The most recommended books about the Grand Canyon

Who picked these books? Meet our 18 experts.

18 authors created a book list connected to the Grand Canyon, and here are their favorite Grand Canyon books.
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Book cover of The Man Who Walked Through Time: The Story of the First Trip Afoot Through the Grand Canyon

Michael Engelhard Author Of No Walk in the Park: Seeking Thrills, Eco-Wisdom, and Legacies in the Grand Canyon

From my list on Grand Canyon books by a former canyon guide.

Why am I passionate about this?

I worked for 25 years as a wilderness guide and outdoor educator on the Colorado Plateau and in Alaska, and the Grand Canyon is my favorite national park and one of my two favorite places on earth (the other being Alaska’s Brooks Range). My background in cultural anthropology has given me a deeper appreciation of what it took for indigenous peoples to make a living inside the canyon. And it’s a humbling perspective indeed. When I lived in Flagstaff, the Grand Canyon was my “backyard” weekend wilderness. I’m still drawn there and visit at least once a year, even while living up north.

Michael's book list on Grand Canyon books by a former canyon guide

Michael Engelhard Why did Michael love this book?

Having attempted my own Grand Canyon thru-hike, on the largely trail-less north side of the Colorado River, I have walked in Fletcher’s shoes, metaphorically speaking. Mine started to come apart—with their soles delaminating—on day 1; before the end of day 40, I had to have a replacement pair brought in. Those pinched, and I lost toenails.

Beyond the minutiae of long-distance backpacking, the Welsh author of this classic of outdoor literature makes plenty of room for contemplation. At the end of a long, hot, hard, blistering day, I, too, spent many an hour perched on the rim, with a glimpse of the river far below, pondering my role in the grand scheme of things. Then it was always on to supper, which never has tasted better.

By Colin Fletcher,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Man Who Walked Through Time as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The remarkable classic of nature writing by the first man ever to have walked the entire length of the Grand Canyon.


Book cover of Grand Obsession: Harvey Butchart and the Exploration of the Grand Canyon

Diane Winger Author Of The Long Path Home: Walking the South West Coast Path in Cornwall, England A Novella

From my list on long walking adventures.

Why am I passionate about this?

I didn’t really take up hiking until I was in my 30s, but outdoor adventures have become a way of life. I love walking along a trail, marveling at my surroundings and wondering what new delight I’ll discover around the next bend or over the next hill. Upon turning 70, I tackled my most challenging walk yet – trekking over 250 miles along the spectacular South West Coast Path in Cornwall, England. I found the immersion in focusing solely on walking each day to be both meditative and uplifting. The books on this list reflect my love for the outdoors, with some inspiring me to try something new, while others I prefer to experience vicariously.

Diane's book list on long walking adventures

Diane Winger Why did Diane love this book?

I guarantee this amazing history of Butchart will leave you in awe, especially if you have explored a bit of the Grand Canyon as I have or have dreamed of doing so.

Butchart tackled an astonishing number of remote and extreme formations in this remarkable place. Very well-written and meticulously researched.

By Elias Butler, Tom Myers,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Grand Obsession as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Winner of a 2008 National Outdoor Book Award, a 2008 Independent Publisher Book Award (IPPY), and named a Book of the Year by the Pima County Library, "Grand Obsession" continues to gather recognition for its striking portrayal of a man who felt compelled to do what no one had dared attempt in modern times: explore the deepest, most inhospitable reaches of the Grand Canyon, crown jewel of America's national parks - something which took decades to achieve and exacted a great personal cost.

Writers Elias Butler and Thomas M. Myers (co-author of the book "Over the Edge: Death in Grand…


Book cover of Over the Edge: Death in Grand Canyon: Gripping Accounts of All Known Fatal Mishaps in the Most Famous of the World's Seven Natural Wonders

Carol Moreira Author Of Riptides

From Carol's 3 favorite reads in 2024.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author

Carol's 3 favorite reads in 2024

Carol Moreira Why did Carol love this book?

Early in 2024, I visited Grand Canyon with my husband. We were surprised when the tour guide suggested walking down inside the canyon even though the trail was covered in icy patches. We assumed we would be safe, and followed the guide down the trail, but conditions got worse and I headed back up with several others. Only my husband, the guide, and one other visitor carried on.
I was scared, going back up the trail, and imagined myself sliding off the sides of the canyon and into the abyss. It was an anxious wait until my husband returned. Later, I saw this book in the bookstore and picked it up.
Reading it, I learned there are many accidents at the canyon with many and various causes -- all kinds of weather, lack of knowledge and planning, dehydration, overconfidence , selfies etc. The book is a really interesting demonstration of…

By Michael P. Ghiglieri, Thomas M. Myers,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Over the Edge as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This is a vastly expanded and revised edition of the 2001 classic that sold a quarter million copies, now updated after a decade,containing many gripping accounts of all known fatal mishaps in the most famous of the World's Seven Natural Wonders. Also available as an very limite, signed and numbered editionof 380 hardcover copies, under a separate ISBN and order item listing.


Book cover of Ranger Confidential: Living, Working, And Dying In The National Parks

Andrew Vietze Author Of This Wild Land: Two Decades of Adventure as a Park Ranger in the Shadow of Katahdin

From my list on park rangers and the wild places they protect.

Why am I passionate about this?

Andrew Vietze was five years old when he told his older sister that one day, he would be a park ranger. Twenty-eight years later, he put on his badge for the first time as a seasonal ranger in one of the premier wilderness areas in the East, Maine’s Baxter State Park. Home of Katahdin and the terminus of the Appalachian Trail, “Forever Wild” Baxter has no pavement, no electricity, no stores, no cell service. As a boy, Vietze imagined a life flying around in helicopters, rescuing hikers off mountaintops, fighting forest fires, chasing wilderness despoilers, and plucking people out of raging rivers. And he's spent the past twenty years doing just that.

Andrew's book list on park rangers and the wild places they protect

Andrew Vietze Why did Andrew love this book?

Andy Lankford reveals the kind of secrets the NPS probably doesn’t want you to know in Ranger Confidential. She worked twelve years as a ranger, and she takes readers behind the scenes at Yosemite, Grand Canyon, and Denali. Did you know law enforcement park rangers are 12 times more likely to die on the job than an FBI agent? And that they’re assaulted more than any other federal officers? I didn’t either until I read this captivating book. I also learned that NPS rangers do everything we do at Baxter State Park—rescues, forest firefighting, enforcement, loon identification—just on a larger scale. Already a great work, Ranger Confidential will age into a classic, perhaps the be-all, end-all opus of ranger life. 

By Andrea Lankford,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Ranger Confidential as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

For twelve years, Andrea Lankford lived in the biggest, most impressive national parks in the world, working a job she loved. She chaperoned baby sea turtles on their journey to sea. She pursued bad guys on her galloping patrol horse. She jumped into rescue helicopters bound for the heart of the Grand Canyon. She won arguments with bears. She slept with a few too many rattlesnakes.

Hell yeah, it was the best job in the world! Fortunately, Andrea survived it.

In this graphic and yet surprisingly funny account of her and others' extraordinary careers, Lankford unveils a world in which…


Book cover of Steel on Stone: Living and Working in the Grand Canyon

Sean Prentiss Author Of Crosscut: Poems

From my list on trail building and traildogs.

Why am I passionate about this?

In 1997, I was hired by the Northwest Youth Corps as a trail crew leader. That season, and across five more seasons, I built trails across the Pacific Northwest and Desert Southwest, including in many national parks. Since then, I have been in love with backpacking trails (including hiking the Long Trail and Colorado Trail), building trails, and writing about trails (Crosscut: Poems). I now live in Vermont with my wife and daughter. We have a trail we built that weaves through our woods.

Sean's book list on trail building and traildogs

Sean Prentiss Why did Sean love this book?

Nathaniel Farrell Brodie’s Steel on Stone takes readers into Grand Canyon National Park. Here, Brodie worked on trails for eight seasons during brutal summer heat and cold winters. Brodie explores not just the national park in its beauty and danger but also the park’s history, tales from the park, and other adventures. In the end, Steel on Stone beautifully ruminates on home and on Brodie’s love of this landscape.

By Nathaniel Farrell Brodie,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Steel on Stone as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The Grand Canyon National Park has been called many things, but home isn't often one of them. Yet after years of traveling the globe, Nathaniel Brodie found his home there.

Steel on Stone is Brodie's account of living in the canyon during the eight years he worked on a National Park Service trail crew, navigating a vast and unforgiving land. Embedded alongside Brodie and his crew, readers experience precipitous climbs to build trails, dangerous search-and-rescue missions, rockslides, spelunking expeditions, and rafting trips through the canyon on the Colorado River. From Brodie's chronicles of tracking cougars and dodging rampaging pack mules…


Book cover of The Anomaly

Nicholas Holloway Author Of Three Houses on a Hill

From my list on mystery thrillers set in mountainous landscapes.

Why am I passionate about this?

This topic is very close to my heart, as a lot of my readers know me as “the landscape guy.” My two award-winning mystery thrillers (and the serial killer thriller I'm currently writing) feature chillingly explosive landscapes (the Sierra Nevada Mountains, the Gates of the Arctic, and the Rocky Mountains). Readers and reviewers have mentioned time and again how I utilize landscape as a character in its own right, and I have very much been influenced by other authors who do the same. There is so much opportunity in these remote and high-altitude landscapes to propel the dread and isolation for these types of stories.

Nicholas' book list on mystery thrillers set in mountainous landscapes

Nicholas Holloway Why did Nicholas love this book?

This one’s a little bit of a cheat because the Grand Canyon isn’t technically a mountainous landscape—unless you’re looking at it from the bottom. But as far as landscapes go, you can’t do much better. The Anomaly follows an I’ll-do-it-myself archaeologist who discovers an ancient cave that seems to have a mind of its own. More than anything, this book is just downright freakin’ fun. It’s evident that Rutger knows this landscape better than most, and he utilizes both history and conspiracy theories to his advantage. This one’s a true mystery where the setting is a character in itself.

By Michael Rutger,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Anomaly as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

An utterly gripping thriller perfect for fans of Dan Brown, Michael Crichton and Stephen King. The Anomaly will leave you breathless until the final page has been turned . . .

THEY SOUGHT THE TRUTH. THEY FOUND A NIGHTMARE

A team of explorers seek ancient treasures, hidden in a secret cave.

At first it seems they will return empty handed. Then their luck turns.

But the team's elation is short-lived as they become trapped there in the dark, with little possibility of escape.

Then events take an even more terrifying turn.

For not all secrets are meant to be found…


Book cover of Down the Great Unknown: John Wesley Powell's 1869 Journey of Discovery and Tragedy Through the Grand Canyon

Allen F. Glazner Author Of Geology Underfoot in Death Valley and Eastern California

From Allen's 3 favorite reads in 2024.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author

Allen's 3 favorite reads in 2024

Allen F. Glazner Why did Allen love this book?

I’ve read several books about the Powell expedition down the Colorado River and through the Grand Canyon, and this is my favorite. Dolnick brings in the journal writings (mercifully without the poor spelling that they must contain) of other members of the expedition, and this gives a more nuanced account of the events than just reading Powell’s after-the-fact narrative from his own sparse notes. Lots of grumbling going on. A lot of these journal quotes sound like vintage Mark Twain, e.g., “We broke many oars and most of the Ten Commandments.” Dolnick’s discussions of the geology are good, and he doesn’t pad the book with extensive repetition of material from other sources.

By Edward Dolnick,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked Down the Great Unknown as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Drawing on rarely examined diaries and journals, Down the Great Unknown is the first book to tell the full, dramatic story of the Powell expedition.

On May 24, 1869 a one-armed Civil War veteran, John Wesley Powell and a ragtag band of nine mountain men embarked on the last great quest in the American West. The Grand Canyon, not explored before, was as mysterious as Atlantis—and as perilous. The ten men set out from Green River Station, Wyoming Territory down the Colorado in four wooden rowboats. Ninety-nine days later, six half-starved wretches came ashore near Callville, Arizona.

Lewis and Clark…


Book cover of The Emerald Mile: The Epic Story of the Fastest Ride in History Through the Heart of the Grand Canyon

Mark Doherty Author Of Walking Natural Pathways

From Mark's 3 favorite reads in 2024.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author

Mark's 3 favorite reads in 2024

Mark Doherty Why did Mark love this book?

This is probably the best nonfiction "story" I've ever read. It kept me on the edge of suspense while constantly teaching me all sorts of amazing history about water, dams, and rivers in the West. Some of that history was truly eyebrow raising information that I could never have gained were it not for Fedarko's level of investment and research into this wild and wonderful story.

By Kevin Fedarko,

Why should I read it?

8 authors picked The Emerald Mile as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From one of Outside magazine’s “Literary All-Stars” comes the thrilling true tale of the fastest boat ride ever, down the entire length of the Colorado River and through the Grand Canyon, during the legendary flood of 1983.

In the spring of 1983, massive flooding along the length of the Colorado River confronted a team of engineers at the Glen Canyon Dam with an unprecedented emergency that may have resulted in the most catastrophic dam failure in history. In the midst of this crisis, the decision to launch a small wooden dory named “The Emerald Mile” at the head of the…


Book cover of Brighty of the Grand Canyon

Will Lowrey Author Of Where the Irises Bloom

From my list on animal loyalty.

Why am I passionate about this?

Issues impacting animals have been a major component of my life for twenty years and have inspired all of my writing. As humans, we are consumed by our own needs and often, animals go unnoticed in the shadows or in some capacity that is of service to us. But animals have stories all their own. Again and again I have encountered these stories, from cows in a slaughterhouse, to fighting dogs rescued from a chain, to primates in laboratories, they each have a meaningful story. The stories that resonate most are the ones in which the animal story intersects that of human character in a deep, and often surprising way. 

Will's book list on animal loyalty

Will Lowrey Why did Will love this book?

Probably a lesser-known book, Brighty still packs a powerful emotional punch. Similar to Pax, the book speaks movingly about the power of the wild and the value of allowing animals to exist on their terms. In addition to this less, Brighty also tells of the moving bond between a spitfire donkey and a pair of old men working the Grand Canyon. Although he loses his companion, a prospector named Old Timer, early in the book, Brighty never forgets the man’s kindness. He spends the rest of the book, loyal to another man, Jim, seeking justice for Old Timer’s murder. Throughout the book, Brighty never loses the wild inside him and Marguerite Henry does a masterful job of weaving together the themes of loyalty, purpose, and respect for Brighty’s personal integrity. Although mostly considered a children’s book, Brighty is well-worth the read for any adult looking for a story to…

By Marguerite Henry, Wesley Dennis (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Brighty of the Grand Canyon as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 9, 10, 11, and 12.

What is this book about?

A determined little burro earns the loyalty and affection of everyone he encounters in this classic story from Newbery Award-winning author Marguerite Henry.

Long ago, a lone little burro roamed the high cliffs of the Grand Canyon and touched the hearts of all who knew him: a grizzled old miner, a big-game hunter, even President Teddy Roosevelt. Named Brighty by the prospector who befriended him, he remained a free spirit at heart. But when a ruthless claim-jumper murdered the prospector, loyal Brighty risked everything to bring the killer to justice.

Brighty's adventures have delighted generations of readers, and he has…


Book cover of The Cat Who Came for Christmas

Britt Collins Author Of Strays: The True Story of a Lost Cat, a Homeless Man, and Their Journey Across America

From my list on non-fiction for cat lovers.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am an international bestselling author of Strays and a London-based journalist for The Guardian, The Observer, The Sunday Times, and other publications. I've written about animals, conservation, and volunteered at sanctuaries around the world, from tending big cats and baboons in Namibia to wild mustangs in Nevada—a labour of love that has inspired features for The Guardian, The Independent, and Condé Nast Traveller. I've raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for many charities through my investigative animal-cruelty stories; as an activist, I helped shut down controversial breeders of laboratory animals in the UK. I also created Catfestlondon, a sell-out boutique festival that rescues and rehomes Moroccan street kittens in the UK.

Britt's book list on non-fiction for cat lovers

Britt Collins Why did Britt love this book?

Amory wrote this wildly entertaining read of his rescue of a stray he found sick and starving in a NYC alley on a snowy Christmas Eve in 1977. He named the white cat Polar Bear, a moody curmudgeon with one blue and one gold eye, who became his lifelong companion. The book spent 12 weeks at #1 on The New York Times bestseller list and sold over 10 million copies. Amory was a fierce and famous activist who helped Captain Paul Watson of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society buy a boat to use in his fight against whaling and seal-hunting. In 1980 Amory founded the Black Beauty Ranch in Texas, a refuge for discarded and neglected animals, from cats, dogs, deer, horses to elephants, monkeys, and big cats. That same year, he spent over $500,000 to trap 582 burros and helicopter them out of the Grand Canyon to save these…

By Cleveland Amory,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Cat Who Came for Christmas as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A cat charms its way into a curmudgeon's heart one hilarious holiday season in this "extraordinary" bestselling Christmas classic (Parade), the perfect gift for the animal lover in your life.
'Twas the night before Christmas when a bedraggled white feline entered the heart -- and home -- of Cleveland Amory. To say it is a friendly takeover is an understatement. For the cat who came for Christmas is clearly of the Independent Type, and Cleveland Amory, cranky or not, is a pushover where animals are concerned.
Toe to toe they stand -- Amory at six feet three, the cat at…


Book cover of The Man Who Walked Through Time: The Story of the First Trip Afoot Through the Grand Canyon
Book cover of Grand Obsession: Harvey Butchart and the Exploration of the Grand Canyon
Book cover of Over the Edge: Death in Grand Canyon: Gripping Accounts of All Known Fatal Mishaps in the Most Famous of the World's Seven Natural Wonders

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