Which of the ATC guide books do you like best?

[earlyriser26]

It seems that each of the 12 ATC guide books does it a little differently. The Maine Guide book really is just a summary with little specific description. I wish I could find my old Maine guide books, I liked them much more than the current format.

[WalkinHome]

I would be interested in what you are looking for in a guidebook-what would your ideal book have in it?

[Tennessee Viking]

I would say the TN/NC book. Because I know the editor and he keeps it very detailed. And I have a couple photos listed in it.

[Cookerhiker]

And in that spirit, I'm equally partial to


Southwestern Virginia
Northern Virginia/Maryland
Vermont/New Hampshire
because all 3 have photos from someone I know pretty well.;)

[WalkinHome]

So, is this a serious thread about what hikers wish to see in the ATC guidebooks or is it a troll?

[Cookerhiker]

I think it's a fair question but for my part, no one particular guide out of the entire set stands out as "the best" or "the worst." IMO, all of the guidebooks have improved over the years.

[Lord Helment]

so i guess your referencing a book that describes the trail, relates logistical and historical information, etc......rather than a trail guide which provides mileage, terrain profiles, town info etc........cause if your interested ain a trail guide it doesn't get any better than awol's at trail guide.......using it on my sobo thru which begins in under 3 weeks.......

[Blissful]

And in that spirit, I'm equally partial to


Southwestern Virginia
Northern Virginia/Maryland
Vermont/New Hampshire

because all 3 have photos from someone I know pretty well.;)


Nope - partiality extends to just VT/NH (for me)

:D:D

[emerald]

So I guess you're referencing a book...


Which of the ATC guide books do you like best?

The question relates to ATC's guides (https://www.atctrailstore.org/catalog/itemlist.cfm?catid=149&submit.x=9&submit.y=11) and their somewhat different and evolving approaches to presenting information.

[max patch]

I hate to say anything critical about the GATC as they do a wonderful job in GA, but I recently replaced my 1985 trail guide with the current one and I find the new version cumbersome to use. And it somehow grew 100 pages!

[Carl in FL]

I hate to say anything critical about the GATC as they do a wonderful job in GA, but I recently replaced my 1985 trail guide with the current one and I find the new version cumbersome to use. And it somehow grew 100 pages!

Is this something the GATC puts out? I could not find it on their website.
Or is this the ATC Georgia Guide?

[Cookerhiker]

Is this something the GATC puts out? I could not find it on their website.
Or is this the ATC Georgia Guide?

The general pattern (with some exceptions) is that the guidebook is published by the ATC but the authorship is from the local club(s).

[WalkinHome]

Well, it is too bad that an opportunity to possibly influence what exactly does go into an ATC guide is being passed up. With little or no specific likes or dislikes, except for a guidebook growing 100 pages, the folks that have input to the next edition of any guidebook have nothing to learn here. How would a person know which 100 pages and what content to slim down in the next edition? Of course few thru's carry the ATC guidebooks - I know I didn't so it may be moot.

[hikerboy57]

i happen t like the new ME set, as most of the info is on the map itself, so theres no reason to lug along the guide, and as AWOLS guide and the companion are both much better sourcesof info than the actual ATC guides. My original set of ME maps and book are from the mid 80s its actually pretty cool , with identified animal prints scattered throughout the guide. It is a bit strange that the ATC guides are not uniform, and wheres my elevation map for the Smokies?

[max patch]

and wheres my elevation map for the Smokies?

The new GA/NC Guidebook includes the National Geographic map for the GSMNP and there is an elevation profile on it.

[hikerboy57]

The new GA/NC Guidebook includes the National Geographic map for the GSMNP and there is an elevation profile on it.
Max patch- are you sure(im betting you are)? I dont remember seeing it on the map. Ill check again tonight when I get home.But thats what I get the most from out of the sets, I like to know the ups and downs, as a topo alone doesnt always give you an accurate picture.

[max patch]

Yes. It is much too small, though. Compared to the GA/NC maps it comes bundled with it almost seems like an afterthought. But its there.

[wcgornto]

The elevation profile on the National Geographic map for the GSMNP is the worst elevation profile of the entire AT map set, by far.

[CowHead]

I like the ones with soft pages they make the best TP you can find

[emerald]

AWOL's guide and the ATC/ALDHA Companion are both much better sources of info than the official ATC guides.

What's best is determined by what information ATC seeks to communicate and what is sought by its customers, not all of whom are long distance hikers.

Unfortunately, many through hikers seem to be interested in little more than pack weight and being provided with a menu of hiker services. I continue to believe both the trail itself and through hikers are poorer for it.


It is a bit strange that the ATC guides are not uniform...

The A.T. itself is not uniform. Consider that experimenting with different approaches isn't necessarily a bad idea and may be a good way to find out what works and what doesn't.

[hikerboy57]

great points, emerald, and we seem to forget that the AT wasnt designed for thruhiking in the first place, and as Ive sectioned most of the northern half of the At, I would think the ATC would provide more detailed maps showing more side trails, possible loop hikes(which they actually list suggestions for in some of the guides).

[Carl in FL]

The original question, "Which of the ATC guide books do you like best?" can only be
determined, and answered, by the individual poster, and not the ATC.



The A.T. itself is not uniform. Consider that experimenting with different approaches isn't necessarily a bad idea and may be a good way to find out what works and what doesn't.



Agree 100% on that.

[Sly]

And in that spirit, I'm equally partial to


Southwestern Virginia
Northern Virginia/Maryland
Vermont/New Hampshire

because all 3 have photos from someone I know pretty well.;)

I'm not sure which year you're speaking of but the New Hampshire/ Vermont guidebook has bee recently revamped.

Attached is an example..

[Cookerhiker]

And in that spirit, I'm equally partial to


Southwestern Virginia
Northern Virginia/Maryland
Vermont/New Hampshire
because all 3 have photos from someone I know pretty well.;)


I'm not sure which year you're speaking of but the New Hampshire/ Vermont guidebook has bee recently revamped.

Attached is an example..

How recent? 2 of my pics are in the 2008 edition which I thought was the most recent. It hit me by surprise; unlike the other 2 where I knew my photos were included, I received a NH-VT guide in the mail without knowing why. Opened it up and found my Stratton Pond sunset pic on page 263 and more surprisingly, a photo of a stile in the beginning on page 6.

The stile photo was taken in Virginia, not New England. I suspect it was a "make-up" photo. The same photo was included in the SW Virginia guide but erroneously credited to someone else. The ATC staffer couldn't stop apologizing over that one.

[Cookerhiker]

.... I would think the ATC would provide more detailed maps showing more side trails, possible loop hikes(which they actually list suggestions for in some of the guides).

This is an advantage of the guidebooks not found in much detail if at all in the services handbooks e.g. Companion. I didn't go back to look at all my guides so I can't say which ones are stronger in that regard but at least some provide a reasonable degree of detail on those side trails.

[hikerboy57]

Most of my ATC guides do provide some description of side trails, but nothing on the maps.I almost got lost trying to find Dryad falls in ME last summer. ( iturned around after I had lost the trail, I was alone and if I got into trouble, noone wouldve known where I was).

[Carl in FL]

I would think the ATC would provide more detailed maps showing more side trails, possible loop hikes(which they actually list suggestions for in some of the guides).



I'd like to see more of that as well. It is always beneficial to know where side
trails take you, if you need to deviate from your original plans.

[Sly]

How recent? 2 of my pics are in the 2008 edition which I thought was the most recent. It hit me by surprise; unlike the other 2 where I knew my photos were included, I received a NH-VT guide in the mail without knowing why. Opened it up and found my Stratton Pond sunset pic on page 263 and more surprisingly, a photo of a stile in the beginning on page 6.


Within the past year or so. Here's the cover.

[Cookerhiker]

Within the past year or so. Here's the cover.

Yep, that's it.

[k2basecamp]

Have me guide but will be taking maps only on my hike. Gone are the days of removing the moth-south or south-north sections

[k2basecamp]

Have me guide but will be taking maps only on my hike. Gone are the days of removing the moth-south or south-north sections

[Lauriep]

I'm not involved in any part of the publication of ATC's guidebooks, but I can pass along a few bits of information:

ATC publishes 7 of 11 of the official, detailed sectional A.T. guidebooks and the corresponding maps (except for the Smokies map, which is published by National Geographic). The Maine A.T. Club publishes the A.T. Guide to Maine, Keystone Trails Association publishes the A.T. Guide to Pennsylvania, and the Potomac A.T. Club publishes the A.T. Guide to Maryland-Northern Virginia and Shenandoah National Park.

For the guides we do publish, volunteers do the field work and editing; ATC does the final round of edits, selects the photos, and provides most of the standard language in the front and back of the books.

The goal is to standardize our 7 guidebooks, using a uni-directional format, but there is sometimes a little variation from book to book, particularly in the older guides. My understanding is that we encourage the clubs who publish their own guides to follow our standards, but we are fairly hands-off in respecting their traditions and what has worked for them.

We typically do most of the work on the maps, relying on club volunteers for updates about changes in the field.

These days, the audience for guidebooks ranges from day-hikers to section-hikers. Only a small number of thru-hikers buy them, and most of those leave them at home and use them only for reference before or after their hikes.

There are many other threads here about A.T. maps.

Laurie P.
ATC

[Jack Tarlin]

I understand the "hands off" feeling regards what the local clubs do with their publications, but a few quick things come to mind:

*The Maine guide and maps are so far away better than anything out there (especially their maps!) that this should really be the model for other clubs and publications.

*Having yet again spent several weeks hiking and traveling in Virginia, it needs to be said plainly that the Virginia maps (i.e. the 5 maps that cover from Damascus to Waynesboro) are essentially medieval, are often useless when it comes to conveying information more than a mile from the Trail corridor; are embarassing when compared to the National Geographic maps that cover Virginia; and they really need to be completely re-thought, re-signed, re-figured. Many of them have been essentially unchanged or unimproved for years.

*The "hands off" tradition when it comes to guidebooks and maps is all well and good,but I honestly believe that one of the reasons that fewer people buy them every year (especially the maps) is that they some of them simply aren't very good.

*Some of these substandard maps are not published by local clubs but are instead put out by the A.T.C. I have long advocated that everyone who spends any serious amount of time on the Trail purchase, carry, and use current Trail maps, but the simple truth is that some of these maps are horrible, which is a real impediment when one is trying to convince people to purchase and use them.

*There has been great improvement in recent years....for example the Pennsylvania maps are now excellent; for years they were indescribably awful. Recently, some of the southern maps, like those covering Springer MT. to Damascus VA have been re-worked, and they're great. Likewise, my own backyard, Vermont and New Hampshire was finally given new maps, also excellent. But hundreds of miles of the Trail in Virginia is still covered my maps that are difficult on the eye, contain too much text and too little map, and have been needing updates and modernization for years. It sure would be nice to see this happen, and it would be great if the local trail clubs AND the ATC would give this some serious consideration.