The authors focus on what can be seen along, and what underlies, many major Washington highways. They deal with both the surficial geology and the underlying basement rocks. There is an emphasis on relating what is right in front of you to "how it got that way" and how it continues to change today.

Their preface is an excellent description of plate tectonics, the engine that powers all the geologic activity. It would be easy for this description to lose the non-technical reader, but their writing makes it seem clear. Throughout the book they have a consistently light but careful prose style. More people would be interested in geology if introductory geology textbooks read like this one!

10 of 10 found the following review helpful:

The most practical guide for amateur geologists  Jan 10, 2002
By Crileen Kixmoeller
Geology has long been a hobby of mine. I own several of these books and thoroughly enjoy them all. The Washington roadside guide has the most meaning to me since I live in Washington State and have had reason to travel throughout the state for the last 12 plus years. I like the authors approach of using highways and cities as reference points. In addition, the pictures add realism. You can actually go to those places and look at the pictures in the book and see exactly what they are talking about.
I think this book is a valuable educational tool as well for people with children. What fun to drive from place to place and learn about what is really under the surface of the ground! Reading the geological story of a particular part of the state made me want to travel there as well. Great books, very easy to read.

6 of 6 found the following review helpful:

Very Informative  May 16, 2006
By Dude
Let's say you have a craving for geology, which is one of the hottest subjects on the planet (you know, molten rock and such). Let's say you want to drive a particular route through Washington State. This book is organized by route (just like the other books in the series) so you can have an expert's explanation of what geologic features you are looking at and how they were formed.

Imagine a time of massive flooding when glacial Lake Missoula burst out of the ice dam and drenched most of Eastern Washington with 500 cubic miles of water more than 30 times. You can easily find the evidence today with the help of this book.

Imagine a time when the northern end of Puget Sound was blocked by glacial ice, the level of water in the sound was about 100 feet higher than today, and all the rivers draining into the South Sound were dammed up and forced to escape to the South, through modern-day Black Lake and down the Chehalis River Valley.

Some people worry about Mt. Rainier erupting again, which of course it will. But imagine the numerous and relatively recent mudflows off Mt Rainier which were not even associated with an eruption. Some of these mudflows contained up to a cubic mile of material with the consistency of liquid bricks. The inundated areas are now inhabited by hundreds of thousands of people. All you folks in Sumner and Orting, good luck in the next one!

Once I wanted to be a Geologist, but the projects took too long to complete. If you have this book, at least the explanation is fast and easy to understand for the non-geologist such as myself. All the books in this series are fun to read when traveling through the subject areas.

Thanks, Steve Willie, Olympia, WA

3 of 3 found the following review helpful:

Clear guide for the non-geologist  May 27, 2008
By Arthur Held
My 13 year old son and I just finished a 1000 mile trip son through Washington, Idaho, and Montana. This series of books was our companion. My son read it aloud as we drove. We both learned a lot about the Columbia river basin, and the cascade mountains.

After reading it, my son could spot and identify the different general rock types and color changes described.

An excellent companion with good diagrams and short sections that convey the most important (and observable) facts.




1 of 5 found the following review helpful:

Book for Christmas Gift  Jan 18, 2007
By Maggie
Book came in time for Christmas, in spite of the bad weather.