Waterfalls of the White Mountains

Reviewed by Dean Goss

This book was the first waterfall guidebook I bought. Thus, it has a revered place in my library. My copy (books are tools, not sacred objects) is dogeared, has highlighter and writing sprinkled throughout, and has many additional waterfalls or related information scribbled on the maps and in the margins. About the only thing my old copy hasn't done is stop a bullet.

This book, while suffering from a shortage of photographs, is one of the best written waterfall books available. The Bolnicks are both talented, he's a Professor of Economics, and she's a renowned artist. Both are obviously bright and talented people whose passion for waterfalls is plainly evident throughout this book.

The book is well organized by watershed. It has relevant and important adjunct information, a treatise on photographing the falls, trail etiquette, safety concerns, a brief but thorough geology of the falls, a master list of falls in the appendix, and a chapter devoted to bushwhacks that is sadly missed in the second edition. For that chapter alone, I'd recommend tracking this edition down.

The Bottom Line: If you go traipsing around the White Mountains, you should have a copy of this book. It's a good read, very well written, with much more than simple descriptive narrative. I find myself frequently curling up with this book and a cup of hot tea in the wintertime.