This is a guidebook to the southern desert and mountain area of California. It lists the campsite facilities, roads, etc. (as they were in 1978), but it also goes on to tell the history of each area and ghost town, along with some of the natural history. The author's father was a mule team operator in the early days of the 1900s, and the author (Lew) remembers going on a few trips with him before the automobile made the mule team unnecessary.

An interesting read, I would like to fly in a small plane over the mountains and valleys to see the glacial remains and the shape of it all. I would also like to drive through the area, but why anyone would want to camp there is beyond me. My parents and grandparents were enamored with the desert, but give me the beach or forest any time. ( )