Books on Yosemite National Park
Below is a listing of many of the books available about Yosemite National Park. These range from hiking guides, to comprehensive information books and photo books. We use some of these ourselves, and note that in the descriptions. At the bottom of each listing, we list a number of places where these can be currently purchased. Click on the logo of the store you would like to use. Note that books occasionally go out of stock or are discontinued at certain stores. In this case, simply try another merchant, if available.
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Yosemite: The Complete Guide
This is without doubt the best overall guide book to the park. The same is true with each of James Kaiser's books, also available for Grand Canyon, Joshua Tree, or Acadia. They are printed on high quality glossy paper, and are full of information and beautiful full color photos. There are guides that do a better job with individual subjects like hiking, but nothing is better as a one book solution. We use this book personally and recommend it.
Hiking Yosemite National Park
This is the Yosemite National Park entry in the extensive Falcon Guides series. When looking for a hiking guide book of a park, we generally look for the Falcon Guide first. With few exceptions, they are very good at what they do, and we like to have a consistent format to get used to. Like most books in the Falcon series, there is also a much shorter "Best Easy Day Hikes" companion book, that describes only the shorter hikes. It is listed next.
Best Easy Day Hikes Yosemite National Park
This is the Yosemite National Park entry in the extensive Falcon Guides Best Easy Day Hikes series. This is the shorter version of the book above. It focuses on the shorter, easier hikes in the book, although some can still be quite steep. There is less general information, and the trail information is more abbreviated, but if all you plan to do is the quick and easy trails, you can save a little money over the full guide above.
Yosemite National Park: A Complete Hikers Guide
True to its title, this book covers virtually every trail in Yosemite National Park. We prefer the Falcon books above for our hiking needs, but if you need it all, or if you plan to hike less traveled routes, this book may be what you need.
Top Trails: Yosemite: Must-Do Hikes for Everyone
This is another well-regarded hiking guide for Yosemite National Park. We prefer the Falcon guides, due to the familiar format. However, if you have no such preference, this may be a better choice. It covers quite a few different trails, and is up to date. It is written by the same author as the book above this one.
The Photographer's Guide to Yosemite
You could spend a lifetime photographing Yosemite National Park, and some people do. However, most people will only have a few days to spend in the park. This book is a great resource for learning the best places to shoot from, as well as the best times of day. A very helpful book for any photographer, we use it and recommend it.
Yosemite Once Removed: Portraits of the Backcountry
This beautiful hardcover photo book varies from the usual as its title suggests. It focuses on photography of the backcountry, and in doing so shows you parts of Yosemite National Park that you likely would never see on your own.
Spectacular Yosemite
This book is absolutely amazing. It combines the stunning photography of Quang-Tuan Luong (someone who has photographed every national park) with a written tour of the park. It is a large format hardcover book and is simply beautiful. Highly recommended.
Yosemite: The Story Behind the Scenery
This is the Yosemite National Park edition of the very common "The Story Behind the Scenery" series. These books are very commonly found in the visitor centers and gift shops of the parks. They are short, but they provide good photos and general information on the park itself.
