Top 10 Non-Fiction Books on National Forests

This Top 10 list is in honor of publishing our new guidebook and giving a presentation on recreating in National Forests on June 21, 2022 at our local library in our hometown of Cheyenne, Wyoming.  We worked with the Laramie County Library to pull a cartful of our favorite books on National Forests to display on the 3rd floor outside the computer lab.  This is a partial list of the best we have read, most of which can be found at the library.  There are also countless hiking guides to specific National Forests, regions, and Wilderness areas that we did not include.  Click here to see all of our Top 10 lists, including quite a few other book lists. 

10. Fire Season: Field Notes from a Wilderness Lookout (2011) by Philip Connors

Connors shared his experiences working as a seasonal fire lookout atop a remote mountain in Gila National Forest

9. Travels in the Greater Yellowstone (2008) by Jack Turner

The incredibly beautiful Wind River Range in Bridger and Shoshone National Forests figures prominently in this book

8. The Forest Service and the Greatest Good: A Centennial History (2005) by James G. Lewis

Released for the centennial of the Forest Service’s founding in conjunction with a documentary film, this is the best volume on the agency’s history

7. The Blue Bear: A True Story of Friendship, Tragedy, and Survival in the Alaskan Wilderness (2002) by Lynn Schooler

The author traveled by boat throughout the Inside Passage and Tongass National Forest in search of an elusive subspecies of black bears with a famous wildlife photographer

6. The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire that Saved America (2009) by Timothy Egan

An engaging history of the early Forest Service and the devastating 1910 fires that revolutionized the agency’s mission

5. Young Men and Fire (1992) by Norman MacLean

Helena National Forest’s Big Belt Mountains were the site of the of the 1949 Mann Gulch Fire, which killed 13 smokejumpers who were immortalized in this classic book

4. The Singing Wilderness (1956) by Sigurd F. Olson

Olson wrote many great books on his explorations of Superior National Forest’s Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness

3. This Land: A Guide to Central National Forests (2022) by Robert H. Mohlenbrock

Now out of print, Robert H. Mohlenbrock’s three-book series was an invaluable resource when writing our own guidebook

2. Our National Forests: Stories from America’s Most Important Public Lands (2021) by Greg M. Peters

A modern look at the issues facing the Forest Service by a former Communications Director of the National Forest Foundation

…and finally our #1 non-fiction book on National Forests:

1. Out in the Woods: An Introductory Guide to America’s 155 National Forests (2022) by Scott, Tiff, and Mary Sink

We may be biased, but we think our new travel guide is the best resource available for recreating in the National Forests

Honorable Mentions

Flagstaff Hikes (2001) by Richard and Sherry Mangum

In college, Scott carried this book and its companion Sedona Hikes on thousands of miles of trails in Arizona’s Coconino National Forest

Grandma Gatewood’s Walk: The Inspiring Story of the Woman Who Saved the Appalachian Trail (2014) by Ben Montgomery

A fun biography of the woman who popularized thru-hiking the Appalachian National Scenic Trail (which crosses several National Forests)

On Trails: An Exploration (2016) by Robert Moor

A reflection on trails of all kinds by a man who thru-hiked the Appalachian National Scenic Trail