Title: Best Hikes with Children in Vermont, New Hampshire & Maine
Authors: Cynthia C. Lewis and Thomas J. Lewis
Reviewed By: Paul Lones

This hiking guide provides those interested in hiking with children ideas for 28 different hikes in Maine alone, with more close by in New Hampshire and many further afield in Vermont. Each hike profiled in the guide has a thorough description which includes designation as a day hike or overnight trip, difficulty rating, distance, high point and elevation gain, suggested seasons for hiking, a USGS map reference and driving directions to the trail head. In addition, there are cautions noted in the text where close supervision of children is recommended, such as cliffs or stream crossings as well as suggestions for turnaround spots on several longer trips where families can cut the hike short but still have a satisfying outing. A hand drawn map for each hike shows where to park and points out key landmarks, though it is not a substitute for a topo map, and the hike descriptions themselves are full of ideas for how to make that particular hike more enjoyable for kids.

The difficulty rating uses a one to three scale, with good descriptions of what the authors consider to be easy, moderate or challenging trips for children. Our experience with these ratings is that they are pretty consistent from trip to trip. A family unsure about which difficulty ratings suit their needs might start with a couple of hikes designated as easy before trying more difficult trips to get an idea about how the difficulty rating, distance, elevation gain and type of terrain described all come into play in determining which trips might be best for them.

In addition to the hike descriptions, sections within the Introduction titled: "But will it be fun?", "Environmental Concerns", "Safety", and "What to Take" provide a good overview of things to consider in planning and conducting fun and safe hikes with children. Many ideas in these sections may be common sense, but they are good reminders and even an experienced children’s outing leader is likely to find something new.

If there is one disappointment in the book it is the limited part of Maine that is covers. Most of the hikes are in the western mountains and along the coast, ranging from Mount Agamenticus and the Vaughan Woods in southern York county in the southwest to the Mount Blue area to the north and Mount Desert/Acadia to the east.

The book is available at EMS in the Maine Mall, Bookland, L. L. Bean and on the web at www.amazon.com.