River Guide to Canyonlands National Park and Vicinity : Hiking, Camping, Geology, Archaeology and Steamboating, Cowboy, Ranching & Trail Building History

The primary emphasis of this book is hiking, but the best places to camp are also discussed, as well as places where hopefully-good drinking water can be found. The hikes typically start at the river and run upcanyon or to the canyon rim--just the opposite way as some hikes found in the author's other book, "Hiking, Biking and Exploring Canyonlands National Park and Vicinity". There are 18 mapped sections or chapters, each showing campsites, water, trails, Anasazi ruins, and pictographs or petroglyphs (something the National Park Service does not like, therefore they don't sell this book).

History is also a big part of this book, with lots of information on the early-day attempts at running steamboats on the Green and Colorado Rivers between the towns of Green River and Moab. In those days many people tried to homestead some river bottoms. Sandbars and low water cut those dreams short.

While doing research for this book (and the other one mentioned above), the author interviewed about 80 old timers in the Moab, Green River and the Hanksville area, and got lots of stories about cowboys, the ranchers and ranches along the river bottoms, and trail building information. Some of the history here is the same as that found in the other book mentioned above.