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Using Top Trails

Organization of Top Trails

The Top Trails series is designed to make identifying the perfect trail easy and enjoyable, and to make every outing a success and a pleasure. With this book you’ll find it’s a snap to select the right trail, whether you’re planning a major hike or just a sociable stroll with friends.

The Region

Top Trails begins with the Greater Yellowstone map, displaying the entire region covered by the guide and providing a geographic overview. The map is clearly marked to show which area is covered by which chapter.

After the regional map comes the Yellowstone and Grand Teton Trails table, which lists every trail covered in the guide, along with attributes for each one. A quick reading of the regional map and the trail table will give you a good overview of the region covered by this book.

The Areas

The region covered by this book is divided into areas, with each chapter corresponding to one area in the region.

Each area chapter starts with information to help you choose and enjoy a trail each time you go out. Use the table of contents or the regional map to identify an area of interest, and then turn to the area chapter to find the following:

• An area overview, including maps and permits

• An area map, with all trails clearly marked

• A trail feature table, providing trail-by-trail details

• Trail summaries, written in a lively, accessible style

The Trails

The basic building block of the Top Trails guide is the trail entry. Each one is arranged to make finding and following the trail as simple as possible, with all pertinent information presented in an easy-to-follow format:

• A trail map

• Trail descriptors covering difficulty, length, and other essential data

• Narrative trail text

• Trail milestones, providing turn-by-turn trail directions

Some trail descriptions offer additional information, such as:

• An elevation profile

• Trail options

• Trail highlights

• Trail teasers

In the margins of the trail entries, look for icons that point out notable features at specific points along the trail.

Choosing a Trail

Top Trails provides several ways of choosing a trail, presented in easy-to-read tables, charts, and maps.

Location

If you know in general where you want to go, Top Trails makes it easy to find the right trail in the right place. Each chapter begins with a large-scale map showing the starting point of every trail in that area.

Features

This guide describes the top trails of Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, and each trail is chosen because it offers one or more features that make it appealing. Using the trail descriptors, summaries, and tables, you can quickly examine all the trails for the features they offer or seek a particular feature among the list of trails.

Season and Condition

Time of year and current conditions can be important factors in selecting the best trail. For example, an exposed, low-elevation trail may be a riot of color in early spring but an oven-baked taste of hell in midsummer. Wherever relevant, Top Trails identifies the best and worst conditions for the trails.

Difficulty

The overall difficulty of each trail is rated on a scale of 1–5, which considers length, elevation change, exposure, and trail quality to establish one (admittedly subjective) rating. The ratings assume you are an able-bodied adult who is in reasonably good shape and using the trail for hiking. The ratings also assume normal weather conditions—clear and dry. Make an honest assessment of your own abilities, and adjust time estimates accordingly. Rain, snow, heat, wind, and poor visibility can also affect your pace on even the easiest of trails.

Vertical Feet

Every trail description contains the approximate trail length and the overall elevation gain and loss over the course of the trail. It’s important to use both figures when considering a hike; on average, plan one hour for every 2 miles, and add an hour for every 1,000 feet you climb.

This important measurement is often underestimated by hikers when gauging the difficulty of a trail. The Top Trails measurement accounts for all elevation change, not simply the difference between the highest and lowest points, so you can identify rolling terrain with lots of ups and downs.

The calculation of vertical feet in the Top Trails series is accomplished by a combination of trail measurement and computer-aided estimation. For routes that begin and end at the same spot—such as loop or out-and-back—the vertical gain exactly matches the vertical descent. With a point-to-point route, the vertical gain and loss will most likely differ, and both figures will be provided in the text.

Finally, all trail entries with more than 1,000 feet of elevation gain include an elevation profile—an easy means of visualizing the topography of the route. These profiles graphically depict the elevation over the length of the trail.

Surface Type

Each trail entry describes the surface of the trail. This information is useful in determining what type of footwear is appropriate. Surface type should also be considered when checking the weather—on a rainy day early or late in the hiking season, a dirt surface can be a muddy slog; a boardwalk jaunt or gravel surface might be a better choice.

Top Trails Difficulty Ratings

1. A short trail, generally level, that can be completed in one hour or less.

2. A route of 1 to 3 miles, with some up and down, that can be completed in one to two hours.

3. A longer route, up to 5 miles, with uphill and/or downhill sections.

4. A long or steep route, perhaps more than 5 miles, or with climbs of more than 1,000 vertical feet.

5. The most severe route, both long and steep, more than 5 miles long, with climbs of more than 1,000 vertical feet.