Valerie Askren signing Hike the Bluegrass and Beyond

Saturday, February 4 at 11am ET

Location: Joseph-Beth Lexington

Join us for Valerie Askren signing Hike the Bluegrass and Beyond.

Hike the Bluegrass and Beyond is your personal guide to walk, roll, and stroll your way across Kentucky. This newly revised 3rd Edition describes over 100 hikes, urban walks, and public gardens, complete with full-color topo maps, photos, and side trip recommendations. Lightly doused with humor and just the right amount of historical trivia, this book focuses on many of the lesser known hiking spots in the Bluegrass region. Whether you rarely get off the couch or you do ironman triathlons for fun, you're sure to find a hike or walk to add to your favorite short list.

Each entry includes a description, trail length, directions to the trailhead, other facilities available, contact information, and lots of full-color photographs. The 3rd Edition has been expanded once again, and includes full-color topographical maps for each hike.

After having spent more than 20 years as a university researcher and professor, Valerie Askren traded the ivory towers of academia for the hardwood forests and sandstone arches of Kentucky. The proverbial outdoorswoman, she has swum in Africa’s Lake Malawi, climbed China’s Mount Tai, sailed the coast of southern France, biked Nova Scotia, backpacked across Canada, and survived the biting cold of farm life in Ukraine. She spent her honeymoon kayaking the Grand Canyon with her husband, Ben.

Valerie’s background in natural-resource economics and her love of the wilderness translated into a second career writing outdoor guides, including Hike the Bluegrass and Beyond, Fly Fishing Kentucky, Backpacking Kentucky, Backcountry Cuisine, and Five-Star Trails: Louisville and Southern Indiana.

Valerie lives in Lexington, Kentucky, where a peaceful wooded path, beautiful public garden, or historical walking trail is always close at hand.