I just read Bill Bryson's "A Walk in the Woods:
http://www.amazon.com/Walk-Woods-Rediscovering-Appalachian-Official/dp/0767902521

Loved it... learning what trail life was like was no shocker but I really enjoyed the humor and historical/factual info he provided along his story.

I know there are books out there on the history of how different trails, national parks, areas came about in the outdoors world and I'd like to read more.

Any ideas for Xmas?

Thanks.

Forest and Crag by Guy Waterman is an incredibly detailed historical account of New England's hiking trails, with an emphasis on the White Mountains. The book is like a bible, 880 pages of stories--historical in this case--lots of maps and photographs, and a chronological encyclopedic account of the idea of hiking and then backpacking and the creation of trails by stalwart individuals and groups. I especially enjoy the sections on the trails around the Presidentials, but there's an awful lot more there. The book was and I think still is published by the AMC and certainly available from them.

Thanks very much Mark, looks great. I'll try to track down a copy. Any other ideas out there?

Forest and Crag is very good and really charts the history of northeast hiking including the White Mountains, the Adirondacks, and Baxter State Park. Hard copies are nearly impossible to find, but it was recently released for the Kindle. I read it this year and it also covers the development of the AT and the Long Trail.

Another good book is Ron Strickland's Pathfinder which is a compilation of essays about trail building, including a lot of background information on the development of the Pacific Northwest Trail, which Ron helped found.

Thanks very much Phil. I consider you well read on the topic, so that's as good an endorsement as any. :)

Watch Ken Burn's "The National Parks: America's Best Idea. I've seen most of it twice already and plan to watch it again next year. It is a very good watch.

Books. Been a really long time since I read an outdoors book. But I do remember reading "A walk across America" and a sequel to that. Pretty neat stuff if you can find it.

Another book I liked a lot was The Last Season by Eric Blehm. It's about a backcountry ranger in the High Sierra but I seem to remember it having a lot of muir-ish background.

Also I think Indian Creek Chronicles has more info, but I can't totally remember. Regardless, it is an exceptional book about spending a winter alone in the wilderness and beautifully written.

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/xdpy/forum_thread/43944/index.html?skip_to_post=373974#373974

Another vote for Forest And Crag. If you're into climbing, Yankee Rock And Ice is by the same authors, and was originally part of the same book until they realized it made the book too huge. You can still get Yankee Rock and Ice in paperback.

Bryce, I can see if I can find my paperback of Forest and Crag... if you promise promise promise to get it back to me eventually, I could lend it to you. It's really one of my prized possessions :) Although if you have a kindle or similar, it's a good deal in the new edition.