LITTLE ROCK — Happy Trails, by Michael Storey (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette paperback), 117 pages, available at retail stores and arkansasonline.com/ books, $15.95.
Happy Trails is the Cliffs-Notes of hiking guides - a simple, concise, no-nonsense tool - but it's not for slackers.
Short and sweet, it delivers quick sketches of special Arkansas trails - short or moderate day hikes that families can enjoy.
The author, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette columnist Michael Storey, has compiled a deck of 52 trail descriptions, culled from about 85 "Happy Trails" entries written for the newspaper beginning in February 2005.
There is no long introduction about the trekking spirit, the state's geography and climate or the reasons hikers need this particular book. With little preamble, save a few thank-you's to those who inspired or persuaded him to compile the guide, the author steps right onto the first trail - River Trail/Emerald Park in North Little Rock.
The entry is anchored by a remarkable color photograph taken from the bluff-top with a miles-long view up the Arkansas River. On the facing page, a color map pinpoints the trailhead in Burns Park, and there is a short paragraph describing how to get there, much as if you got lucky and happened to ask for directions from a local who knew what he was talking about.
Five more paragraphs give the trail length and outline its main attractions, hazards ("if you fall, you die"), amenities (bathrooms? water? nothing?) and tell whether it's a good idea to bring along the dog, the mountain bike and the kids. The author's three star rating (out of five) closes out the Emerald Park entry.
It's as simple as that, and the guide's other 51 entries follow the same format, each contained on facing pages so they're easy to bookmark.
If there is one quibble with the lean-and-mean format, it's that the accompanying color maps, originally published in the newspaper next to the brief "Happy Trails" entries, are of the minimalist "thumbnail" variety. Most don't show the trail route itself, but are scaled to show approach highways and nearby towns or state parks.
And although the "Location" text will generally get hikers to the jumping-off point, it is boiled down to a nub, which could cause a moment of puzzlement in a few cases where the trailhead isn't obvious. A newbie arriving at the Lake Sylvia parking lot could be confused about where to go on the trail complex. The signposts there are few, well hidden and heavily weathered, and the start of one major trail loop is at the far end of a campground that is closed to vehicles in winter.
But by far, the entries' brevity helps more than hinders because too much information can dampen the fun of exploration.
Storey's method is to point out a trail, provide the vital particulars and move along, allowing readers to discover things for themselves, without any subliminal messages or planted expectations.
The entries are arranged in five chapters by state geographical sections. Most of the trails covered are in the chapters "Central Arkansas" and "Northwest Arkansas" - areas that have the highest concentrations of population centers, parks and mountains, but he also visits hiking meccas in the rugged southwest, the flat Delta jungles of the southeast and unique and varied terrain of the northeast.
The author guides us to several easily accessible sections of the famous Ouachita Trail and popular paths at Pinnacle Mountain State Park and Gulpha Gorge, but he also introduces some little known gems like the Two Rivers Horse Trail, Big Brushy Trail and Big Creek Natural Area.
Many of Storey's photographs are enticing enough in themselves to get potatoes off the couch and into the outdoors.
And that is the aim of Happy Trails, to not only expand the horizons of regular hikers but to inspire families with children to seek out the Natural State's special places. To young children and those new to the outdoors, these trails' open spaces, canyons, creeks, dark woods and lakeshores can be exotic destinations waiting to be discovered right here at home.
ActiveStyle, Pages 25, 27 on 04/06/2009