Colorado Trail: The Official Guidebook (Colorado Mountain Club Guidebooks)
March 29, 2008
Completely revised guide to the extraordinary Colorado Trail that stretches 468 miles from Denver to Durango • The only guide available for thru-hikers, day hikers, mountain bikers, trail runners, XC skiers, and equestrians. • 90 color pictures, 28 segment maps, elevation profiles, integrated GPS waypoints, town maps and Mountain bike detours of Wilderness Areas • 35,000 copies sold The Colorado Trail (CT) is the premier scenic long trail in North America. It winds its way through endless fields of wildflowers to windy mountain passes, from wild mountain rivers and streams to quiet trails through old growth forests. The CT crosses eight mountain ranges, seven National Forests, six Wilderness Areas and five river systems. Starting near Denver at 5500 feet and ending near Durango at 7000 feet, the CT gains and loses almost 76,000 feet in elevation over 468 miles.
This seventh edition of the official CT guide has all the information a thru-hiker needs to plan and complete his or her trek. New to this edition are complete rewrites of the 28-segment trail descriptions and the addition of integrated GPS waypoints.
Each segment has distance, elevation gain, an overview of the segment; a list of trailhead and access points; maps needed; a list of supply points; services and accommodations; detailed trail description; a map, and an elevation gain and loss chart. Additional town maps and mountain bike detour maps (around Wilderness Areas) have been added where applicable.
An extensive introduction includes information on planning, supplying, safety, cycling, regulations, and backcountry ethics—plus chapters on Colorado Trail heritage, natural history, and geology. At the back of the book you will find a graphic summary of the trail, equipment list, ranger districts with contact information, bibliography, and index.
Customer Review: Incomplete and heavy
This is the first book that I have read from back to front. I hiked the CT from Durango to Denver in 32 days from mid-August to Mid-September 2005 and this book was my main guide. I wanted to give this book 2 stars only, but because it actually brought me all the way, I decided on 3. What is the reason for this harsh judgement?
The reason is not, that I had to read it backwards! - Some people on the trail found it confusing to read it the wrong way, but I found the description of the trail adequate in most places. I got lost a few times when missing a junction, but this happened maybe once a week and is part of the game. In general the trail is extremely well marked. - No, I find the data in this book incomplete. Everything and more (except for scetches of trail towns) you will find in the tiny and cheap Trailside Databook from the same publisher. My my main complaints are, that this book
* has very little concrete information about water sources (!) and campsites.
* poor maps. The maps included are US Forest Service maps that show no elevation data (unlike USSGS topo maps). This makes it near impossible to figure out any geographic features. This also means you probably want to buy additional maps. This could easily cost you 100 bucks! Other guide books (PCT) include usable maps.
* has very coarse elevation profiles. Usually only 4 to 6 data points are given for each of the 28 segments. You might actually be walking uphill, while the elevation profile points down! In a time of computer generated elevation profiles this is inexcusable. (Even the displays at segment trailheads show _much_ better profiles.)
* gives elevation “gain” for each segment but no “loss” information. This is important if you have a bad hip or hike the “wrong” direction where “down” and “up” switch places.
The book is printed on very glossy, heavy paper. This means beautiful pictures are included. But it also means that most hiker tear out pages as they go to save weight. The paper does not burn well and can’t be used as a fire starter at all.
On the positive side the book tries to teach you a little bit about the history of each of the 28 segments (usually one page). As I went on I really enjoyed reading them and got a feeling for the history (mostly mining and railroads).
The book is adequate as a guide. My recommendation for those planing a thru-hike: get the trailside data book from the same publisher (better get 2 copies, as I lost mine early and it was impossible to replace on the trail) and a set of good topo maps. You might get away without maps, as the trail is very well marked, but having them provides an additional layer of safety and a lot of interesting information.
Customer Review: Now with GPS waypoints/coordinates
The new 6th edition comes with latitude, longitude, and elevation for each of the main waypoints and intersections along each of the segments. Buy from here…
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