Product Description
Twenty-five years after writing the groundbreaking Roadside Geology of Northern California, David Alt and Donald W. Hyndman have written an entirely new book--with expanded coverage, new photos and maps, and the latest interpretations of California's turbulent rocks. Geologic road guides include tours of Lake Tahoe, Yosemite National Park, Lassen Volcanic National Park, Lava Beds National Monument, Kings Canyon National Park, Point Reyes National Seashore, and the San Francisco Bay area. Learn about earthquake prediction, gold mining, pillow basalts, cinder cones, and more with this book as your guide.

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.5 based on 7 reviews)

Fun and useful book

I've used this book many times over the years on trips up and down the state of California. Driving up interstate 5, it can turn an otherwise boring trip up the central valley into something actually fun. For example, the author explains that the low moutains that parallel much of I-5 to the west in the central and north valley are known as the Central Valley Sequence, and mark the subduction zone for the Pacific and north American plates. Very cool. I'd been driving by those mountains for twenty years before I brought Alt's book on one trip and discovered that.

Clearly and concisely written, it's an interesting guide to the observable geological features of much of California. Although not for real rock hounds or petrologists, it still dispenses a great deal of interesting and useful information, and will be especially helpful to fans of natural history who lack formal training in geology but who want to learn something about it for their state.
November 28, 2007

Roadside Geology of Northern and Central California

This is definitely a good book. I have already taken it on a few road trips, and have had a good time learning about the geology of the area I was at. It has also been updated with more info about the bay area (compared to the older prints).
January 05, 2007

Helpful guide

This is an updated version of the book and is an improvement over the previous one. It's intended for use by casual readers and does a very fine job of it.
September 11, 2005

Don't just drive by

Begins with an accessible description of the major processes that worked to form the diverse and dramatic geology of Northern California. It is a good introductory discussion and introduces most of the concepts referred to in the rest of the book. The roadside guides identify appropriate points of interest and do a good job describing their significance. My only major complaint typifies each of the offerings in this series. The geologic maps (which I believe are the most helpful tool in Geologic synthesis) are in red, black and white are not very clear at all but there are a number of other helpful diagrams that make the text more readable. The text might be a bit of a slog for someone without a Geology background but would not be impossible and should be fairly accessible with just a little initiation. And, after all, Northern California's geology is too sublime for it to just be a bunch of rocks we drive by.
August 04, 2004

A must-have field reference

As an owner of the original 1975 edition, I was both impressed and dissapointed by the scope of this edition. In the expanded text, modern geologic theory is covered in plain-English in a manner that makes this a must-have for any geology student or enthusiast. An incredible amount of information lies within the covers in easy to digest segments.
The new road maps themselves however suffer from trying to cover too many miles in too few pages. Compared to the 1st edition, the geologic "points of interest" are fewer and farther between and many notable geologic features are missed or ignored. (It's almost as if Alt and Hyndman rushed a couple of weekend trips along various highways while dictating notes as they whizzed by obvious rock formations.)
Still, it's an excellent reference that does a credible job of covering a 100,000+ square mile area full of some of the most varied and complex geology on the planet.
Good reading both at home and on the road and perfect by itself for the casually curious. Students, teachers and rockhounds will find it to be a valuable "companion book" to more detailed texts as this volume presents only "the big picture" as viewed from the roadside.
August 11, 2002

SIMILAR PRODUCTS

Geology Underfoot in Southern California
by Robert P. Sharp

Rockhounding California
by Gail A. Butler

Geology of the San Francisco Bay Region (California Natural History Guides)
by Doris Sloan
by John Karachewski

Roadside Geology of Oregon (Roadside Geology Series) (Roadside Geology Series)
by David D. Alt

Roadside Geology of Washington (Roadside Geology Series) (Roadside Geology Series)
by David D. Alt