Journey to the High Southwest: A Traveler's Guide

by Robert L. Casey

Book Overview

The quintessential guidebook to the Four Corners region of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah, Journey to the High Southwest is both an inspiring armchair read and a practical take-along guide.... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0762725338
• ISBN13: 9780762725335
• Release Date: January 2003
• Publisher: Globe Pequot Press
• Length: 608 Pages
• Weight: 1.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.3" x 8.8"

Customer Reviews

A treasure

I reluctantly returned a well-worn 6th edition to a friend recently, and have purchased the 8th. What makes this guide special is the background history it gives. It is for the "worldly traveler," or one seeking to understand in-depth where she travels. It enabled me to have a conversation with a Dine about his spirituality that I would not have been able to do without this book. Keep sharing Robert Casey! S. Hancock

Essential for the visitor to the Four Corners

Robert L. Casey's superb guidebook is generally recognized as the best guide to the Four Corners of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah. We've used various editions for several years on our driving and hiking trips. Casey describes his own trips by car, raft and on foot, and his essays give insights into geology, history and culture. We found him excellent on the ground for Canyonlands, Monument Valley, Mesa Verde, Santa Fe, Taos, Arches, and Canyon de Chelly. His descriptions of Capitol Reef, Sunset Crater, Wupatki, Dead Horse Point, Durango, Silverton, and Telluride are compelling armchair reading. His book is particularly strong on the history and culture of native cultures. Tony Hillerman, one of my favorite authors on the area, is a powerful advocate for Casey's work: "I've been prowling around, living in, and writing about the Four Corners states for more than 40 years, and I still find myself learning from Journey to the High Southwest. It's the best guide to this part of the world I've ever seen - and that includes ones I've written myself." Casey provides specific travel information, including Bed & Breakfasts, Crafts shops, Campgrounds, Galleries, Bicycle Rentals, Hotels, Museums, Indian Festivals, Canyon Tours, Hot-Air Balloon Rides, Restaurants, Horseback Riding, Youth Hostels, Concerts, and Rafting Expeditions. This guide is updated every two years or so, but it is always worthwhile to check on the accuracy of current information. This is a wonderful guide book whether reading at home or visiting the Four Corners. Robert C. Ross 2008

My favorite book on this area

I travel in the region covered by this book a lot; over the years I have bought lots of guidebooks and other books about the area. Journey to the High Southwest remains my absolute favorite. I do not understand the comment of an earlier reviewer that it does not include helpful "tips" for "trip planning." You might consider supplementing it with a more standard guidebook of the Frommer/Froder variety, but I have used Journey to the High Southwest since our very first trip to the area (early 1990s) and have found it a trove of "useful tips." On that first trip, using this book, I was able, for instance, to plan travel through the Hopi Reservation, where to stay, how to find out about when and where there would be dances, etc. The recommendations of where to stay/where to eat are terrific. (We would never have found our favorite hole-in-the-corner diner in Espanola without this book!) In addition to all the good travel suggestions, it's beautifully written, a mine of information, and a joy to read. I am so happy to find that there is an 8th edition!

A serious traveler's guide

I was previously a ranger at Mesa Verde. This is without a doubt the best guide to the High Southwest that I've encountered. For years I've recommended this to friends, and each time I've been thanked for giving them an outstanding, wide, yet in-depth, and well written source of critical information about one of the most fascinating areas of our country. From where to go, what to see, and how to understand it -- from history, to geology, to ethnography, and much more -- this is an excellent introduction to the high country of our Southwest.