OAUSA Net - February 23, 2023 - Outdoor Guide Resources

[DaveK]

Outdoor Guide Resources


Want some great suggestions for your next outdoor adventure? Join us for the net for some ideas.

[KK6DYO]

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Friends Who Have Been There

In my opinion, the best guide resource is a friend who has already been "there", especially if they're willing to go again. A number of such trips are documents in this website's Expedition Run Reports. This is especially true of dispersed camping opportunities (i.e., not in an established campground).

OAUSA Expedition Run Reports


Organizations with Guided Trips

There are a few organizations that plan and safely guide groups (i.e., "trail boss") offroad and camping trips. One example is:

Badlands Offroad Adventures & Events


Searches for Information

Of course, Google (generically for the many different internet search tools) is your friend when locating information about just about anything, in particular about a destination of interest.

Google


Federal, State, and Local Websites

Many federal, state, and local offices provide more detailed and up-to-date printed information at ranger stations, not to mention up-to-the-minute spoken information from the rangers themselves, many of whom regularly travel trails and visit campsites.

National Park Service

Forest Service

• Especiallly Motor Vehicle Use Maps

Bureau of Land Management

California State Parks


State References


For years, one of my most useful references was the AAA Southern California Campground map. 874 tent and RV campgrounds with activity, amenities, and cost data.

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Provides activity, scenery rating, cost, directions, and reservation for over 1400 tent and RV campgrounds.

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Newer 2014 version (compared to the one I have). Now with "the best" 100 California trails each with difficulty rating and route directions. New book information says it now includes coordinates.

Anyone have the new version?

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Massey & Wilson's backcountry guide is probably my favorite for completeness and information content. Starts with general offroad travel then provides history, biology, routes, route difficulty, maps and map references, directions, and coordinates in degrees and minutes for over 150 trails.

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Regional References


Updated in 2017. Authoritative book on Anza Borrego's points of interest, history, hiking trails, and dirt roads.

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Roger and Loris Mitchell wrote a series of books on SUV trails during the early to mid 2000s. Well researched with current and old picture, history, and maps. Provides coordinates in degrees and minutes plus route difficulty.

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In the early 2000s, Bill Mann wrote two volumes of 50 interesting and mysterious sites in the Mojave. Many are accessible by 2WD, though he points out the ones that require 4WD. He provides pictures and as much history about each of the sites as he was able to determine, but many of the sites have mysterious origins. He provides degree / minute coordinates for each. Quirky book. Fun to read.

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42 points of interest in the San Rafael Swell area (middleish Utah), written in 2017.

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Good Maps

Tom Harrison developed great maps showing many cultural and historical points of interest, mainly for specific area around California though also part of Hawaii. My favorite map formats. Mainly for hiking trails.

Tom Harrison Maps


The onX Offroad (iOS and Android apps with Windows browser interface) maps show thousands navigable offroad trails with difficulty ratings in addition to having all features of a GPS application with downloadable maps.

onX Offroad

[DaveK]

Outdoor Guide Resources

USGS TOPO MAPS

When I first began exploring, many years ago, I realized tht THE best way to navigate the desert and mountain areas of the Southwest was USGS Topo maps. At that time only paper maps were available, and only covered relatively small areas. To cover greater portions of large desert or mountain areas, it was necessary to purchase several individual maps. With the ever increasing technology of computers and the transformation of the entire USGS mapping catalog to the public domain, a very clever mapping company (Wildflower) began developing computerized regional maps, incorporating individual USGS maps into one complete and seamless map. The interest at that time in such a mapping programs was exploding, and the guys at Wildflower sold their business to Nat Geo, who took it one step further by making seamless USGS topo maps for entire States. Although the maps were sold by the state, when installed on a computer, one would have seamless, complete USGS maps for as many States as needed.


Among it's may virtues, the Nat Geo Topo! program has served me very well for trip planning. Specifically, I have consulted these maps countless time to discover new areas, of which I was unaware, to plan new trips. More on the net about the Topo! program and what I found, but here are a few of the places that I've explored thanks to the USGS maps.

1. Alstrom Point, Utah (Overlooking Lake Powell)

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2. Dark Canyon, Utah

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3. Whitmore Canyon, Arizona

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4. Witches Water Pocket, Arizona

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5. Grand Staircase Escalante, Utah

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6. Valley of the Gods, Utah

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[DaveK]

ARIZONA HIGHWAYS

Arizona Highways has been in continuous publication since 1921. It started as a monthly magazine of the Arizona State Highway Department and remains so today, except that the agency has changed its name to the Arizona Department of Transportation. The basic premise of the magazine was, up to a certain point, (in this writers opinion), a show case for the places in Arizona which were open to travel on public roads and highways. Again, up to a certain point in time, (also in my opinion) the photography was as spectacular as one could get. In pursuit of the magazines purpose, many of the backcountry areas of Arizona became feature articles in the magazine and a wonderful source of ideas for places for the off-road enthusiast to explore. In the early to mid 2000's, a new editor brought a different philosophy to the magazine and the backcountry emphasis was all but abandoned.

Prior to about 2010, I had been a regular subscriber for at least a couple of decades, and have kept them all, as they are, IMHO, the "preferred" AH magazines. Preferred, because they still serve as a great source of information on "back country" places to visit in the great state of Arizona.

Under the new direction of the AH magazine, they are now a great source of good information on restaurants and B&Bs throughout the State. For those who have an interest in viewing pre 2010 magazines, many of them are digitally available through the Arizona Memory Project (https://azmemory.azlibrary.gov/.) In a recent conversation with the office at the AH magazine, they indicated that they too, will be making older magazine issues available, but not at this time.

The best example of the value of the AH magazine involves one of my favorite back country trips, the Parashant. I came to initially know the "The Parashant" by an article that appeared 18 years ago in the January 2005 issue of AH, entitled "A Monument to Loneliness, The Expansive Parashant Stands Profoundly Wild and Inhospitable for the Unprepared." I didn't even need to read the entire article as I was sold. But of course, I have read it, and re-read it many times, and the Parashant has been the subject of several trips.

As so often happens, the story did not end there. As I continued to review my stack of old AH magazines, and before my first trip to the Parashant, I discovered an October 1999 issue of AH that contained an article entitled, The Witches Water Pocket." The article was an historical account of John Wesley Powell's 1869 expedition into the Colorado River and it's surrounding canyons. In Powell's account of his travels, entitled, "Canyons of the Colorado", he mentions a "place of reliable water" called "the Witch's Water Pocket." It was a fascinating account, and the best part was that it was located in the Parashant.

The article was vague enough about the location to make it difficult to pinpoint where it was, exactly. But, fortunately, the article was sufficiently enticing to make it mandatory to find it. Existing maps didn't help, the article didn't help, and internet searches didn't help. Since I had been in contact with rangers from the Parashant, I decided to give that a try, and BINGO. Never overlook the great wealth of information that local rangers have to offer.

The magazine:

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ARCADIA PUBLISHING

Arcadia Publishing (https://www.arcadiapublishing.com/) is probably familiar to most. Their publications appear on bookstands in community stores, city halls, hardware stores and more. The length of the books vary, but somewhere between 100-200 pages (or so.) The topics are diverse, and can serve as a terrific guide to outdoor adventures. They say this about their approach to these books.

For over 20 years Arcadia Publishing has reconnected people to their community, their neighbors, and their past by offering a curbside view of hometown history and often forgotten aspects of American life. Composed in a unique pictorial format with over two hundred vintage images and accompanying captions, Arcadia books animate the cherished memories, people, places, and events that define a community. From the iconic Images of America series and Images of Aviation series to Postcard Histories and so many more, these richly illustrated histories bring to life small town America.

Knowing the history of the areas we visit, always make the visit mean more.

Some examples:

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SUNBELT PUBLICATIONS

Sunbelt Publications (https://sunbeltpublications.com/shop/) is another terrific source of information for outdoor adventure locations. If you are looking for information on new areas to explore, the website deserves a closer inspection. I will only mention one book, which has become the most authoritative guide book for the Anza Borrego Desert State Park - "Anza-Borrego Desert Region", now in its 6th Edition, (https://sunbeltpublications.com/shop/an ... h-edition/,)

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[toms]

Tales of the Mojave Road Publishing Company

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[toms]

Deer Valley Press
Rescue, California
530-676-7401

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by William C. Teie

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by William C. Teie

[toms]

Hot Springs

A Falcon Guide
by Matt C. Bischoff

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[Diesel4x]

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