Rating: 
Summary: Average Guide
Review: The problem with this guide is that although it has nothing specifically wrong with it, the book has nothing specifically to recommend it.
The maps are better than some, but aren't topographic maps you can actually navigate by. The trail descriptions are dry and boring and tend to overemphasize the vegetation one is likely to find or the geological features that really have little to do with how your feet are reacting to the trail.
Finally, I suspect that most Olympic National FOREST managers resent having the several hundred miles of their trails listed as being in Olympic National PARK. That won't matter to your boots, but I'm guessing the author won't win any popularity contests on the Olympic Peninsula.
If you're looking for a great backpacking guide to the Olympic Mountains, I'd suggest Robert L. Wood's Olympic Mountains Trail Guide. If you're planning on day hikes, I don't think you can beat the new Day Hike! Olympic Peninsula, by Seabury Jr. Blair
Rating: 
Summary: There has to be a better guide to the Olympic coast.
Review: This book is copyright 1995, and its entries seem to be every bit this out-of-date. Of those I know, one trail re-opened years ago is listed as closed; one trail marked is no longer; one trail missing has been around for years. I can only assume trails closed for years are listed as open. The maps are likewise poor, missing many details such as maybe half the privy locations I know of and at least one trail where there is none. The trail descriptions look encouraging at first but as I read them more closely provide little information useful for predicting how a group might fare on the journey.At a minimum, an updated version of this book is overdue. Maybe I expect too much of a trail guide, but it almost makes me wish Ira Spring had a book covering the Olympic coast. On the bright side, the best thing about this dearth of coverage is that it helps keep the coast in relative wilderness.
Rating:
Summary: There has to be a better guide to the Olympic coast.
Review: This book is copyright 1995, and its entries seem to be every bit this out-of-date. Of those I know, one trail re-opened years ago is listed as closed; one trail marked is no longer; one trail missing has been around for years. I can only assume trails closed for years are listed as open. The maps are likewise poor, missing many details such as maybe half the privy locations I know of and at least one trail where there is none. The trail descriptions look encouraging at first but as I read them more closely provide little information useful for predicting how a group might fare on the journey. At a minimum, an updated version of this book is overdue. Maybe I expect too much of a trail guide, but it almost makes me wish Ira Spring had a book covering the Olympic coast. On the bright side, the best thing about this dearth of coverage is that it helps keep the coast in relative wilderness.
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