Cedar Mesa Book

[ibenick]

I'm looking for a good book on the Cedar Mesa area to help in locating ruins and rock art. There's a lot of luke warm reviews on the ones Amazon is listing. Do any of you have a favorite that you would recommend?

[erial]

Haven't been to Cedar Mesa since 1997. At that time I used Kelsey's second edition to Canyon Hiking Guide to the Colorado Plateau. Served me well. I did purchase the Tassoni guide but alas have yet to return to Cedar Mesa to give that book a workout.

[denaliguide]

A Hiking Guide to Cedar Mesa: Southeast Utah" by Peter Francis Tassoni. pm me for more.

[stefan]

x2 for tassoni - a well-written book.

tassoni purposely doesn't out many ruins/art. kelsey indicates many (not all) sites on
his maps (requiring translation to topo maps) and he's been criticized for including these.

but part of the fun is go out there to explore and find the ruins/art on your own.
the side canyons of all the tributaries in cedar mesa are wonderful to explore

[Brewhaha]

As far as I know, the big ones have been mentioned. Another one, Cedar Mesa Hikes SE Utah by Jim Beard is a decent resource for getting into the canyons. The book largely describes the multitude of roads on the Mesa. Combine Beard, Tassoni and Kelsey and you have lots of good info.

[ibenick]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone.

[Iceaxe]

MK's and Tassoni books are good.... but neither contain actual GPS coordinates to ruins or rock art.

MK lists a lot of good stuff, but his maps are nearly worthless because they are located on a very large scale map. Often you will spend a lot of time searching for items listed in MK's book. MK's book are his typical work.... they contain a tremendous amount of information. I know of no other place where more information is crammed into such a small space. But you really have to work to dig out the information you want. His maps leave a lot to be desired and his route descriptions can be very confusing as he often describes 3 or 4 routes in the same paragraph.

Tassoni has waypoints to trailheads, but not ruins or rock art. his maps are hand drawn and also omit ruins and rock art. Tassoni was really the first book on Cedar Mesa that opened the flood gate for others. Tassoni originally had waypoints to ruins and rock art in his book but no one would publish the book with the waypoints. Tassoni was forced to really dumb up his book to get it published.

Honestly.... if you are a noob looking to explore Cedar Mesa I believe Climb-Utah.com has the finest resource available. The site contains GPS waypoints to the ruins, rock art and trailheads. All routes and waypoints are also located on actual USGS 7.5 maps. There is enough information on the website to keep most normal people busy for 5 or 6 years. The website also allows updates as trailheads are relocated and trails realigned, which happens often in Cedar Mesa. And while not a book I know many people who print off the routes and keep them in a 3-ring binder. The website also contains some great pictures that will help you choose a destination.

So.... How was that for patting yourself on the back.

[ibenick]

Tell ya what Ice, sell me a subscription that's half the price and I'm in. I don't care about all that canyoneering beta so $35 is pretty steep IMO, especially considering I would still need to print it all out and organize it.

[Iceaxe]

You will discover $35 dollars is a bargain after you spend a couple hours looking for a particular site and never find it.... what's your time worth?

Go buy the books.... if you become a Cedar Mesa junkie you will be joining sooner or later....

FWIW: the money from the website all gets funneled back into adding more routes, so in a way you are really supporting adding more information for your own personal enjoyment.