Books like Crossing open ground by Barry Lopez

Bill Bryson humorously chronicles a two–person hike along the Appalachian Trail, mixing lively anecdotes with insightful looks at its history, ecology, and the people who live along the route.

Explore the life and work of environmentalist and writer Edward Abbey, who spent the 1950s as a park ranger in the American Southwest.

Journeying through Nepal’s Dolpo highlands, Peter Matthiessen and biologist George Schaller track the elusive snow leopard while exploring Buddhist spirituality and Himalayan wilderness.

A Mexican‑American boy travels to Japan for summer kempo practice and discovers that shared passions—baseball, family traditions, and friendship—bridge cultural gaps.

A Summer Adventure: Gwendolyn Reese Embarks on a European Tour as a Surprise Gift Changes Her Life

Barry Holstun Lopez: “Arctic Dreams; Imagination and Desire in a Northern Landscape” ( 1986) This is an account of the author's exploration of the Western Arctic region, between Bering Strait and Davis Strait. It is an account both of the natural history of the Arctic, and equally of how the Arctic grips the human spirit and imagination. The chapters are rich in their descriptions of the Arctic –of the physical land itself, the native peoples that the author met, the Arctic animals and plants, both terrestrial and aquatic, the ice and the Arctic light that make the region so distinctly different from the temperate and tropical parts of Earth. But Lopez also gives us a sense of how the Arctic fascinates the mind and spirit – through his own personal experiences and through the history of the Arctic - both of the native peoples and the discovery expeditions.

In the small Colorado town of Holt, a single high school teacher raises two boys while a teenage mother struggles alone; two brothers tend a homestead, and together their lives weave a story of resilience, community, and the quiet rhythms of the High Plains.

Mary Hunter Austin's first book focuses on the arid and semi-arid regions of California between the High Sierras south of Yosemite, including desert, Death Valley, Mojave Desert, and towns like Jimville, Kearsarge, and Las Uvas.

Explore the American Southwest’s harsh deserts through Craig Childs’ firsthand journeys, uncovering how water shapes both landscapes and psychology.

Barry Lopez blends autobiography, travel narratives, and naturalist essays in About This Life, exploring remote locales, cultural insights, and personal memory.