Andrew Dean Nystrom - Top Trails: Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks: 46 Must-Do Hikes for Everyone

The Top Trails Series

Wilderness Press

When Wilderness Press published Sierra North in 1967, no other trail guide like it existed for the Sierra backcountry. The first print run sold out in less than two months, and its success heralded the beginning of Wilderness Press. In the past 50 years, we have expanded our territories to cover California, Alaska, Hawaii, the Southwest, the Pacific Northwest, New England, Canada, and Baja California.

Wilderness Press continues to publish comprehensive, accurate, and readable outdoor books. Hikers, backpackers, kayakers, skiers, snowshoers, climbers, cyclists, and trail runners rely on Wilderness Press for accurate outdoor adventure information.

Top Trails

In its Top Trails guides, Wilderness Press has paid special attention to organization so that you can find the perfect hike each and every time. Whether youre looking for a steep trail to test yourself on or a walk in the park, a romantic waterfall, or a city view, Top Trails will lead you there.

Each Top Trails guide contains trails for everyone. The trails selected provide a sampling of the best the region has to offer. These are the must-do hikes, walks, runs and bike rides, with every feature of the area represented.

Every book in the Top Trails series offers:

The Wilderness Press commitment to accuracy and reliability

Ratings and rankings for each trail

Distances and approximate times

Easy-to-follow trail notes

Maps and permit information

OVERVIEW MAP

TRAIL FEATURES TABLE

YellowstonesLower Falls (Trail 15)

Contents

CHAPTER 1
Northwest Yellowstone: Mammoth/Gallatin Country

CHAPTER 2
Northeast Yellowstone: Tower/Roosevelt Country

CHAPTER 3
Central Yellowstone: Norris/Canyon Country

CHAPTER 4
Southeast Yellowstone: Lake Country

CHAPTER 5
Southwest Yellowstone: Cascade and Geyser Country

CHAPTER 6
Grand Teton National Park

Using Top Trails

Organization of Top Trails

The Top Trails series is designed to make identifying the perfect trail easy and enjoyable, and to make every outing a success and a pleasure. With this book youll find its a snap to select the right trail, whether youre planning a major hike or just a sociable stroll with friends.

The Region

Top Trails begins with the Greater , displaying the entire region covered by the guide and providing a geographic overview. The map is clearly marked to show which area is covered by which chapter.

After the regional map comes the Yellowstone and Grand Teton , which lists every trail covered in the guide, along with attributes for each one. A quick reading of the regional map and the trail table will give you a good overview of the region covered by this book.

The Areas

The region covered by this book is divided into areas, with each chapter corresponding to one area in the region.

Each area chapter starts with information to help you choose and enjoy a trail each time you go out. Use the table of contents or the regional map to identify an area of interest, and then turn to the area chapter to find the following:

An area overview, including maps and permits

An area map, with all trails clearly marked

A trail feature table, providing trail-by-trail details

Trail summaries, written in a lively, accessible style

The Trails

The basic building block of the Top Trails guide is the trail entry. Each one is arranged to make finding and following the trail as simple as possible, with all pertinent information presented in an easy-to-follow format:

A trail map

Trail descriptors covering difficulty, length, and other essential data

Narrative trail text

Trail milestones, providing turn-by-turn trail directions

Some trail descriptions offer additional information, such as:

An elevation profile

Trail options

Trail highlights

Trail teasers

In the margins of the trail entries, look for icons that point out notable features at specific points along the trail.

Choosing a Trail

Top Trails provides several ways of choosing a trail, presented in easy-to-read tables, charts, and maps.

Location

If you know in general where you want to go, Top Trails makes it easy to find the right trail in the right place. Each chapter begins with a large-scale map showing the starting point of every trail in that area.

Features

This guide describes the top trails of Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, and each trail is chosen because it offers one or more features that make it appealing. Using the trail descriptors, summaries, and tables, you can quickly examine all the trails for the features they offer or seek a particular feature among the list of trails.