Mountain Press Publishing Company: 32 books

High among the cold, windswept peaks of America’s mountain west, grow pine trees that are twisted and gnarled, hanging on to rocky, inhospitable slopes, yet living to the extraordinary age of almost 5,000-years old. These trees are bristlecone and foxtail pines. What are the trees’ secrets—why...

The transition from the relatively flat Great Plains to the craggy peaks of Colorado's Front Range is one of North America's most abrupt topographical contrasts. The epic, 1,800-million-year geologic story behind this amazing landscape is even more awe inspiring. In Geology Underfoot along Colorado's...

Even if they don’t know much about rocks, most people can name at least one place they have encountered granite. As a rock, granite is speckled, sparkly, and beautiful, and it’s used in products we encounter every day, including countertops, headstones, and flooring. In the natural world granite...

Arches National Park. Bryce Canyon. Zion. When one thinks of Utah, its rocks and iconic landforms—preserved in a nearly endless list of national parks and monuments—come immediately to mind. Perhaps more so than any other state, Utah is built for geologic explorations, and geologists/authors Felicie...

With more than 10,000 geysers, hot springs, fumaroles, and mud pots, as well as cubic mile upon cubic mile of once-incendiary rhyolite, the landscape of Yellowstone Country vividly displays its fiery past and present. The region contains 1/5 of the world's geysers, including the most famous of them...

Ride along with geologists Pamela Gore and Bill Witherspoon on this extraordinary tour of the Peach State's varied terrain. In 35 detailed and densely illustrated road guides, the authors examine Georgia's fascinating geology and reveal the stories that lie beneath the surface. You'll be amazed at...

This comprehensive field guide provides color photographs, descriptions, and eight identification keys (including egg and larval stages) that allow both the layperson and the professional to identify Montana's frogs, toads, salamanders, turtles, lizards, and snakes. You'll find out where and when...

Few places in the nation rival Yosemite National Park for vertigo-inducing cliffs, plunging waterfalls, and stunning panoramic views of granite peaks. Many of the features that visitors find most tantalizing about Yosemite have unique and compelling geologic stories-tales that continue to unfold today...

Did you know that Chicago was named for a wild onion? Or that the only president born in Illinois was Ronald Reagan? Or that the Ferris Wheel, processed cheese, the game of softball, the fly swatter, and the automatic dishwasher were all invented by Illinoisans? You'll find these stories and hundreds...

In 1896 Lt. James Moss, second lieutenant at Fort Missoula, Montana, had a revolutionary idea: that bicycles, a relatively new innovation, could be employed by the military to replace cavalry horses for certain operations. Bikes did not need food, water, or rest; they would not die; they would never...

How could an ordinary fence shape the development of a nation? Before the 1870s, much of the American West was an uninterrupted expanse of prairie and cowboys ran cattle on an open range without a fence in sight. Then the Homestead Act of 1862 passed and settlers poured into the west looking for land...

Colorful, noisy, and brash, the American Kestrel is the most endearing of North America’s raptors. With its vivid rufous and blue-gray plumage, peppered with dashes of black and white, this bird of prey is instantly recognizable to both novice and expert bird watchers, whether it’sdiving for an...

The West’s vast ponderosa pine forest has been home to people for thousands of years. Ponderosa from distant mountains provided timbers for the ancient pueblos of the Southwest. Pioneers on horseback extolled the giant pines and grassy glades of yesterday’s forest. Ponderosa timber was used to...

Dig into Montana's past with this guide to the state's best archaeological sites. A cache north of Livingston, the oldest known evidence of humans in Montana, was left by mammoth hunters more than 11,000 years ago. Their cultural descendents survived in Montana until modern times, hunting game and...