The Most
Complete Guide to Denali
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Denali: The Complete Guide
by Bill Sherwonit
Who must have this book: Anyone who is traveling
to Denali and wants to get the most out of the visit.
Who should have this book: Anyone who travels
to Denali.
ISBN: 0882405616
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Are
you the type of person that needs to know as much as you possibly
can about a destination before you get there? If that’s you,
this may be the best book for your trip to Denali National Park. The
book takes on nearly topic you could have interest in. However, this
breadth of scope has a trade off, this book is not the best resource
for any of the individual topics but it is the best resource for everything
in one book.
This book is filled with interesting side bars and facts, as well
as being well illustrated with black and white photos, color images,
and maps. The writing is good and well organized so it is hard to
knock it. If I could knock it, it would be because much of the information
can easily become dated. I don’t think this is a problem yet,
but you may want to double check prices and schedules. Most of the
book is information that will not expire though so it is worth picking
up. Although one example of timeliness is that the new visitor center
does not make this text. Maybe it’s time for a second edition.
I will make a few different recommendations for people looking for
specific activities. For hikers, try the
Denali Guidebook, it focuses on hiking so it has a little more
depth. For readers, try Bill Sherwonits Denali: A Literary Anthology,
it is a great collection of writings related to the park. I found
it a great way to help me appreciate the park. For Wildlife Viewers,
try Adolph Muries books, they cover the parks wildlife with great
anectdotes.
But back to this book, if you want a one stop reference to everything
Denali, go no further.
Overview
This book is broken into ten sections; An Overview, Natural History,
People, Climbing the Mountain, South Denali, Entrance Area, Park Road,
Hiking the Backcountry, Wildlife, and Denali in Winter. Each section
is highly informative, although again, they are not exhaustive. If
you are going to be visiting for a day or two though, this is all
you will need to truly appreciate the park.
Author
Bill Sherwonit is a veteran Alaskan writer who has numerous
books to his credit including; Denali:
the Complete Guide, To the Top of Denali,
Denali: a Literary Anthology, Iditarod: the Race to Nome, Wood-Tikchik:
Alaska’s Largest State Park, Alaska’s Accessible Wilderness
and many more. Also he teaches writing at the University of Alaska
Anchorage.
Other books by the Author
