March 12, 2026 by CE Barnwell

Book by Kevin Fedarko

Published in 2024

The Grand Canyon is one of those epic, unique places on the earth that so many of us have heard about and perhaps dream of doing a river trip. As one of the early American national parks, the Grand Canyon has been visited by many people from all over the world for more than 100 years. 

The Grand Canyon, however, is also a mysterious place, little known to most people beyond the South and North rims of the Canyon, or the Colorado River itself.  

“A Walk in the Park: The True Story of a Spectacular Misadventure in the Grand Canyon” by Kevin Fedarko takes us into the bowels of the Grand Canyon, and not just the Colorado River, but the interior walls and backcountry of the Canyon.

Grand Canyon National Park is 1.2 million acres in size, and 6,000 feet deep — a huge expanse of wild country. Fedarko and his friend Pete decide to tackle hiking as much of the length of the Canyon as they can, starting with an initial disastrous hike that was undertaken with lots of ignorance about just how big, tough, and dangerous the Canyon is. 

I grew up in Alaska and worked as a field geologist, privileged to see truly wild, relatively untouched places with rich natural beauty and long histories of human presence (in some parts of the northern Brooks Range: 15,000 or more years). From a young age, I was interested in the Grand Canyon, in particular the explorations by John Wesley Powell in the 1860s-1870s, and then books by Colin Fletcher and Edward Abbey.  

Not until reading Fedarko’s book did I realize just how wild and dangerous the Grand Canyon is, nor did I know about the fascinating cultural history, and biological, geologic, and other aspects of the Canyon. The Grand Canyon was and is home to many indigenous peoples (currently ten tribes), who have lived in the Canyon for thousands of years. As Fedarko explains, the Canyon is a rich vessel of life, not to mention the amazing Colorado River itself.

Fedarko, a former Outside Magazine writer, is not only a tough outdoorsman but a good writer. He blends his hiking adventures with eloquent descriptions of the sheer beauty of the Canyon, but also the rich diversity of life, for example, sheep, antelope, deer, and a multitude of plant life they met deep in the Canyon in some very hard-to-access parts, such as “slot” canyons. 

He allocates a lot of the book to the plight of indigenous people in modern times, trying to preserve their way of life and their knowledge of the Canyon. Fedarko contrasts the view of indigenous people of the Canyon with that of modern Westerners in a balanced way, appreciating how these people understood how to live well in this country.  

The hiking aspect of Fedarko’s adventures is a key theme, and Fedarko is honest about his failure to adequately prepare for the very tough terrain, hot temperatures, and many obstacles he met while trying to do a “thru hike” of the Canyon. Basically, he describes how little he knew about this kind of hiking in that country, despite having been a Colorado River guide for years.

Many hiking and adventure books can be long on the physical aspects of a trip or on their accomplishments. Fedarko is modest and honest about his personal mistakes, progressively learning throughout his trip. He writes candidly about the personal challenges he encountered while trying to achieve his goals. Fedarko and Pete gradually, and by steps,  learn how to traverse the Canyon wildlands thanks in large part to a group of generous and knowledgeable local hikers from Flagstaff.

Each of these local hikers has a fascinating life story, and extensive experience in the Canyon (and a few in Alaska as well).  Fedarko’s thru-hike adventure becomes not just an individual goal, but the goal of all the befriended hikers, working together.  As a reader, I felt like one of the hikers in Fedarko’s group, and could not put this book down.  

“Walk in the Park” is an unusual adventure book in its entirety, and it does justice to one of America’s and the world’s great natural wonders, worthy of our learning about and protecting.