Craig Romano Glacier National Park British Columbia

Trail Philosophy with Northwest Guidebook Author Craig Romano

February 20, 2023•Tommy Hough

This episode of Treehuggers International originally aired on Dec. 19, 2010, on KBZT FM 94/9. Special thanks to KSVR General Manager Rip Roberts and Station Manager Dave McConnell at Skagit Valley College for their help and assistance making this program possible.

An avid hiker, runner, kayaker, bicyclist and the author of nearly a dozen books and hundreds of magazine and newspaper articles, Treehuggers International is thrilled to present our conversation with author Craig Romano, recorded at the studios of KSVR Radio at Skagit Valley College, near Craig’s home in Mt. Vernon.

Growing up in rural Windham, New Hampshire, Craig quickly combined his love for writing with his enjoyment of the outdoors. While first writing about bicycling, as Craig grew older his writing began to compliment his zest for lacing up a pair of boots, grabbing a handful of chocolate-covered espresso beans, and hitting the trail.

A former backcountry ranger in the White Mountain National Forest, self-described “Vermont ski bum,” and hiking guide in the Pyrenees Mountains of France and Spain, Craig has traveled the world seeking, and often finding, wild and spectacular landscapes.

A resident of Washington state for over 20 years, Craig conservatively estimates he has hiked some 13,000 miles of the Evergreen State, from Cape Flattery on the wild northwest corner of the Olympic Peninsula, to Puffer Butte above the waving wheat fields of the Palouse, and from Cape Disappointment at the mouth of the Columbia River, to the Salmo-Priest Wilderness along Washington’s northeast frontier with Canada.

In fact, one of Craig’s most notable efforts is about Washington’s still-wild northeast corner. Written and released in conjunction with the team at Conservation Northwest in Seattle, Exploring Washington’s Last Frontier is a book about the growing Columbia Highlands wilderness initiative underway in the Colville National Forest.

Craig continues to set a prolific pace, putting the finishing touches on a new backpacking trail guide for The Mountaineers Books, and working with Rich Landers of the Spokane Spokesman-Review on a day hiking guide to Eastern Washington.

In addition, Craig has released a new day hiking volume on the Columbia River Gorge as part of the Mountaineers Books’ revised guidebook series, complimenting his previous titles on the Olympic Peninsula and North Cascades, with a portion of the proceeds from each guidebook going to our fellow Treehuggers International friends at the Washington Trails Association.