Walking is an essentially human activity. From a basic means of transport and opportunity for leisure through to being a religious act, walking has served as a significant philosophical, literary and historical subject. Thoreau's 1851 lecture on Walking or the Romantic walks of the Wordsworths at Grasmere in the early 19th Century, for example, helped create a philosophical foundation for the importance of the act of walking as an act of engagement with nature. Similarly, and sometimes inseparable from secular appreciation, pilgrimage trails provide opportunities for finding self and others in the travails of the walk. More recently, walking has been embraced as a means of encouraging greater health and well-being, community improvement and more sustainable means of travel. Yet despite the significance of the subject of walking there is as yet no integrated treatment of the subject in the social science literature. This handbook therefore brings together a number of the main themes on the study of walking from different disciplines and literatures into a single volume that can be accessed from across the social sciences. It is divided into five main sections: culture, society and historical context; social practices, perceptions and behaviours; hiking trails and pilgrimage routes; health, well-being and psychology; and method, planning and design. Each of these highlights current approaches and major themes in research on walking in a range of different environments. This handbook carves out a unique niche in the study of walking. The international and cross-disciplinary nature of the contributions of the book are expected to be of interest to numerous academic fields in the social and health sciences, as well as to urban and regional planners and those in charge of the management of outdoor recreation and tourism globally.

60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: Los Angeles shows readers how to quickly drive to and enjoy the best hikes from the San Gabriel Mountains to the Pacific Ocean. With time, health, and pin money at a premium, this handy guide helps Angelenos get back to nature without going out of town. From Palos Verdes on the coast to Santa Clarita to the north and the expansive San Gabriel Mountains, it details 60 hikes and walks within roughly an hour's drive of Los Angeles, encouraging even the most time-starved trekkers to get on the trails and get healthy. Extensive at-a-glance information makes it easy to choose the perfect hike based on length, difficulty, scenery, or on a specific factor such as hikes good for families, runners, or birding. Each trail profile includes maps, directions, driving times, nearby attractions, and other pertinent details. Having lived in just about every area of Los Angeles, author Laura Randall provides key in-the-know information about traffic patterns, the best times to hike, how to avoid expensive parking fees, and the best burrito joints near the trail-head.

This attractive and cleverly structured guide gives walkers ten of the finest walks to Lakeland pubs in a popular pocketable format. With clear information, an overview and introduction for each walk, expertly written numbered directions, large scale Ordnance Survey maps, superb, eye-grabbing panoramic photographs, and interpretation of points of interest along the way, these guides set a new standard in clarity and ease-of-use. Featured pubs include: Kirkstile Inn, Loweswater, Old Dungeon Ghyll, Langdale, Sun Inn, Coniston, Dog & Gun, Keswick, Three Shires, Little Langdale, Tweedies Bar, Grasmere, Mortal Man, Troubeck, Bridge Hotel, and Buttermere.

Although known predominantly for its Pennsylvania Dutch culture, the Gettysburg battlefield, and the cities of Harrisburg, Lancaster, and York, south-central Pennsylvania is home to many tracts of public lands that offer a diverse array of hiking experiences. From the gentle farm country of Lancaster and York Counties, to the steep-sided ravines along the Susquehanna River, to the rugged ridges north of Harrisburg, and the rolling hills of South Mountain, you'll find hikes to suit about any taste and interest. 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: Harrisburg, by local outdoorsman Matt Willen, provides the first and most comprehensive hiking guide to the region. Each hike description features key information on length, hiking time, difficulty, configuration, scenery, traffic, trail surface, and accessibility. This guide features information on the history and natural history of the areas the hikes pass through, detailed trail maps and elevation profiles, clear directions to the trailheads and trailhead GPS data, and tips on nearby activities.

Experience sleeping under the stars on the Appalachian Trail with this guide. Hikers can traverse Virginia's Southern Shenandoah, enjoy North Carolina's Mount Cammerer Loop, and summit Vermont's Killington Peak with Best Hikes of the Appalachian Trail: Overnight Hikes by Victoria and Frank Logue and Leonard M. Adkins,the most comprehensive and useful guide to the best Appalachian Trail overnight hikes. This new edition includes new overnight hikes, as well as updated trail information. Each hike profile contains driving directions to the trailhead; a preview of the flora, fauna, and history hikers will encounter on the trail; and hike difficulty ratings.

Walking, Landscape and Environment explores walking as a method of research and practice in the humanities and creative arts, emerging from a recent surge of growth in urban and rural walking. This edited collection of essays from leading figures in the field presents an enquiry into, and a critique of, the methods and results of cutting-edge 'walking research'. Walking negotiates the intersections between the human self, place and space, offering a cross-disciplinary collaborative method of research which can be utilised in areas such as ecocriticism, landscape architecture, literature, cultural geography and the visual arts. Bringing together a multitude of perspectives from different disciplines, on topics including health and wellbeing, disability studies, social justice, ecology and gender, this book provides a unique appraisal of the humanist perspective on landscape. In doing so, it challenges Romantic approaches to walking, applying new ideas in contemporary critical thought and alternative perspectives on embodiment and trans-corporeality.

The best way to experience Albuquerque is by hiking it! Get outdoors with local authors and hiking experts David Ryan and Stephen Ausherman with the new full-color edition of 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: Albuquerque. These trails transport you to scenic overlooks, wildlife hot spots, and historical settings that renew your spirit and recharge your body. Each hike description features key information on length, hiking time, difficulty, configuration, scenery, traffic, trail surface, and accessibility, as well as information on the history and natural history of the area. Detailed trail maps and elevation profiles, along with clear directions to the trailheads and trailhead GPS data, help to ensure that you always know where you are and where you're going. Tips on nearby activities further enhance your enjoyment of every outing. Whether you're a local looking for new places to explore or a visitor to the area, 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: Albuquerque provides plenty of options for a couple hours or a full day of adventure, all within about an hour from Albuquerque and the surrounding communities.

A concise guide to the best day hikes along the entire Appalachian Trail. Summit the iconic Katahdin in Maine, explore Pennsylvania's Chimney Rocks, splash in Tennessee's Laurel Fork Gorge and Falls, and find out where Blood Mountain got its name in the new edition of Best of the Appalachian Trail: Day Hikes by Victoria and Frank Logue and Leonard M. Adkins. This is the most comprehensive and useful guide to this beloved long trail. The book details hikes in each of the 14 states that the Appalachian Trail passes through; previews the flora, fauna, and history of the A.T.; and offers point-by-point descriptions of each hike with trailhead directions. Hikes range in length from less than 1 mile to 11 miles.

It's Time to Take a Hike in New York City! With so many superb trails in the area, planning a hike can be a frustrating endeavor, but with this newly revised and updated edition of 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: New York City from Christopher and Catherine Brooks, finding the right trail is a snap. From secluded woods and sun-struck seashores, to lowland swamps and rock-strewn mountain tops, these hikes showcase Paleolithic rock shelters, ruins from the Revolutionary and Civil War periods, a bat cave, ghostly ruins, and much, much more. Unbounded by state lines, the trails awaiting hikers in the updated edition of 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: New York City include a meandering ascent of Jenny Jump Mountain in Hope, New Jersey, a deep exploration of Trout Brook Valley near Weston, and a scenic section of the Appalachian Trail that runs by Fitzgerald Falls in New York. Packed with valuable tips and humorous observations, the guide prepares both novices and veterans for the outdoors and includes all the information hikers need to get the most out of the trails, including driving directions and GPS coordinates for all 60 trailheads to take the guesswork out of the trip.

The best guide to hiking within an hour's drive of Chicago. 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: Chicago by Ted Villaire introduces newcomers and lifelong residents alike to a surprising array of the best day hikes within a 60-mile radius of the Windy City. The new full-color edition includes some brand-new hikes on newly built trails, such as Miller Beach, which not long ago was just a loop around a marsh but now includes an out-and-back trail to a lovely beach on Lake Michigan. A couple of urban hikes were added to the mix in this edition, including a stroll through the lagoons and along the prairie river in Humboldt Park, perhaps the most beautiful Chicago Park away from the lakeshore. Ted also takes you on a ramble along the newly built Chicago Riverwalk in the Loop, an artfully constructed promenade alongside the river with restaurants and bars along the way. Each hike description features: Key information on length, hiking time, difficulty, configuration, scenery, traffic, trail surface, and accessibility Information on the history and natural history of the areas the hikes pass through A detailed trail map and elevation profile Clear directions to the trailhead and trailhead GPS data Tips on nearby activities Whether you are a local looking for new places to explore, or a visitor in the area for business or pleasure, 60 Hikes within 60 Miles: Chicago will provide plenty of options for outings lasting a full day to a couple of hours, all within about an hour's drive of the Windy City and its surrounding communities.

It's Time to Take a Hike! The best way to experience Boston is by hiking it! Get outdoors with local authors and hiking experts Lafe Low and Helen Weatherall as they help you find and enjoy the top hikes within 60 miles of Beantown. A perfect blend of popular trails and hidden gems, the selected trails transport you to scenic overlooks, wildlife hot spots, and historical settings that renew your spirit and recharge your body. See Boston's stellar views from the Skyline Trail at Blues Hills Reservation. Spend hours exploring Purgatory Chasm's dramatic cliffs and rock formations. Enjoy a peaceful, meditative hike on Spectacle Island out in the Boston Harbor. Summit eastern Massachusetts' highest mountain at the Wachusett Mountain State Reservation. With lifelong New Englanders Lafe Low and Helen Weatherall as your guides, you'll learn about the area and experience nature through 60 of Boston's best hikes! Each hike description features key at-a-glance information on distance, difficulty, scenery, traffic, hiking time, and more, so you can quickly and easily learn about each trail. Detailed directions, GPS-based trail maps, and elevation profiles help to ensure that you know where you are and where you're going. Tips on nearby activities further enhance your enjoyment of every outing. Whether you're a local looking for new places to explore or a visitor to the area, 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: Boston provides plenty of options for a couple hours or a full day of adventure, all within about an hour from Boston and the surrounding communities.

Dartmoor hovers at the edge of almost every Devon view, drawing the gaze up towards those high tor-encrusted open spaces. The pull is strong, and Tim Gent's book is written for all walkers answering the call. Introducing Dartmoor, its geology, archaeology, weather, flora and fauna, this book offers advice on when and how to visit, clothing to wear, kit to take and guidance on safe travel. Setting out onto the moor itself, thirty routes are included, ranging in length from 4km to over 80km. Multi-day journeys make the most of permitted wild camping opportunities, and Tim's book also considers the gear and decisions needed to make the most of these overnight stays.

The longest of Britain's National Trails, the South West Coast Path follows the stunning coastline for 630 miles around the southernmost tip of England, from Somerset all the way to Dorset. This newly revised and updated volume covers the third section: 179 miles (288 km) from St Mawes to Dawlish Warren, divided into 14 chapters. It follows the wild craggy cliff paths of South Cornwall and Devon, passing tiny fishing villages where you can still buy today's catch and the great naval harbour of Plymouth, with daily views of an unequalled range of floral, avian and marine wildlife. Walk the whole length of this section of the Coast Path and you will climb and descend 30,000 feet - 1,000 feet more than the height of Mount Everest! For the casual holiday stroller or the fit long-distance walker, this guide contains everything you need. National Trail Guides are the official guidebooks to the fifteen National Trails in England and Wales and are published in association with Walk Unlimited, the official body charged with developing and maintaining the Trails.

101 Hikes in Northern California by Matt Heid benefits readers by narrowing down the multitude of options for hiking in Northern California to the very best of the best adventures. It is distinct from other similar guidebooks in that it covers the northern two-thirds of the state, including nearly the entirety of the Sierra Nevadas south to Kings Canyon National Park, and the entire Big Sur region along the coast south to Silver Peak Wilderness. It also provides significant geographic diversity: hikes are spread out across the entire region. No matter where you are in northern California, you can find a hike in the book within a short drive. The guide is unique in the amount of natural history information it provides, especially the geologic stories of the featured destinations. It provides not just the essential directions for completing a hike, it enhances the experience by telling the story of how the landscape came to be the way it is.

This is a highly detailed and superbly illustrated guidebook to walking in what is probably Scotland's most popular and most accessible range of hills - the splendid Pentland Hills on the outskirts of Edinburgh. 60 varied walks have been carefully selected and described ranging from low level family strolls to easy hill walks and lengthier, more challenging hill and moorland walks. This is an ideal guidebook for both the regular outdoor enthusiast and the occasional visitor, including more than 150 colour photographs, 60 coloured route maps and a unique table of heights listing 157 high points in the Pentland Hills.

"Pathfinder (R) Guide North Coast 500 presents 28 fabulous walks and 32 not-to-be-missed stop-off opportunities in the Northern Highlands, following Scotland's longest and most spectacularly scenic road trip. This guide follows the North Coast 500 in a clockwise circuit, arranged in four convenient chapters: South - Inverness to Braemore Junction West - Braemore Junction to Durness North - Durness to Wick East - Wick to Inverness Setting out in the first chapter in a westerly direction from Inverness, the first walk is encountered at Loch Kinellan, north-west of Muir of Ord. The first west coast-based walk is from Applecross, with others following at Shieldaig, Gairloch and Poolewe, while inland there's a circuit of Loch Coulin in the Torridon mountains and an ascent of Beinn Eighe. In the second chapter, walks explore the amazing geology and landscapes of the west coast from Ullapool, northwards through the wild terrain of Assynt and the Northwest Geo Park, visiting the Traligill Caves and Lochinver, and with a glorious finale to the remote and outstandingly beautiful Sandwood Bay - a real treat. Chapter three provides the opportunity to climb Ben Hope, Scotland's most northerly Munro, where the views from the summit reach over the inaccessible blanket bog expanse of the Flow Country. The other walks explore the headlands, beaches, bays and north coast heritage from Durness, Tongue, Torrisdale and Castletown, with the impressive Stacks of Duncansby the objective of the last walk in the chapter, reaching the most north-easterly tip of mainland Scotland. Visiting a clifftop castle, an historic fishing harbour and seabird colony, chapter four begins with a circuit of Noss Head. Moving down the east coast to Helmsdale, there's a detour inland to tackle Morven and Maiden Pap, and the itinerary continues with a climb up Ben Bhraggie from Golspie, a wood-flanked estuary ramble at Loch Fleet, a stroll around the Seaboard Villages and fishing heritage associated with Hilton, Balintore and Shandwick, and finishing with a walk to the Fyrish Monument and far-reaching views over Cromarty Firth. 28 outstanding circular walks and 32 stop-off strolls at points around the North Coast 500: walks range from 2 to 101/2 miles with clear, large scale Ordnance Survey route maps, GPS waypoints, where to park, and all the places of interest en route. These all-new routes have been researched and written by expert outdoor writer Felicity Martin and showcase beautiful photography of scenes from the walks. Pathfinder (R) Guides are Britain's best-loved walking guides. Printed with weather-resistant covers featuring durable rounded corners, they are the perfect companion for country walking throughout Britain. With 80 titles in the series, and 2000 routes to choose from, a wealth of walks is available throughout England, Scotland and Wales from Land's End to Shetland and the Lleyn Peninsula to Southwold."

One of seven books in the new Top 10 Walks: South West Coast Path series, these attractive and cleverly structured guides will give walkers ten of the best short circular walks along each of the five ssections fo the 630-muile long Sout West Coast Path in a popular pocket-size format. With clear information, an overview and introcution for each walk, expertly written numbered directions, large scale Ordnance Survey maps, superb eye-grabbing panoramic photograph,a nd interpretations of points of interest along the way, these guides set a new standard in clarity and ease-of-use. Featured pub walks along the South Devon Coast include: Ship Inn, Noss Mayo; Dolphin Inn, Kingston; Sloop Inn, Bantham; Hope & Anchor, Hope Cove; Pig's Nose inn, East Prawle; Cricket Inn, Beesands; Steam Packet Inn, Kingswear; King's Arms, Otterton; Swan Inn, Sidmouth and the Fountain Head, Branscombe.

This is the updated 2nd edition, now in full colour. "Scrambles & Easy Climbs in the Lake District" is about the appreciation of rock, the exhilaration of climbing, and the sheer pleasure of doing it in some of the most beautiful places on earth. By discarding the arbitrary division between scrambles and rock-climbs, the books makes its readers free to explore all the Lake District's rocky places. This book, by two experienced rock-climbers, Jon Sparks and Judith Brown, also offers sound advice on how to get started and how to progress; routes that are safe in the wet, and those that should be saved for perfect conditions; and, where to eat, drink and sleep between the ascents. But above all you'll find 69 routes, from scrambling Grade 1 to rock-climbing V.Diff, which explore the many faces of Lakeland rock. There is no better way to spend a Lakeland day than climbing Scafell Pike via the Esk Gorge, Thor's Buttress and Ill Crags. "Scrambles & Easy Climbs" offers a score of such expeditions, from valley floor to airy summit, with hands on rock almost all the way. Less arduous, but equally enjoyable, are days on valley crags like Shepherd's or stand-alone scrambles like Cam Crag Ridge. You can clamber on sunny Pikes Crag high above Wasdale Head; potter about above the oak woods of the Duddon valley; or climb Kirk Fell the wet way, through the waterfalls of Ill Gill.

The Inland Empire, with its mountain, foothill, valley, and desert recreational opportunities, is a hiker's paradise. Afoot & Afield: Inland Empire describes more than 250 noteworthy hikes, ranging from easy to very strenuous, in this comprehensive hiking guide to the length and breadth of the Inland Empire. These hikes explore Southern California's three tallest mountains; the stark beauty of the high desert, including Joshua Tree National Park and Mojave National Preserve; as well as trails that wind through urban and regional parks. Each hike is shown on custom-created maps that also include GPS waypoints. The maps alone are worth the price of the book.