For well known trails in areas like Moab, Colorado, etc, its hard to beat the Charles Wells series of books. He gives the trails difficulty ratings and there are excellent descriptions so you know what to expect. These are well worth the money.
I was looking foe some open trails in the San Diego mountain area. Just to go goof around on a Tuesday. I was trying to avoid just what happened, lots of locked gates. But I did know of a good one and took the drive to it and enjoyed the day in the back country.
