A well-organized guide to 52 national parks in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas and Utah. One of the most complete guides to the national parks ever written. Includes 53 maps and photos.

Newly revised and updated, this guide offers practical travel information to the desert Southwest's national parks.

* More than 100 hikes included * Includes lesser-visited Dinosaur National Monument, Salinas National Monument, Snow Canyon State Park, and northern San Rafael Swel, as well as the major parks and wilderness areas * Includes trips in more recently designated national monuments and wilderness areas such as Grand Staircase-Escalante, Canyons of the Ancients, Black Ridge Canyons, and more Hiking the Southwest Canyon Country will take you from the Colorado Plateau to the Grand Canyon to the banks of the Rio Grande. Perfect for hikers off all levels, this guidebook features trips that highlight the dramatic scenery of the Four Corners Region, from waterfalls and natural bridges to slot canyons. Each itinerary offers options such as day hikes, backpacking trips, scenic drives, raft trips, and visits to archaeological sites. You'll find a "Best Places Adventure Chart" that compares features of hikes such as rock art, arches, and serene rivers.

Professional illustrator Fian Arroyo portrays 65 of the region's most famous settings in national parks, monuments, recreation areas, and more, creating ideal coloring pages for hours of meditative, stress-reducing fun.

Please note this is part of a larger work, Your Guide to the National Parks, which is also available in paperback and electronic versions. The full version includes suggested trips, best of the best lists, and a few other introductory sections. All of the media (photos and maps) for these electronic books must be downloaded/viewed on the web. This e-book covers Rocky Mountain, Great Sand Dunes, Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Mesa Verde, Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Bryce Canyon, Zion, Grand Canyon, and Great Basin National Parks.

At the end of the twentieth century roughly 265 million people visited the 374 sites in the American National Park System. These places, designated and protected because of their significance to our nation’s historical and natural heritage, contain some of the most beautiful landscapes in the United States—landscapes that naturally lend themselves to outdoor recreation. In this book, veteran parks interpreter Ro Wauer introduces the pleasures of birding in the national parks of the American Southwest. From California to Texas, from hugely popular destinations such as Arizona’s Grand Canyon to the mostly undiscovered shores of Amistad National Recreation Area, Wauer visits seventeen sites and gives us his advice on what birds to expect to see and where and how to find them. Written by a birder for birders, this book introduces readers to some of the best birding north of the Mexican border, as well as some of the most impressive scenery anywhere. Wauer takes readers on a personal tour, pointing out where to go to see a vast array of each park’s bird life: Le Conte’s Thrashers in Death Valley, Clark’s and Western Grebes at Lake Mead, Phainopeplas at Organ Pipe Cactus, Lucy’s Warblers at Saguaro, Peregrine Falcons in Grand Canyon, Cave Swallows at Carlsbad Caverns, Magnificent Hummingbirds at Guadalupe Mountains, and Colima Warblers in Big Bend. Birding the Southwestern National Parks is written for anyone visiting, planning to visit, or dreaming of visiting the Southwestern national parks. The Southwestern Parks: Death Valley National Park, California and Nevada Joshua Tree National Park, California Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Nevada and Arizona Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona Sunset Crater Volcano, Wupatki, and Walnut Canyon National Monuments, Arizona Montezuma Castle National Monument, Arizona Tonto National Monument, Arizona Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Arizona Saguaro National Park, Arizona Chiricahua National Monument, Arizona Carlsbad Caverns and Guadalupe Mountains National Parks, New Mexico and Texas White Sands National Monument, New Mexico Big Bend National Park, Texas Amistad National Recreation Area, Texas

The seven most amazing national parks within the Southwest United States are covered in full within these pages; from what to do, where to stay, and dining options, both inside the parks and nearby. All surrounding national monuments and state parks are also described in detail. This book is packed with maps, pictures, tips, stories, and fun!