwestern Utah's Greatest Hikes (Regional Hiking Series) . Yes, that's 3 books rather than 1, but that means whatever book you take in your backpack is lighter, and you can't visit all three of those regions in a single hiking vacation anyway. And if you really want to know the pseudophilosophical thoughts of the Copelands, you might buy their thoughts on the trail book for bedtime reading. Those thoughts won't help you select your hike or find your way in the backcountry, so the paper they're printed on has no business increasing the weight of your backpack.