Backpacking Idaho

A backpacker’s guide, Backpacking Idaho features 50 trails statewide. Included here is up-to-date trail information, accurate directions to popular and less-traveled trails, difficulty ratings, detailed trail maps, and Leave No Trace camping tips.

A virtually undiscovered backpacking paradise, Idaho has numerous wilderness areas of mind-boggling size. Backpackers can find complete solitude, wildlife, and some of North America's most outstanding scenery. Idaho's mountains also boast great weather -- fewer thunderstorms than the central Rockies, less rain than Oregon and Washington, and cooler summer temperatures than California. Backpacking Idaho takes you to what author Doug Lorain calls a "Shangri-la" for backpackers. In the craggy Selkirk Mountains you'll find lush forests, small cirque lakes, and jagged granite peaks. Watch for ospreys, river otters, and belted kingfishers in the swift Selway River. Explore hundreds of miles of trails in the gently rolling forested hills in north-central Idaho, or head to Hell's Canyon, the deepest gorge in North America, where you'll find both alpine tundra and cactus-studded desert.

Lace up your boots and sample more than 100 trails in Idaho's vast undeveloped backcountry and wilderness areas. Discover pink granite peaks of the Sawtooth Range, "big tree" country in the Selkirk Mountain rain forest, and Hells Canyon - the deepest gorge in North America. Idaho offers hikers some of the most magnificent and rugged mountain scenery in the Lower 48 as well as peaceful alpine meadows, sparkling lakes, excellent fishing, and the chance to see high-country wildlife. Use this guide for: up-to-date trail information; accurate directions to popular as well as less-traveled trails; difficulty ratings for each hike; detailed trail maps; zero-impact camping trips. Whether you are a day-tripper or long-distance hiker, old hand or novice, you'll find trails suited to every ability and interest throughout Idaho.

Now completely updated for a second edition, Backpacking Washington remains the only comprehensive guide to all of the Evergreen State's best extended backpacking trips. Ranging from three days to two weeks, these 28 adventures visit every corner of the state, including the wild beaches of the Olympic Peninsula, the vast interior of the Pasayten Wilderness, Mt. Rainier's famous Wonderland Trail, the volcanic wasteland around Mt. St. Helens, and the little-known Salmo-Priest Wilderness, where hikers may glimpse grizzly bears.

In Oregon, backpackers can hike wild beaches, enjoy colorful desert canyonlands, walk amid stunning granite peaks, relax in wildflower meadows, and circle glacier-clad mountains. Award-winning guidebook author and longtime Oregon resident Douglas Lorain details 30 spectacular backpacking trips in Backpacking Oregon. Lasting from three days to two weeks, these carefully crafted itineraries offer geographic diversity, beautiful scenery, and reasonable daily mileage goals. This in-depth guide provides all the information backpackers will need to access the Oregon backcountry, including the Oregon Coast, Columbia Gorge, High Cascades, Hells Canyon, and the Klamath, Siskiyou, Blue, and Wallowa mountains. A detailed trail map and photographs accompany each trip.

"[Lorain's] backpacking books offer wonderfully comprehensive and insightful accounts of his judiciously selected trails." Backpacking Wyoming details the premier backpacking opportunities in the Cowboy State. Doug Lorain describes 28 trips (plus 9 bonus ones) with carefully crafted, field-tested itineraries, which range from two days to two weeks. Wander a geyser basin and wildflower-filled meadows. Explore the largest glaciers in the American Rockies and admire the awesome peaks around Cirque of the Towers. Experience countless beautiful high-elevation lakes and abundant wildlife, including elk, pronghorns, bears, moose, and even wolves. You could spend several lifetimes here and barely scratch the surface of Wyoming's wide open spaces. No matter which trip you pick, you'll find unforgettable adventure in some of America's most spectacular backcountry

The American West is home to some of the best backpacking trips in the world, and within California and Nevada are several outstanding destination trails. Hikers from all over the country, and around the world, travel to this area every season to undertake some of these classic trips of a lifetime and enjoy the breathtaking scenery. Best Backpacking Trips in California and Nevada was written to help the accomplished hiker through the entire process of planning a multiday excursion. The book covers all aspects of the trip, from traveling to the area to successfully fulfilling the dream of backpacking in one of the most beautiful regions in the West. The guide includes thirteen detailed trail descriptions, along with information on additional resources, governing agencies, and permits and fees. It also provides listings of the nearest airports, outdoor retailers, campgrounds, transportation, and amenities and attractions. Accompanying the specific information on each trip are captivating historical vignettes and entertaining personal essays, enhancing the reader’s understanding of the area. Whether journeying from near or far, Best Backpacking Trips of California and Nevada is the most complete resource for turning a dream trip into reality.

Best Backpacking Trips in Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado provides everything you need to know to organize and execute the best backpacking trips in the Mountain West. Mike White and Douglas Lorain, who have walked every mile of the trails described inside, take readers and hikers into some of the wildest and most scenic backcountry landscapes in the nation and help them design the ultimate trip. Focusing on one-week excursions, the book offers details on all the aspects of trip planning—trail narratives, technical data, maps, gear, food, information on regulations and permits, and more. But it is more than a basic guidebook. Trip information is enriched by valuable and interesting sidebars on history and ecology that will increase appreciation for these natural areas and the people who were instrumental in their discovery or protection. In Best Backpacking Trips in Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado, White and Lorain pass on their knowledge of quality hikes, planning and preparation, and the unique satisfaction of multi-day backpacking. This guide, put into practice, will result in the trip of a lifetime.