an overview of the most heavily visited parks and refuges in the region
survival and safety tips for exploring a stunningly beautiful region for everyone from novice daytrippers to experienced trekkers
a detailed glossary and bibliography
photographs throughout the text

Uniquely qualified for the task, author and photographer John Annerino is an experienced desert adventurer. The first and only person to run 750 miles of Arizona wilderness from the Sonoran border to Utah (running a marathon [more than 26 miles] a day for one month), he led the first modern, unsupported crossing of the Camino del Diablo, "Road of the Devil," on foot mid-summer. He taught climbing and wilderness survival for ten years at colleges in Southwest.

Annerino is the author of fourteen books, among them Roughstock and Dead in Their Tracks (both Four Walls Eight Windows); Hiking the Grand Canyon and Adventuring in Arizona.