The new Yosemite National Park is the kind of book you expect from Lonely Planet, whose
travel guides are well known and respected. This book and Yellowstone & Grand Teton
National Parks, also released this spring, are the first volumes of the company’s new
National Parks series.
Just about everything a visitor needs to plan a stay, from one day
to more than a week, is provided. For instance, the Yosemite book covers weather, special
events and seasonal activities. Also, the guide offers suggested driving tours and
itineraries, which motorhomers would be able to follow in most cases. Detailed information
is given on all activities – hiking, fishing, rafting, canoeing, kayaking, road- and
mountain-biking, swimming, horseback riding, rock climbing – available in the California
park. Yosemite’s 800 miles of hiking trails, for example, are organized by type, duration,
degree of difficulty, elevation and available facilities.
Planning a visit that includes
children, pets or disabled travelers? Helpful information is given for each group. Health
issues, such as altitude sickness, are addressed, as well as dangers, including wild bears.
Resources for gathering more information about the popular park also are listed. In
addition, the reader will find descriptions of campgrounds, restaurants and service
facilities that are located within the park and along the four roads that lead to Yosemite.
Excellent maps and photographs supplement the easy-to-read text.
Yosemite National Park and
Yellowstone & Grand Teton National Parks ($19.99 each)are available in bookstores or
from the publisher, (800) 275-8555, lonelyplanet.com.