About Brian Russ Guides

Brian Russ's Guide to National Parks is a series of practical, independent guides to America's national parks, written by Brian D. Russ in Northern California. Each guide is built for travelers with one, two, or three days in a park: enough time to see the best of it, not enough time to waste a morning figuring out the shuttle.

What every guide includes

  • Nine ready-made itineraries: one, two, and three days, each at easy, moderate, and strenuous effort, with start times, distances and climbs, meals and water, parking and shuttle notes, and a backup plan for weather or closures.
  • History and highlights: how the park came to be and what's worth your time once you're there.
  • A wildlife chapter: the animals visitors commonly see, each with a photograph and notes on where and when to look.
  • Trip planning: seasons, fees and permits, lodging, accessibility, and safety, written around the park's current rules.
  • Illustrations: an original cover drawn in the style of the 1930s park posters, orientation maps, and rights-cleared photographs placed beside the passages they illustrate.

How the guides are researched

Each guide is written from primary sources: the park's own pages, alerts, maps, and brochures; tribal and cultural institutions; transportation and reservation operators; and wildlife agencies. Time-sensitive facts such as fees, hours, closures, and shuttle schedules are rechecked before each edition goes out, and every guide states the month and year its research was completed. Parks change, so always check the park's current alerts before you travel.

What you receive

Every purchase delivers two files by email: an EPUB for Apple Books, Kobo, Google Play Books, and Kindle (through Amazon's Send to Kindle), and a PDF for any device or for printing. When a guide is updated, your original download link delivers the new edition.

These are independent guides. They are not affiliated with or endorsed by the National Park Service.

Questions, corrections, or a park you'd like to see covered next: get in touch.