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Authors: Thomas Wiewandt & Maureen Wilks
Softcover: 207 pages
A concise and informative guide to awe-inspiring landscapes of the American Southwest—what they are, where they are, and how they came to be—richly illustrated with over 300 color photographs, 33 drawings, and seven customized maps.
This book is full of surprises that even long-time residents of the Southwest will appreciate. Among them are hoodoos, hanging gardens, musical dunes, racing rocks, vanishing lakes, sensuous slot canyons, dinosaurs, and cosmic collisions. You'll discover which volcanoes are potentially dangerous, what makes the Grand Canyon grand, how the Painted Desert got its colors, where to find notable petroglyphs, and much, much more.
The text blends travel tips, Native American legends, prehistoric and historic vignettes, and non-technical explanations of earthly processes and events that have shaped land, people, and wildlife.
And for travelers seeking outdoor adventure, you'll find helpful websites, photographic tips, and annotated listings for 61 books and 100 scenic attractions, supported by a full index. Included are 39 national parks and national monuments, plus many state parks and other sites worth exploring. A key identifies those with food, lodging, camping areas, back-country hiking, water, and toilets. As an added bonus, a 15" x 20" tear-out road map makes it easy to find places mentioned in the text.
Unlike most books on the Southwest, this one covers a broader region—the Greater Southwest—defined more by natural features of desert and canyon country than by political boundaries. So in addition to Arizona, Utah, Nevada, and New Mexico, you'll find much of southern California, western Texas, western Colorado, and parts of northern Mexico—a great benefit to travelers.
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