This book should NOT be sold as a new book - its information is obsolete.

I used this book several weeks ago and got into trouble because every I-75 exit number in the book is incorrect. This is the case on all the Georgia maps and coupons. Georgia changed its exit numbers last February (it announced this change 3 years ago) and removed all the old numbers. This book shows only the old numbers and was therefore no good to us.

I paid good money for this book and didn't expect out of date information.

You can read the other reviews and they are scathing, but accurate. I live in Georgia and use I-75 to go south to Florida and, yes, every exit number in Georgia is incorrect and with a publishing date of May 1999,and a three-year-old state announcement that in February 2000 all the exit numbers would be changed, this is a significant faux pas on the part of the author. And, with all the coupons and advertisements in this book, it does feel like one of those motel discount publications that you can pick up at truck stops and gas stations in every state. The print quality, paper and really small font size (pica 6!) are a significant distraction, but this is not all the author's fault, there was a publisher involved in this too, eh?

So what is there about this book that is redeeming. What does Christine Marks have that you can't find in a USA Guide, or State Guide? I was impressed by information on various locations, communities and counties. Christine Marks did a lot of digging to come up with some very interesting and provocative vignettes. County information, cultural insights, historic blurbs that were NOT in my other state travel guides. I am a Bar-B-Que afficionado and I did not know that in October, in Vienna, GA, there is The Georgia Barbecue Championship! Or that Fried Green Tomatoes are found at the Whistle Stop Café in Juliette, Ga. I like these tidbits of information and this, and this alone, makes the book valuable to keep. I also like the concept of the guide following a route, providing information with maps that break the journey down in bite size portions. These two aspects, especially the unique information, makes me keep this book. It is my hope that Christine Marks pushes this forward, gets the right exit numbers, larger readable fonts, better paper and printing, and dumps the blatant trashy advertising. With the number of cars that roam up and down this huge stretch of highway there is a market for good guides. Conditionally recommended.

In response to the "un-generous" comments previously written about this book, I would like to submit a counter argument that the book isn't all that horrific. And how can one with any common sense compare a new author with Dave Hunter who has been around for several years. Also, I honestly doubt his first book was of the quality that he offers currently....did you ever hear of giving someone a chance?

signed, Frustrated in Windsor

I agree with the other commentaries. The book is outdated. Trailheads and trails have changed too much to use this book.

It is good for finding Hikes - but take a hiking map with you (from Appalachian Mountain Club or elsewhere) and have a better day.

This book is currently out of print because it has become so outdated. I'm taking issue with Backcountry Publications and their parent firm, WW Norton, for allowing the book to appear, be sold, reviewed, rated, or in any way passed off as "reliable". This book was contracted in 1982, appeared in 1984, and has been very, very successful until the past few years. A new edition appeared in 1994, but this new edition was not accurately updated. I wrote the Catskill (northern) chapters to this book, while my coauthor(s) wrote the southern sections, which are the most outdated (for one reason or another). I would like to invite all of you to contact me personally if you have any problems with the Catskill chapters in this book (so far, nobody has mentioned any).

If you do purchase it, do so only for historical interest. This book is NO LONGER RELIABLE FOR FIELD USE. Thank you, Peter Kick peterwkick@aol.com

My friend and I have attempted five of the hikes described in Kick's book, and there have always been difficulties. Often, the trail continues accordingly, the scenery reflecting what Kick has described. Once you are deep into the wilderness, quite isolated from civilization, the descriptions in the book no longer match what you are seeing: yellow trails, red trails, blue trails, all disappear, and you find yourself thinking evil thoughts about Peter Kick. I will say this - Mr. Kick is quite the practical joker; lead people deep into the woods, and leave them hanging high and dry. My advice to those courageous enough to use this imaginary hiking guide: bring a week's worth of water and provisions, and a cell phone. Perhaps this book needs serious updating - or termination of publishing. Good luck and God bless.

The Editor's Review of this "not a book" paperback book called it an indispensable guide. I'd consider it so dispensable as to be tempted to toss it in the garbage.

First, it is NOT a paperback book. It is a laminated, folded card (very large, but still a card) with side view illustrations of many species of birds along with their genus and species name. There is no other text whatsoever. First, I dislike illustrations of wildlife very much. Photos are much more reliable. From this card you cannot possibly tell the difference between a House Finch and a Purple Finch, for instance. It would be useless for identifying many other birds as well.

Unless you already know birds fairly well and simply want to carry this card along in your pocket (because it's probably waterproof and you could write on it with grease pencil or dry erase marker), then I recommend you find other reference material.

This is NOT a "book" and in my opinion it should've been listed as a *pamphlet* not a "paperback". If you know your birds well enough (you wouldn't need this), it would make a decent quick-reference guide. But if you're looking for any detail (at all) about the species of birds in CT, their habits, diets, etc., then this is NOT for you. I do find it handy when I notice a new bird because it's easy to scan quickly, but for any informative detail, try elsewhere.

A real disappointment. I have looked over the "Quadrant" series by Eckart and it was much better. I would recommend a book search for the "Gems and Minerals of America" by Jay Ellis Ransom, it has much more comprehensive information and a lot more than even the "Quadrant" series contains. But of course local "collecting guides" are even better. Contact the clubs in the area you are going to visit and see if they will let you go on one of their field trips or suggest a location. I'm VP of the Montgomery Gem and Mineral Society, we would love to take you on a trip.

This book is loaded with useless information. If your looking for someplace to mine gold or gems. This book will not tell you. It does however provide you with guide services contact information.So if your looking for a river or area in your state where you can pan some gold. Don't look in this book! I didn't see anything you can't see in the yellow pages of your local phone book.

Very few sites listed, and mostly out-of-date info. Of no use in planning a trip. Save your money.

Do not buy this book! The inaccurate maps will drive you crazy! Maybe if you already knew Philadelphia, it'd be okay. But then, you wouldn't really need the book. Letters to the publisher have gone unanswered. I'd seriously consider never buying another Access Guide on the basis of this one.

If you're unfamiliar with the Access Guide series, the text and maps are keyed to each other by numbers. However, the maps printed in our copy of the 4th edition are unchanged from our copy of the 3rd edition, while the numbers in the text have changed as entries were added and deleted. As a consequence, the numbers on the maps often bear no relation to the numbers in the text, making the book less useful. Try to find the third edition -- not that much changed in the fourth edition -- or wait a few years for the fifth edition. It's a shame, the Access Guides are generally among the most useful for the casual tourist. Don't try looking at the URL given on the back cover of the 4th edition for corrections -- that web site has no content. E-mail to the publisher has not elicited an acknowledgement of the problem after ten days.

Incredibly inaccurate. Flashmaps: where are you when we need you?

This book does not incorporate any standards of rating, allowing for no quantitative comparison of any aspect between properties. Instead the authors rely heavily on flowery, subjective descriptions. There are also no photos in this book, save the color advertising inserts, (Amex, Fordors, and MCI). But the biggest blunder this book makes is that none of the 342 properties are ever shown on a map!! Since the book organizes them alphabetically by area, its virtually useless as a reference guide. All in all; this book obviously required a lot of resources and research to produce. It seems ridiculous that it could somehow still fail so miserably to deliver.

This guide was not useful to us at all on our recent trip to Maine. We traveled from Portland north to Bar Harbor over the course of 8 days, using Frommer's New England, Fodor's New England, and this guide, as well as the AAA tourbook. This guide is organized alphabetically by the name of the B&B; if you want to find something by location, which is how most of us travel, you have to dig through the cross-reference in the second index in the back of the book. It also fails to make recommendations, merely describing a series of lodging choices in vague terms that leave you wondering what you might be getting into. The book lists positive quotes from other reveiwers on its back cover. I don't know how these were solicited, if the reviewers even read the book, they obviously knew nothing about New England.

Compared to other trail guides I've read, the author of this book is obviously not writing from too much first hand information or did not fully research each ride before writing about them. I would recommend this book only as an overview of SOME of the trails in NH, but would not recommend that anyone head out on a new trail relying only on this book to get you back.

My wife & I bought this book last year to find some new rides close to our home. We finaly made it out to New Hampshire this past weekend and chose a ride listed as "Beginner" in the book. What the book called a nice ride, turned out to be nearly impassible single track riddled with boulders & roots,not to mention swamp & knee deep mudd. We spent the majority of the 12 mile ride actually walking our bikes. By the end of the trail, we were covered in mudd & exhausted. I can't imagine that the authors actually rode this trail before writting this book.

I have sent in my review of this book twice! Since it was not favorable am I to assume you do not print unfavorable reviews? I usually rely on your customer reviews and often buy books that don't necessarily have glowing reviews. It makes me wonder whether I should still buy from Amazon.

We waited for this to come out because we think Reichl has done wonders for Gourmet and we thought her reviews were relatively accurate. We hate Zagat so we were willing to wait for something better. I reviewed books for the Library Journal, as Associate Book Review Editor, for 15 years so I looked forward to giving this an accurate (and I assumed good) review. Well the review is accurate but hardly good. I gave it one star because there wasn't a choice of none. Where are Tatany, Chin Chin, HSF? La Madri is hardly expensive and the wild striped bass I had there was the best I've ever eaten. Reichl seems to have honed in on only the touristy restaurants and the big names although how she could say Jacques Torres' desserts were "too perfect" is ridiculous. His genius is not only his delightful personality, creativity, down-to-earthness, but the fun, beauty, and fabulous taste of those desserts. And how she could say Asia de Cuba is better than Victors is unbelievable. I was in Cuba in 1950 and when you go to Victors the food is so very authentic and the decorations so beatifully typical of 1950 Cuba that to compare it negatively to a restaurant which incorporates so much Thai (which I love in a Thai restaurant) influence makes no sense at all. Also, where are all the restaurants in Little Italy? Umbertos has the best raw clams in New York and the rest of their food is fabulous. We intend to return this book and will wait patiently for some competent person who has no stake in favoring tourist traps and has been to neighborhood restaurants in addition to the "Name Brands" to write something decent. The book is simply made up of rehashed New York Times reviews without the egg on top. Sorry Ruth, we love what you've done with Gourmet but this book does not take the cake!

This book also recommends The Vermont Inn in Killington, which was infested with fruit flies. When I tried to check out one day earlier, the innkeeper refused to credit my deposit, and I am taking it up with the credit card companies, as well as writing to all the guidebooks about the lousy service.

I am complaining to the guidebook to see if they will update their review.

Robert

My husband used this book to plan a romantic getaway for our wedding anniversary in New England. From this book's description, a place named the 'Water's Edge Inn' sounded like the perfect option. However we arrived to find it a horrid place with tacky decor in the common buildings and were given a dark room with stained bedspread, a tiny window overlooking the parking lot, tacky old furniture, and decor last updated in about 1958.

As with any travel book, the author may only place ads for those that pay for them. However, I am deeply disappointed with how completely misleading the descriptions were.

Do not buy this book. It is incredibly out of date. It also spends too much ink on the tourist traps that are already well known (e.g., 20 pages on Harvard Square, which is increasingly full of chain stores), and gives short shrift to the neighborhoods that are truly up and coming (e.g., one column on Central Square...which is also increasingly full of chain stores :-( ). A big disappointment, since I liked one of the earlier editions so much. I'm not sure what they updated for this edition; they highly recommended a bakery that's been shut down for over six years! Talk about information anxiety....

I am a long-time Boston resident, and I bought this book to loan to my guests from out-of-town. Now i'm going to find a book that has actually been updated since the days before "internet". Is there a Rough Guide for Boston?