Florida Keys Guide Wins Book Award
27 Jan
Before 2008 grows too small in the rear-view mirror, we wanted to properly note the Florida Keys Paddling Atlas by Bill and Mary Burnham. The beautiful and informative guide book was the winner in the Outdoor Adventure Guidebook category of the 2008 National Outdoor Book Awards.
While the Keys are considered more of a sea-kayak venue than a playground for open boats, the Florida Keys Paddling Atlas make the area look inviting to savvy canoeists and the book’s detailed maps offer ample information for making safe, interesting open-boat trips in, around, and along South Florida’s necklace of coral islands.
Although maps are often the undoing of otherwise strong guidebooks, Florida Keys’ maps are indeed its strength. (It’s an Atlas, after all!) The maps are large, detailed, colorful, and easy-to-read. They include information on the land-cover on shore and for the sea-floor when you’re out on the water. There are plentiful notations about public lands, scenic and natural highlights, swimming holes, and fishing spots. The maps even note on-shore amenities like post offices, boat landings, campgrounds, and shopping areas.
You can see an image one of the book’s two-age spreads HERE.
Along with the maps, there’s succinct, helpful text for each map-spread with additional information, local history tidbits, and helpful navigational hints. An appendix lists hundreds of GPS latitude-longitude “go-to points” denoted on the maps.
All in all, we’re not surprised the book won an award. And, we’d happily pack it along ourselves on a canoe trip exploring the Florida Keys.
