Robert Stone (trail guide writer)

Robert Paul Stone (born March 10, 1951) is the author, photographer, and publisher of the trail guide series Day Hike Books. Since 1991, Stone has hiked every trail in the Day Hike Book series, covering thousands of miles of trails throughout the western United States and Hawaii. He has self-published more than 30 hiking guides in the series, many of them in their third, fourth, fifth, or sixth editions. Stone summers in the Rocky Mountains of Montana and winters on the California Central Coast.

Career
Stone was born in Los Angeles in 1951. In 1981, he relocated to Red Lodge, Montana, where he started his own real estate business. In 1991, he began to write, publish, market, and distribute local trail guide booklets for Red Lodge and Yellowstone National Park. The pamphlets were so successful that in 1992, he struck a distribution deal for future books with ICS Books, a major publishing house. Subsequently, Stone left the real estate industry and devoted himself full-time to researching, writing, and publishing substantial trail guides. In 1997, ICS was bought out by Globe Pequot Press, who continued to distribute his books. Presently, he self-publishes and is distributed through National Book Network. Stone has written, revised, and published 31 guides for trails in Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Arizona, California, and Hawaii, 20 of them currently in print and as eBooks. Stone frequently updates his books, seeking new trails and improvements of previous editions.

Writing style
Stone writes for everyone, from the novice to the veteran hiker, with day hikes ranging from half a mile to 12 miles in length. Trail guides for each hike include an informational summary, detailed instructions of location and directions to the trailhead, a concise description of each hike, distance of the trail, approximate length in time of the hike, elevation gain, exposure, level of difficulty, whether dogs are allowed, reference to pertinent USGS maps, and specific interlinking maps. Each book contains a well-organized Table of Contents and a comprehensive Index. Stone's writing style is simple and direct. His descriptions are clear and precise, so as not to confuse the reader. He aims to get hikers on the trail and keep them from getting lost.

Recognition
Stone is a Los Angeles Times Best Selling Author. Various professional outdoor writers groups have repeatedly honored him with organizational awards: He is an author of the Bay Area Travel Writers (BATW), an award-winning author of the Northwest Outdoor Writers Association (NOWA), an active member of the Outdoor Writers Association of America (OWAA), an author of the Outdoor Writers Association of California (OWAC), and an author of the Rocky Mountain Outdoor Writers and Photographers (RMOWP).

Works

 * Day Hikes In Denver, Colorado, 1st Edition, 1995, ISBN 0-9640232-4-5
 * Day Hikes In Aspen, Colorado, 1st Edition, 1996, ISBN 1-57342-003-4
 * Day Hikes On St. Martín, 1st Edition, 1996, ISBN 1-57342-005-0
 * Day Hikes In Boulder, Colorado, 2nd Edition, 1997, ISBN 1-57342-007-7
 * Day Hikes In Steamboat Springs, Colorado, 2nd Edition, 1997, ISBN 1-57342-008-5
 * Day Hikes In Summit County, Colorado, 2nd Edition, 1997, ISBN 1-57342-009-3
 * Day Hikes Around Lake Tahoe, 1st Edition, 1997, ISBN 1-57342-014-X
 * Day Hikes In Sequoia And Kings Canyon National Parks, 1st Edition, 2001, ISBN 978-1-57342-030-3
 * Day Hikes On Oahu, 3rd Edition, 2001, ISBN 978-1-57342-038-9
 * Day Hikes On Maui, 3rd Edition, 2001, ISBN 978-1-57342-039-6
 * Day Hikes On Kauai, 3rd Edition, 2001, ISBN 978-1-57342-040-2
 * Day Hikes On The California Southern Coast, 1st Edition, 2004, ISBN 978-1-57342-045-7
 * Day Hikes Around Yellowstone National Park, 4th Edition, 2005, ISBN 978-1-57342-048-8
 * Day Hikes Around Sedona, 2nd Edition, 2006, ISBN 978-1-57342-049-5
 * Day Hikes In Hawaii: Kauai, Maui, & Oahu, 1st Edition, 2006, ISBN 978-1-57342-050-1
 * Day Hikes Around Napa Valley, 1st Edition, 2008, ISBN 978-1-57342-057-0
 * Day Hikes On The California Central Coast, 1st Edition, 2009, ISBN 978-1-57342-058-7
 * Day Hikes In Yosemite National Park, 3rd Edition, 2009, ISBN 978-1-57342-059-4
 * Day Hikes Around Bozeman, Montana, 4th Edition, 2011, ISBN 978-1-57342-063-1
 * Day Hikes In The Beartooth Mountains, 5th Edition, 2012, ISBN 978-1-57342-064-8
 * Day Hikes In The Santa Monica Mountains, 1st Edition, 2012, ISBN 978-1-57342-065-5
 * Day Hikes Around Missoula, Montana, 4th Edition, 2013, ISBN 978-1-57342-066-2
 * Day Hikes Around Monterey And Carmel, 2nd Edition, 2013, ISBN 978-1-57342-067-9
 * Day Hikes Around Big Sur, 2nd Edition, 2014, ISBN 978-1-57342-068-6
 * Day Hikes In Grand Teton National Park, 5th Edition, 2014, ISBN 978-1-57342-069-3
 * Day Hikes Around San Luis Obispo, 3rd Edition, 2015, ISBN 978-1-57342-070-9
 * Day Hikes Around Los Angeles, 6th Edition, 2015, ISBN 978-1-57342-071-6
 * Day Hikes Around Sonoma County, 2nd Edition, 2016, ISBN 978-1-57342-072-3
 * Day Hikes Around Orange County, 2nd Edition, 2017, ISBN 978-1-57342-074-7
 * Day Hikes Around Santa Barbara, 4th Edition, 2018, ISBN 978-1-57342-075-4
 * Day Hikes Around Ventura County, 4th Edition, 2019, ISBN 978-1-57342-076-1