Offroad and Backroad Books for Northern California, Part 3

Books reviewed: California Coastal Byways, Sierra Nevada Byways, and California Desert Byways

Tony Huegel’s Byways series, from Wilderness Press, are my oldest and most-used offroad trail books. Their compact size (4.7 x 8.8″) contrasts the books in the preceding review, but while they may not compare in regards to quantity, they make up for that in quality.

There are no GPS coordinates in the earlier editions of these books, just the old fashioned turn-and-odometer directions. Assuming you have the luxury of engaging in proper pre-trip planning though, you’ll be able to convert these into perfectly good GPS waypoints and routes without too much effort. The newest editions now include waypoint coordinates, although not all of the books have yet been updated.

You get about fifteen pages of introductory material, a list of the author’s favorite trails, a list of resources, a bibliography, and a good index. Oh, yes, and the trail information.

The number of trails covered by this series varies from book to book. Sierra Nevada Byways, with a rich assortment of trails to choose from, lists fifty of them. California Coastal Byways, by contrast, offers only 32 options along the entire California coast, from Oregon to Mexico. California Desert Byways offers sixty trails. Out of the state, Oregon Byways offers a whopping 75 trails, while Washington Byways has 56. The states outside of California only get one book to cover the entire state though.

Each trail is still covered quite well, with clear (if basic and large-scale) maps and all of the basic information the reader will need: Location and how to get there, length and drive times, scenic opportunities along the way, trail difficulty ratings, and so on.

Scattered through each book are large black and white photos which were taken along the trails. The photos are nice, but unfortunately they only offer a glimpse of some of the listed trails.

Sierra Nevada Byways was the first trail book I ever used to locate, plan, and execute a solo vehicle drive that was offroad and a long way from home. We did the simple Copper Mountain Loop trail by Mono Lake several years ago. It was a lovely trail and an nice introduction for us, and we got some fantastic pictures. That experience was exactly why I had purchased the Jeep: to take some nice family trips off the beaten path, and into wonderful places the masses never experienced.

Since then, I’ve used the books in this series to plan several fun trips. California Coastal Byways offers the most opportunities close to home for me – “close” being a relative term. The Desert book covers the SE portion of the state, so those are all quite far from me. There is also a large gap in the area of California that this series covers. I’m hoping for a filler book sometime in the future, but I’m not holding my breath.

No trail book covers every trail in its area, and this series is no exception. Used in conjunction with the other books in this series of reviews, and it will help to fill in the gaps for you. Having multiple resources that cover the same trail never hurts either, especially when they offer differing opinions on things like how long it takes to drive a trail. Sometimes you’ll find that a certain book also offers side trails and other nearby opportunities that the other have missed.

Like most other books, this series does not cover offroading parks and similar areas.

I really enjoy and recommend this series. I’ve enjoyed all of the suggested trails that I have tried. I like the small size and concise information, particularly while actually out on the trail. Unlike the Backcountry Adventures series, I don’t dread reaching behind my seat to pull out one of these books to check on something, for fear of pulling a muscle!

Nitpicks for this series are few. Like the larger books, size is inevitably a two-edged sword, but these have all of the information you really need. The small size of the books limits how much information it is practical to show on the maps, so those maps are minimalistic. Larger maps, with topographic information, would be better for people like me. Those are about the only gripes I can conjure up, now that the current editions include waypoints.

They’re not as attractively priced as the Backcountry Adventures books but the prices aren’t so high ($17-20) that they’re objectionable, particularly from vendors like Amazon that substantially discount those list prices. The books are also available in either a conventional square binding, or a spiral-bound format which is nice if you plan to use the book in your vehicle often.

As of this writing, Sierra Nevada Byways appears to be between printings while it is being updated to the latest edition (with coordinates like the others.) Used copies are currently commanding premium prices (more than the list price when they were new) so just wait for the new edition if you can.

In conclusion, I’d highly recommend the Byways series to anyone, without reservations. When it comes to researching new trails to visit, these are one of the first two books that I reach for.

Merry Christmas!