Shenandoah ATC guide book necessary?

[CherrypieScout]

I will be section hiking from Harper's Ferry to Humpback Mtn this summer. Do I really need both ATC guide books? I like to read and know details about where I will be hiking, but really do not want to purchase two separate guide books with maps. OR better yet, does anyone have the North VA/Maryland guide book and the Shenandoah Park book for sale?

[minnesotasmith]

I found that Wingfoot and the Park map together were plenty of information for me when I hiked through there 2 years ago. I haven't read the SNP guidebook, though, so can't judge how much more use having it might be.

[Cookerhiker]

It depends just how much you want to know. For hiking, I don't think you need the guidebooks - just the maps. The entire stretch you're hiking is maintained by PATC who publishes all the maps - here's the link to their store. You can also look at the on-line Companion for tips concerning local services. Since you're hiking all of Shenandoah NP, info is available from their website (which is down as of this post).

Have a good hike.

[Rain Man]

Just beware that the ATC Guidebook for the SNP is from about 1999, I think. So, it's somewhat out of date and contains some "bad" info, such as saying that the Panorama wayside is open. It's not.

You could probably get updated info from the ATC or on here, if you want to make notes of what's gone out of date since 1999.

RainMan

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