by Bob Walch

Bay Area Ridge Trail (Wilderness Press; $16.95) by Jean Rusmore is an outdoors guide that hikers, bikers and equestrians will find useful. Updated with new hikes that complement the outings featured in the first and second editions, you’ll find a full range of venues for just a few hours or a full day of trail activity.

Divided into sections for the North, South, and East Bay, as well as for the Peninsula and San Francisco, you won’t find a more comprehensive guide to the trails ringing the San Francisco Bay. Clear trail maps, instructions on locating the trail heads, and a detailed description of each trail provide a preview of what to expect when you arrive for your outing.

Each entry also includes information that a walker, biker or horseback rider will need to know. Among the Peninsula sites listed are the Saratoga Gap Open Space Preserve, Skyline Ridge and Russian Ridge Open Space Preserves, Windy Hill Open Space Preserve, Wunderlich County Park to Huddart County Park,  and the Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve.

Endorsed by the Bay Area Ridge Trail Council, this book is the most current (and the best) trail guide for this region of Northern California, so you may want to add it to your “must buy” list!

Going a bit further afield, those who like to camp or hike the Point Reyes Peninsula north of San Francisco will enjoy Jules Evens’ Natural History of the Point Reyes Peninsula (University of California Press; $24.95). This  informative book isn’t a hiking guide; rather, it delves into the history, climate, geology, and flora and fauna of this richly diverse area.

Maps and a plethora of color photos and black and white illustrations will help the reader visualize the material the author shares with his lively and well-informed narrative.