Hiking New Mexico's Gila Wilderness

It is chock full of useful information. For each hike, it gives an elevation diagram for the hike; detailed directions to the trail head; the best season to go; a table of how far key points are from the trail head; special hazards and considerations presented by the hike; the highlights of the hike expressed in a sentence; the difficulty of the hike; and the maps you will need. It also covers the facilities at the trail head, and gives options for side hikes. All this in addition to extremely detailed information about the hikes themselves, likely camping areas, reliable sources of water etc. And it does this for every significant trail in the Gila Wilderness! This is a significant improvement over Murray's book which gives sketchy information about fewer trails.

The tables and diagrams in this book are a model of what good guide books should contain. For example, there is a map showing all the USGS quad map locations for the Wilderness, a Map showing all trail head locations schematically, a table that allows you to choose a hike based on what type of hike you want, a detailed table of contents, and a gear checklist. The only thing it doesn't have are GPS coordinates. Of course, it might not be enough to own just this book, if the trail is very lightly used...you should bring USGS topo maps and a compass at the very least. There is a also a Wilderness Map and Visitor Guide for the Wilderness which is worth purchasing.

This book is obviously written after long and hard backpacking through the wilderness. The authors are extremely well-organized and systematic in the things they note, and in their presentation. Even so, after having been in this wilderness, I know there is much that is not in this book that is waiting for the reader to discover. The black and white pictures in the book can only convey a little of the flavor of the beauty that is there. You really have to experience this beauty for yourself. Armed with this book, I think you will be able to have a safer, and more enjoyable time while doing it.

...the Gila Forest (which is 3 million acres), [is] not ...the Gila Wilderness, [which is] a more protected area which is indeed 550,000 acres. A wilderness is a place where cars, and all forms of motorized transport cannot go. In contrast, cars can drive along forest roads. ...


Everything you want in a trail guide   January 31, 2007
Daniel Gruber (Paradise Valley, AZ United States)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful

What I like about this series and this particular guide is the wealth of useful information provided. Each hike is described comprehensively and the descriptions are supplemented with maps, elevation profiles, and mileages to key points. Plus all the usual info is provided about water, seasons, maps, etc. This gives all the information required to make informed decisions when planning a trip. A minor but nice point: the maps all are oriented with north up. Too many guidebooks provide maps with multiple orientations which can be confusing for the unwary.


A good guide to trails in the Gila Wilderness   April 10, 2000
22 out of 23 found this review helpful

This is a thorough guide to hundreds of miles of trails in the Gila Wilderness. The authors describe approximately 60 different trails, rated by length of hike and difficulty, which are not the same thing. Their maps and instructions for getting to the trailhead are detailed enough to get to the hike. This reader wished that their trail descriptions included more details on how difficult the trails were to follow, particularly since many of the trails criss-cross streams and since they warn the reader that many of the trails are old and somewhat difficult to find. But there's a huge amount of information in this book, from what's available at the stores in nearby towns to where to get showers to road conditions to trailheads. It's a great resource.


Response to earlier review   June 12, 2003
7 out of 16 found this review helpful

I haven't read the book yet. It's being ordered. But I wanted to comment on the review by the person who lives 500 feet from the Gila, but didn't take the time to read the book title. The book is about the WILDERNESS. The Gila Forest is 3 million acres. The WILDERNESS is just over 500,000 acres. I look forward to reading the book soon.


Great Wilderness but this book is very bad   March 28, 2009
Joe Burns
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

I have done about six trips to the Gila Wilderness over the last five years, as well as many other backpacking trips. While I generally like Falcon guides, this is one of the worst backpacking books I have used. It duplicates passages by including the same portion of a hike several times in different hikes. The author is more interested in flowery descriptions than in safety and accurate trail descriptions. Hiking in the Southwest, accurate descriptions of water locations are key, but the author is very vague on the location of springs. Very unlike the other Falcon books, such as the one on the Superstitions Wilderness Area. It may be you are stuck buying this book until Falcon finds a better author but beware as not all the trail descriptions are correct, especially Turkeyfeather mountain.