This Land: A Guide to Western National Forests by Robert Mohlenbrock
Lands of the Western National Forests by Robert Mullenbach is a directory-style reference book covering the national forests west of the Rockies. It’s part of a trilogy — Eastern, Central, and Western — and yes, the whole series is out of print and showing its age. No new photography, no updated trail counts.
And yet — if you care about American public lands, this is a must-have reference.
National Forests Are the Underrated Treasure
National parks get all the credit. They’re the celebrities of the public lands system. The photography, the Instagram posts, the Ken Burns documentaries — it all goes to the parks.
But the national forests? They’re the true treasure.
They work harder, they cover more ground, and they offer more than you can explore in a lifetime. Yes, some of them get used for logging, mining, and grazing. But the Forest Service provides real balance, and Congress has designated huge swaths of it as designated wilderness — wild, protected, and wide open.
The problem is there are so many of them, spread across so much terrain, that they can blur together. You start browsing online and it becomes an overwhelming wall of green on a map.
Why the Book Format Matters
That’s exactly where this book earns its place on the shelf.
Having the western forests laid out in a physical reference — something you can flip through, dog-ear, and mark up — is a completely different experience than scrolling through Forest Service web pages. Each entry gives you a sense of what makes that forest unique: the highlights, the character, the reasons to go.
It’s the kind of book you pick up before a road trip out west, or on a slow Sunday afternoon when you’re just letting your imagination wander.
The Caveats
It’s out of print, so you’ll need to hunt down a used copy — Amazon and eBay usually have them. It could genuinely use updated photography and a refresh on some of the details. And if you’re looking for a current trail guide, this isn’t that.
But as a reference for what’s where, what’s unique, and why it matters? It holds up.
Highly recommended for hikers, campers, road trippers, and anyone who thinks the national parks get a little too much of the spotlight.
Lands of the Western National Forests by Robert Mullenbach is an out-of-print directory covering the national forests west of the Rockies. It's part of a trilogy, showing its age but still essential for anyone serious about public lands. The physical format — something you can flip through and dog-ear — makes the sheer scope of the western forests navigable in a way no website quite manages.
- Covers the full breadth of western national forests in one organized, browsable reference
- Physical book format makes it easy to plan trips and flag destinations
- Makes a compelling case for why national forests deserve as much attention as national parks
- Out of print — requires hunting down a used copy
- Dated content with no updated photography or current trail information
- Not a trail guide; light on the practical, on-the-ground detail some readers will want
