This book is a nice reference for people that have accessibility needs. It talks about a few National Park but not all. It's a helpful travel guide. I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review

Thanks to NetGalley and Rowman & Littlefield Publishers for an electronic advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest opinion below.

MY REVIEW
3/5

Overview
Traveling to America’s National Parks is something that my family has talked about off and on over the years. Surprisingly, I haven’t been to any of the National Parks here in Michigan but I have been to Great Smokey Mountains. Therefore when I saw a guidebook called “Accessible Vacations: An Insider’s Guide to 10 National Parks” by Simon J. Hayhoe was available on NetGalley I got excited. Sadly, I was overall disappointed with the book. Scroll down for more details.
I think the major problem with the book is that I wanted it to be geared primarily towards the “average tourist” whereas in reality it was written for a multitude of audiences: researchers/historians, National Park Service employees, tourists and teachers/educators. The book is split into three major sections:
1. History of accessibility within the entire National Parks Service
2. Types of “Access Needs” and technologies that people with disabilities may utilize
3. Profiles of 10 different Parks spread across the continental United States 

Section 1: Overall history of accessibility
As someone who is involved with research through my job I can appreciate the amount of time and effort that went into the writing of this book. I found some aspects of the accessibility history of the Parks interesting but on the whole I’m not sure it added much to the overall purpose of the book. I felt like the content in that section would have been better published separately- either in academic journal or publication or as it’s own book/pamphlet. I think that a summary of this information would add value to a guidebook geared towards tourists but perhaps not to this level of detail. 
Section 2: “Access Needs” and Technologies
This section seemed to be written towards Park Service employees to help them understand what types of needs their visitors may have. Therefore, again while interesting I wasn’t expecting this much information (or at least to this the level of detail) to be included in a book for people wanting to plan their vacation. I think that having a glossary of terms used in the individual park profiles would be helpful to help readers understand the varying levels of accessibility. Which brings me to one of my major pet peeves of the book: the phrase ‘largely accessible’ is used so frequently and I honestly don’t know what that means!
Section 3: Park Profiles
This is what I really wanted the focus of the book to be: information about specific parks. I recognized a few of the chosen parks but others were new to me. This was  both good and bad; it opened my eyes to new options but I also think that readers might be disappointed that more “popular” ones weren’t discussed. For example, Great Smokey Mountains was not discussed.
Each profile contained information about:
* Geography
* Climate
* Wildlife
* Things run officially by the park
* Options for getting around including shuttles/busses
* Lodging/campground options
* Tours and learning programs (including online/virtual programs)
* “Specialized access”
* List of nearby medical facilities
General Pros
Learning about the park’s climate is helpful to plan when I might want to visit. It’s also helpful to have an understanding of the official park services (transportation, lodging, learning programs etc.)  I also really liked how information about nearby medical systems and clinics was included. This is something that I would likely look up when planning my visit. I also liked that information about online/virtual learning programs was included. This is a neat way to experience aspects of the park without actually having to travel there. 
General Cons
The major downside to the book has to do a with the policy of not including commercially run businesses within each profile.  I understand the general reasoning of why the author chose to do this, but for me that’s the kind of information I want to know: are there numerous options for lodging besides the park campgrounds nearby? The campgrounds often didn’t have electricity which many people with disabilities rely on for one thing or another. What are some examples of tour options? Are those accessible? These are the types of things I’d have to look up on my own because they’re generally not discussed. On related note, since commercial lodging or tours were not discussed it feel like many of the parks profiled would not be a good fit for me as someone who (among other things) uses a power wheelchair and needs electricity to run medical equipment at night. Instead I felt discouraged. The emphasis seemed to be on describing the parks in a way that focused on activities I couldn’t do such as camping in places without electricity or hiking trails. This could just be a fact of life for park activities though… maybe I just don’t have a good understanding of what the different parks offer. But this is what I wanted the book to help me do.
Another thing I found frustrating was how the information was organized. I received an advanced reader copy (ARC) so it’s quite possible that the formatting was updated in the final version. But, in the version I read there weren’t many headings. Instead, certain things were bolded within paragraphs. For example, phrases like “visitors with mobility needs” or “…vision loss” where the specific access need would be bolded. I understand there can be a lot of overlap in accommodations for different disabilities BUT for me it would have been more helpful if the profiles described the accessibility of each park broken down by the major access need. I was also frustrated because the author would describe something but then quickly say “but contact the park to discuss your needs”. Or used phrases like “largely accessible”. This isn’t super helpful for me. 
Finally, as I mentioned earlier the author was writing with numerous audiences in mind which led to information overload for me. For example, when measurements were included it was usually both the Metric and Imperial systems. This resulted in a ton of numbers but this could just be a personal thing. Another example of information overload has to do with the sections describing the learning/educational programs. While information about tours or online learning (such as the park app or a series of videos on the website) was included, a great deal of information about booking school or scout group visits was included. This is definitely important, but I’m not sure it was necessary to include in this specific book.  
Final thoughts
Overall, I had high hopes for this book but was disappointed. I felt like the choice of parks profiled and the information provided was not as helpful as I’d wanted. If I was planning a trip to one of the parks I’d still have a lot of research that I would need to do. 
Note about the National Park Access Pass
I’m also really surprised the author didn’t include more information about the National Park Service’s National Access Pass! The following is copied directly from the National Park Service’s website:
“The Access Pass, part of the America the Beautiful – National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass Series, is available free for US citizens or permanent residents with permanent disabilities. The Access Pass may be issued to U.S. citizens or permanent residents of any age that have been medically determined to have a permanent disability (does not have to be a 100% disability) that severely limits one or more major life activities. Applicants must provide documentation of permanent disability and residency or citizenship.”
Learn more about the Access Pass on the National Park Service website
Read the official Frequently Asked Questions about the Access Pass

This is a very useful reference text for people with access needs considering a trip to some of the most popular US National Parks. 10 parks in various regions, from Denali to Acadia to Everglades, are covered in great detail. The author is careful to address services and accommodations available for many different types of access needs. This is helpful as a guide for travel planning, but also as a confidence-builder for travelers who may be hesitant about exploring with mobility or sensory limitations. Knowing what to expect ahead of time and learning about exactly what is available may help quell anxieties and build excitement for upcoming trips.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review!

Using this to plan some vacations with my disabled husband. Some useful stuff in here, very handy to have.