Three Great Hiking Books for Beginners!

An integral part of any successful hiking excursion is pre-trip research. With websites (like this one) making resource-hunting easier than ever before, less and less frequently do you see prospective hikers turning to the printed page for advice.

Despite a large amount of advice around, websites will rarely have the space to dig as deep as a good book does. When it comes to comprehensive topics, a good hiking book will provide everything you need inside of it. Secondly, books can be a great way to gain understanding of hiking, and explore philosophies of hiking and outdoor life.

Whether you are hunting for a good story, an ultimate gear wishlist, or inspiration for your next adventure, look no further. I have narrowed down three strong recommendations for each category that will be useful to anyone looking for a bit more knowledge on Hiking and Backcountry Camping.

Gear

The Book: The Ultimate Hiker’s Gear Guide, Second Edition: Tools and Techniques to Hit the Trail ( on Amazon here )

This book is an updated edition of the massively popular Hiker’s Guide published by National Geographic in 2012. This guide contains not just gear lists, but also comes with travel anecdotes and advice to make any trip successful. This guide uses a show-and-tell strategy to unveil each piece of a good supply list for any hiker.

The second edition released in 2017 contains updated gear recommendations, along with added content about other essentials, like food. Andrew Skurka’s massive experience on the trail gives him a seasoned perspective on gear, but his book is approachable to anyone from new Hikers to experts. This book is designed for anyone who wants a clear, distilled vision of what they need for Backpacking. Skurka’s approach to writing and preparing for a trail keeps it concise for readers, making this a surprisingly casual read. Another great aspect of this book is if you plan it right, it could save you on hundreds of dollars worth of gear you don’t need before you buy! The Ultimate Hiker’s Gear Guide is a really good addition for anyone interested in maximizing their gear potential without overspending.

The Author: Andrew Skurka

Andrew Skurka is a renowned backpacker with some amazing accolades under his belt. He is known for massive long-distance treks with minimal gear, covering these trails at near super-human speeds. Some of his famous treks include the Alaska-Yukon Expedition, which took 6 months and covered thousands of miles, to an 11-month trek called the sea to Sea Route. Andrew was named “Adventurer of the Year” by National Geographic and Outside in 2007 and 2011, respectively. He is one of the forefathers of ultralight backpacking and uses his expertise to run his own website here, along with his various guidebooks and published works.

Get this book if you’re:

• Looking to maximize your gear potential for your next trek

• Interested in trimming your pack load

• Want an in-depth guide with substance

• Find it on Amazon here.

Inspiration

The Book: Fifty Places to Hike Before You Die ( on Amazon here )

For some easy inspiration, check out this book. A part of a larger series, this Fifty Places book reveals some of the top 50 destinations for any hiker to travel across the globe.

Fifty Places to Hike Before You Die is not designed to be as in-depth as other guidebooks but serves as an illuminating coffee table read. The contents of the book take the reader to many distant locales across the globe, on long treks or short ones, in communities or the wilderness. The author of Fifty Places compiled interviews and resources from experts all over the globe for this book, giving the reader a diverse sense of the trekking community as well. I really appreciate the varied takes on each destination in this book, not just focusing on intense altitude hikes or leisurely strolls but including a mix of both instead. Although this book is not a substitute for a trail guide, keep this one around for a jumping-off point for worldly expeditions!

The Author: Chris Santella

Chris Santella is the author of several, most notably six other titles in the Fifty Places series. When he isn’t fly-fishing and golfing, he is writing freelance for publications like the New York Times, Forbes.com, and the New Yorker. He became a writer after a nearly twenty-year career in marketing and advertising, too.

A good book for:

• Easy inspiration

• A casual read

• A conversation starter

Narrative

The Book: Into the Wild ( Found on Amazon )

This book might be one of my favorite adventure books out there. Jon Krakauer is a master of uncovering the story as you read, which is at the same time gripping, exhilarating, and tragic.

The book follows two parallel journeys that happen years apart. Jon Krakauer narrates his journey to uncover the life and untimely demise of Chris McCandless, while the reader discovers the path McCandless from his comfortable life all the way to Alaska, with nothing more than a spirit of adventure. This book is an investigative novel that uncovers the true story of what happened to Chris and paints a picture of a young man searching (perhaps naively), for freedom from the status quo. I will not mince words, this book is divisive and controversial to some, and although I would never follow in the footsteps of McCandless, I understand what drove him to his ends, and I believe a seed of that adventurous spirit is in anyone who hikes. The existential and philosophical ideas tied into this book bring it to another level for me, and it inspired me to pursue my goals even harder rather than the opposite.

The Author: Jon Krakauer

First, let me point you to his website: https://www.jonkrakauer.com/. He is well known for his other book Into Thin Air, documenting an Everest expedition gone wrong, one the Krakauer participated in. He has won many awards for his works, and Into the Wild has been made a major motion picture. Krakauer is also an experienced mountaineer, which draws him to investigate his own interests in his novels.

Pick up this book for:

• A great story, well told

• A reinvigoration of the soul

• An engaging author at work

Thanks for reading, stay tuned for more book lists in the future! Happy travels!

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