101 Best Outdoor Towns: Unspoiled Places to Visit, Live & Play (101 Best...Series) | 
 enlarge | Authors: Sarah Tuff, Greg Melville
Publisher: Countryman
Category: Book
List Price: $19.95
Buy New: $11.75
You Save: $8.20 (41%)
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Rating:  8 reviews
Sales Rank: 465485
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 512
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.4
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 6 x 1.1
ISBN: 0881507660
Dewey Decimal Number: 917
EAN: 9780881507669
ASIN: 0881507660
Publication Date: May 4, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
A unique guide for the millions of American urban dwellers and suburbanites seeking quick getaways to small, breathtaking locales where there are pulse-quickening activities but a slower pace of life.
Grab your gear; pack your bags and beat the developers to 101 of the greatest places left for living, visiting and playing—outdoor towns where you can still eat breakfast at a local diner; play all day in a gorgeous, natural setting; find microbrews and comfort food; and flop yourself into bed at a family-run lodge.
Tuff and Melville look far and wide to identify these places that have fresh vitality without having been overrun with fourth-home buyers and resort developments. These are places where you'll want to visit and just maybe stay on. 101 Best Outdoor Towns includes information about the towns, their history and all the things there are to do—as well as lodging and dining information. You'll even find each town's "stay" factor for just how livable and affordable the place might be for the long-term. 1 map, 101 black & white photographs, index.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
Terrific getaway guide August 14, 2008
13 out of 13 found this review helpful
First off, I'm jealous of anyone who lives (or spends a lot of time) in any of the towns mentioned so colorfully here. This book gives me exactly what I need to know: what to do (what trails, trout streams, rivers, favorite hideouts, etc.); where to do it; who the local legends are; where to sleep--and maybe most importantly, where to grab a bite and a drink at the end of the day. I can find the elevation, chamber of commerce phone number, and weather online. But I can't find the intangibles and vibe of a completely out-of-the-way town like Lake Placid, New York or Silverton, Colorado unless I know a local, or read this book. Extensively researched, very pithy, and often funny. The writing is much better than standard guidebook fare.
 can't say August 14, 2008
0 out of 3 found this review helpful
I can't review this product because when it was delivered the mail carrier left it outside, and it was apparently stolen.
 OK Starting Point for Looking at Outdoor Towns, But Flawed November 4, 2007
27 out of 30 found this review helpful
After seeing the rave reviews of this book, I was looking forward to enjoying its tour through undiscovered outdoor towns. After reading through the reviews of towns known personally to me, it appears this book gives you a good list to begin your outdoor town quest but delivers very little content and additional sources to continue it.
What I liked about this book: They introduce many towns not widely known to travelers and outdoor-minded downshifters. Some examples are Red Lodge, MT, Cloudcroft, NM, and Sheridan, WY. Their focus on smaller towns (though they never define how big that is) is welcome, which is why you don't see many of the outdoor town usual suspects such as Boulder, Asheville, and Flagstaff.
What I didn't like: the book idea itself is ill-conceived as it attempts to cover 101 towns for "living, visiting, and playing," but ultimately falls short of the mark as it's too much to cover in one book. They would have been better served leaving off towns such as Moab and Taos and focusing on the lesser known gems they uncovered.
There's no seasonal weather information in the book other than the odd anecdote (unbelievable for a travel/relocation guide). Town elevations are not consistently given, even in the West where it's a vital stat for a city. They don't mention that Livingston, Montana is one of the windiest spots in the lower 48, or that Gunnison, Colorado and West Yellowstone, Montana often have the coldest temps in the continental US in the winter.
Although housing prices were stated to be a key factor in winnowing down their list, no median housing prices are mentioned. They cover the economy of a town in unhelpful brevity: "industries: tourism, retail" with no mention of wages or unemployment rates. The pictures in this book are atrocious -- most of the time it's hard to determine what the black and white photos cobbled together from state tourism boards and chambers of commerce were trying to depict. Good quality color photos would have added immeasurably to the book. There's only one map in the book, and it labeled the Columbia River as Hood River.
Fact checking was inconsistent -- it says Gunnison's weather is milder than Crested Butte, CO yet this is exactly wrong. Gunnison is colder in the winter and warmer in the summer than Crested Butte. Caption under photo of Columbia River and the town of Hood River, OR claims that it is a picture of the river of "Hood River." The book says that Silverton is only 19 miles away from Telluride's Airport, but they don't tell you this is via a 4x4 jeep road that's only open for a few months in the summer when they finally plow through the 20 foot snow drifts in June at the 11,789 foot Ophir Pass. Otherwise it's over a 50 mile crawl on winding (although beautiful!) roads.
There is nothing substantively critical in this book. Come on guys -- all towns have their downsides whether it's the brutal winters of Whitefish or the remoteness of Alpine, TX and your book would be better addressing those as well.
It also would have been beneficial to have additional suggested readings, internet sources, and the number/website for the local visitors bureau.
I'm left with one gnawing thought upon reading this book -- did the authors genuinely visit all of these towns? They don't claim to have done this. The pictures are from the tourism boards, some of the facts are wrong, and they are accustomed to writing about outdoor gear they've never used and places they've never visited from their time with Men's Journal. I would be interested to know.
 Really Good Guide June 20, 2007
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
This is a great guide that is well put together and has the right amount of information on each town to help get you started. There is no useless filler that I have seen in other books, this one gets right to it. I would definitely recommend this one for anyone that loves to travel and have some good information about the place right before they go.
Informative Travel Resource is a Delight to Read June 18, 2007
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
I'd recommend this book for anyone that enjoys travel and the great outdoors. I completely enjoyed it! The book reveals some little known gems, places that haven't been hurt by overdevelopment. The authors provide tips on where to stay, where to find a good meal, and what activities are available. If you have a spirit of adventure, be it wild or mild, this book has something for you...and some place wonderful to discover.
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