This seems to be a rehash of the other guidebooks I own. The trails have changed considerably since this book was written, too.

The Lewis's have quite a routine: move into an area where there is already a plethora of good guide books, borrow the research and trail information, change it round to suit their niche (hiking with kids), provide no acknowledgement or recognition of their sources, no bibliographic matter, no reference lists, and bingo, an "original" book. This formulaic approach to authorship is in many respects dishonest, infringing, and presumptuous. As for guidebooks in general, there are much better ones around.

I've generally had good luck with the hikes described in this book, and have taken my children on several. As with other hiking books I've used, though, 8 years (from the time of publication) can make a big difference in the condition of trails, for better and/or worse. An update might be helpful. We've discovered some really cool places with this book (I like the emphasis on what kids would like about a trail, not just what the adults want to see) and the time and distance estimates are accurate. Nevertheless, I plan to avoid the Taconic Trail mentioned by the previous reviewer . . .

The quality of pictures and diagrams were poor. More slide preparations should be displayed

Great concept for a book. The hikes themselves look great. However, be warned, there appears to be major problems with the driving instructions - at least the two we followed.

1. Page 40: Hike #1: Pine Meadow Lake - The book states "From New York City, take the Thruway (I-87) north to Exit 15." This is in error. The correct exit is 15A - NOT Exit 15!!! Taking Exit 15 (as we unfortunately found out) will take you in the wrong direction. What this means is all the directions to Harriman State Park from New York City are wrong in this book.

2. Page 118: Hike #22: Hudson River At Staatsburgh Mills Mansion State Park. The book states "From New York City, take the Thruway (I-87) north to Exit 10." This is a REALLY bad mistake. The correct exit is Exit 9. Going to Exit 10 as the book directs (and we followed) takes you to the wrong side of the Hudson river!!!

Incidentally, these are not new or recently-revised exit numbers.

These were the only two sets of directions we followed so far and both were very wrong. Needless to say we are very disappointed in the book - especially one that is so newly revised. There needs to be a lot more attention to detail and fact checking by the authors.

Are there any more mistakes? Who knows? I guess we'll find out the hard way. It's not to much fun following their driving directions to the letter and then getting lost with a 5 year old in the backseat.

This book has the potential be a 4 or 5 star if it weren't for these profound problems.