BOOKS ABOUT THE COLORADO PLATEAU AREA

Recommended by the Hiking Viking

1.  "Standing Up Country" by C. Gregory Crampton, 1964

2.  "Land of Living Rock" by C. Gregory Crampton, 1972
       (Crampton's books provide the best overview of the area that I have found)

3.  "Desert Solitaire" by Edward Abbey, 1968
     (A classic for desert lovers by "the Thoreau of the American West")

4.  "Beyond the Wall" by Edward Abbey, 1971
      (Short stories about nature trips in the Southwest)

5.  "The Journey Home" by Edward Abbey, 1977
      (A kind of autobiography with Abbey's opinions on the Southwest;
         highly recommended)

 6.  "The Enchanted Wilderness" by Ward J. Roylance, 1986
       (About Utah's red-rock country)

 7.  "The Voice of the Desert" by Joseph Wood Krutch, 1954
        (Some interesting observations of desert plant and animal life)

8.  "Grand Canyon" by Joseph Wood Krutch, 1957
        (Great book with Krutch's usual attention to unusual details of nature)

9.  "The Place No One Knew" by Eliot Porter, 1988
       (Photos from Glen Canyon before the dam; unfortunately Porter prefers close-ups
          of minor details, so the book does not give a good impression of what Glen Canyon
          was really like)

10.  "Lees Ferry - Desert River Crossing" by W. L. Rusho, 1992
        (The history of Lees Ferry)

11.  "In the Footsteps of John Wesley Powell" by Hal G. Stephens
         and Eugene M. Shoemaker, 1987
         (Contains the original photos from Powell's 1871 expedition side by side with new
            photos taken one hundred years later in the same locations)

12.  "Four Corners" by Kenneth A. Brown, 1996
         (An excellent and detailed overview of the area with emphasis on the geology)

13.  "The Book of the Navajo" by Raymond Friday Locke, 1992

14.  "River" by Colin Fletcher, 1997
         (A rafting journey down the entire length of the Green and Colorado Rivers;
            Fletcher did this single-handed journey when he was 67 years old)

15.  "Ramblings in Lake Powell Country - By Boat and Boot"
         by Stan Jones, 1998
         (A lot of interesting details about Lake Powell and its side canyons by
            "Mr. Lake Powell")

16.  "Indians of the Enchanted Desert" by Leo Crane, 1925
        (Leo Crane was an Indian Agent at Keams Canyon from 1911 to 1919)

17.  "Running Wild" by John Annerino, 1991
        (Running through the Grand Canyon)

18.  "Power of a Navajo - Carl Gorman: The Man and his Life"
         by Henry and Georgia Greenberg, 1996
           (A biography of the Navajo code talker and painter Carl Gorman)

19.  "On Desert Trails" by Randall Henderson, 1961
         (Contains many interesting desert stories, incl. stories about Everett Ruess
            and the author's visits to Rainbow Bridge in 1941 and 1958)

20.  "Everett Ruess - A Vagabond for Beauty" by W. L. Rusho, 1983
         (This boy who disappeared in Escalante Canyon when he was 19 years old
            was something special; the books contains a collection of his letters)

21.  "The Deserts of the Southwest - A Sierra Club Naturalists's Guide"
         by Peggy Larson, 1977
         (An excellent overview of the American deserts, their plants and animals)

22.  "The Exploration of the Colorado River and its Canyons"
         by J.W. Powell, 1961
         (A reprinting of the original 1895 edition)

23.  "Talking to the Ground" by Douglas Preston, 1995
         (On horseback through the Navajo Reservation)

24.  "The Place Where Souls Are Born" by Thomas Keneally, 1992
         (Australian Keneally has fallen in love with the American Southwest;
            worth reading although Keneally got a few of his facts wrong)

25.  "Colorado River Country" by David Lavender, 1982
         (A good overview of the history of the people along the Colorado River,
            including a detailed account of Powell's second expedition)

26.  "Stone Canyons of the Colorado Plateau" with photos by Jack Dykinga
         and text by Charles Bowden, 1996
         (Beautiful photographs with emphasis on the Paria and Escalante canyons)

27.  "John D. Lee" by Juanita Brooks, 1961
         (A biography of John Doyle Lee of Lees Ferry)

28.  "Emma Lee" by Juanita Brooks, 1975
         (A biography of one of John D. Lee's wives; Emma named the "Lonely Dell" at
            Lees Ferry)

29.  "The Hidden Canyon - A River Journey", a journal by Edward Abbey
         with photos by John Blaustein, 1977
         (A rafting trip through the Grand Canyon)

30.  "Epitaph for a Desert Anarchist" by James Bishop, Jr., 1994
         (A biography of Edward Abbey)

31.  "Red Rock Country" by Donald L. Baars, 1972
         (A detailed geological description)

32.  "Desert Images" with text by Edward Abbey and photos by
         David Muench, 1979
         (Includes many great photos from Death Valley and the Colorado Plateau)

33.  "Rainbow Trails" by James E. Babbitt, 1990
         (12 chapters by different authors about early visits to Rainbow Bridge)

34.  "Run, River, Run" by Ann Zwinger, 1975
        (A naturalist's description of the Green River)

35.  "Wind in the Rock" by Ann Zwinger, 1978

36.  "The Mysterious Lands" by Ann Zwinger, 1989
         (A naturalist's impression of the American deserts)

37.  "Downcanyon" by Ann Zwinger, 1995
         (Grand Canyon as seen by a naturalist)

38.   "Canyon Hiking Guide to the Colorado Plateau" by
          Michael R. Kelsey, 1986

39.  "Hiking and Exploring the Paria River" by Michael R. Kelsey, 1991
         (first edition 1987)
         (Kelsey's books are excellent hiking guides)

40.  "Journey to the High Southwest - A Traveler's Guide" by
         Robert L. Casey, 1983
         (An excellent traveller's guide to the Southwest)

41.  "The Colorado Plateau" by John A. Murray, 1998
         (A well-written little guide book with emphasis on camping and hiking)

42.  "Hole in the Rock" by David E. Miller, 1966
        (The complete story of the 1880 Mormon expedition)

43.  "Searches in the American Desert" by Sheila Cowing, 1989
        (Some of the history of the Southwest)

44.  "Exploration and Empire" by William H. Goetzmann, 1971
        (A thorough account of the exploration of the Southwest in the 19th century)

45.  "Natural History of the Colorado Plateau and Great Basin" by Kimball T.
        Harper, Larry L. St. Clair. Kaye H. Thorne, and Wilford M. Hess, 1994
        (A scientific account)

46.  "San Juan County, Utah" by Allan Kent Powell, 1983  
        (About the "People, Resources, and History" of San Juan County in Utah)

47.  "The Colorado River through Glen Canyon before Lake Powell" by
         Eleanor Inkslip, editor, 1995
         (A "Historic Photo Journal 1872 to 1964" of Glen Canyon; much better than
            Eliot Porter's book)

48.  "A River No More" by Philip L. Fradkin, 1981
        (The history about the access to water in the Southwest; well-written)

49.  "American Deserts" by Rowe Findley, 1972
        (A National Geographic Special Publication; many nice photos)

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