Best Desert Hikes Washington

· Prime hiking for fall, winter, and spring
· Organized by quick access from Spokane, the TriCities, Yakima-Ellensburg,
and Wenatchee-Chelan
· 100 hikes, from short half-day trips (1-5 miles) to overnighters

If you're used to tight, tree-lined trails through (often-dripping) evergreens, it's time to enter an entirely different world: the high desert of central and eastern Washington. It's desert, yes-but not the Lawrence of Arabia kind. This landscape of sagebrush and rimrock canyons is starkly beautiful and rich in plant and animal life. It offers mild temperatures in fall, prime wildlife viewing in winter, and an explosion of wildflowers in spring.
Best Desert Hikes: Washington is a great way to extend your hiking through three-seasons-a Hikes at a Glance chart in the front of the book lists best time to go for each trail. Some of these hikes follow designated trails; others guide you along the contours of the land for a more individual experience. There are tips on hiking in desert conditions, too.
Alan L. Bauer and Dan A. Nelson first teamed together to write Best Loop Hikes: Washington. Bauer is a freelance photographer whose work has been published in Backpacker, The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, and many other publications. Nelson is a contributor to The Seattle Times and Backpacker magazine, specializing in Northwest destinations and outdoor gear reviews.

Yakima Herald Republic

In spite of many trails we have hiked in Washington over the past 30 years, it never fails to surprise many of us that so many fresh opportunities exist right here in Central Washington…This new hiking guide contains 100 different routes featuring prime fall, winter, and spring trips…We are eager to try out other trips listed in the guidebook that are new to us…And once you investigate one of these routes, it never fails that you are tantalized by the possibility of heading off in a slightly different direction or exploring beyond the limits.

West Sound Sun (Bremerton, WA)

The maps in the book are among the best…and Alan Bauer's photography is grand.

Lewiston (ID) Morning Tribune

The writing is crisp, with an eye for landscape detail as well as individual species…There's a lot of pretty country lying within the rainshadow of the Cascade Range. Best Desert Hikes will show you more than one way to get there.

Oregonian

This book can be put to use right now, when the desert isn't too hot for hiking.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer

This is a book that sorely needed to be published…Bauer is deservedly gaining respect as a photographer. I especially love his close-ups…This book is flying off the shelves, and with good reason. It is a must-have for any hiker's library and you don't have to wait until spring comes to get out there and enjoy the desert.

Bend (OR) Bulletin

The authors celebrate the arid land of the sagebrush, the rimrock canyon, and the wildflower.

Out There (Spokane)

Unlocks a world of unsung beauty.

The Cascadian

In addition to hikers, this guide should be of interest to birders and wildflower enthusiasts. Bauer and Nelson seem to take a keen interest in both, describing the best places and times to observe many species. The book is generously illustrated with black and white photos.

Reel News

Guaranteed, follow the trails outlined in Best Desert Hikes, and you'll discover parts of this state you've never known existed.

Pacific Northwest Outdoors

This book is worth reading and using for many years to come. It will come in handy for planning those early season hiking trips until the snow melts in the mountains.