Guide the way with these great Canadian Rockies guidebooks
Trying to choose the right guidebooks can be a dizzying and difficult task given the sheer volume of Rocky Mountain guidebooks in print.
Practically every topic has been covered, and many more than once. All of the guidebooks in print are useful to one degree or another. A few are indispensable and can be found on the book shelf of practically every local— money spent on one of these “tried and true” books will be far less than the value of the information gleaned from within them. A good guidebook can enrich your stay in the mountains, whether that be for two days or 20 years. While it is impractical to try to list and describe every guidebook available on the Canadian Rocky Mountains, the following are meant only to offer a few suggestions and help “guide” the way:
GENERAL
Handbook of the Canadian Rockies
Ben Gadd. Corax Press: 831 pages. Compared to nearly all of the other guidebooks, Gadd’s guidebook is the largest, heaviest and the by far the most valuable resource on the Canadian Rockies. Gadd has managed to cram practically every facet of life in the Canadian Rockies into one book, complete with 1,242 full-colour drawings, photographs and maps. His topics include: geology, plants, wildlife, bugs, history, weather and what to do and where to go. If you only want to buy or carry one book, this is the one. Gadd is a highly respected interpretive guide and writer. He has five books in total, including a children’s book.
Canmore & Kananaskis: Best Hikes Best Activities
Ward Cameron. Altitude Publishing: 256 pages. Ward Cameron’s comprehensive book, filled with full-colour maps and photographs, is an invaluable resource for the eastern edge of the Bow Valley region. This guidebook includes Highlights of Nature and History, Life in the Mountains and more detailed information on Canmore and the regions in Kananaskis Country. The back of the book is dedicated to 69 trails in Canmore and Kananaskis, complete with description and trailhead and route information. Cameron has worked in the Rockies as a park interpreter, naturalist, writer and photographer since the early 1980s. He has written two other guidebooks and designed an award-winning Web site, www.MountainNature.com
Canadian Rockies
Graeme Pole. Altitude Publishing: 348 pages. Graeme Pole takes readers through the Rocky Mountain parks, from Waterton to Jasper, complete with many historic black-and-white and modern colour photographs. This guidebook is visually appealing, a good read and rich with many fascinating details and facts, making it one of the most informative guides to the landmarks and personalities of the Rocky Mountains. Readers will come away from Pole’s book feeling they have enough information to really understand the human history and involvement of the Rocky Mountains. Pole lives in Field, B.C. in Yoho National Park. He is a writer and an interpretive guide.
HISTORY
Canmore & Kananaskis History Explorer
Ernie Lakusta. Altitude Publishing: 160 pages. Author Ernie Lakusta has crafted an enjoyable and easy-to-read 160-page guidebook that takes a slightly different tack from the other books: Lakusta takes the reader from peak-to-peak in the Canmore/Kananaskis region, and in the process explains who or what each mountain is named after. The book includes many historical and current photographs, including an image of each mountain mentioned in the book. This book is a must for history buffs. Lakusta is a recent Canmore resident, but he is no stranger to the mountains. Lakusta, a biologist by trade, did much of his research in Kananaskis Country.
SPORTS - Mountain Biking
Backcountry Biking in the Canadian Rockies (third edition)
Doug Eastcott. Rocky Mountain Books: 408 pages. Over 300 test rides went into the writing of Backcountry Biking in the Canadian Rockies, but only 200 of the trails made it into the book. For mountain bikers looking to expand their horizons, this is the book. Doug Eascott has included rides, all in the Canadian Rockies, from the U.S.-Canada border north to the Grand Cache area — roughly 650 kilometres. Each ride comes with an elevation profile, description, a breakdown of landmarks by distance and a summary of trail details; including 57 maps and 128 photographs. Eastcott is a warden for the Rocky Mountain National Parks.
SPORTS - Hiking
The Canadian Rockies Trail Guide (seventh edition)
Brian Patton and Bart Robinson. Summerthought Ltd.: 451 pages. Anyone who uses The Canadian Rockies Trail Guide for the first time will quickly understand why it's known as the “hikers bible.” This book has withstood the test of time. It was written 33 years ago and still remains the trail guide for the nearly 3,000 km of trails the guide covers in the Canadian Rockies. At least 180 trails are included in seven distinct areas in the Rocky Mountains. Maps and photographs round out the book. Brian Patton and Bart Robinson have been fixtures in the Rocky Mountains since the 1970s.
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A little planning with the best guidebooks on the Canadian Rockies can make a visit here even more enjoyable
Canmore & Kananaskis Country: Short Walks for Enquiring Minds (third edition)
Gillean Daffern. Rocky Mountain Books: 296 pages. This little book covers 67 walks in Canmore and Kananaskis, and is ideal for people who are looking for something other than a day-long backcountry hike. Each listed walk is an average of one to two hours long and features a different aspect of the region’s natural and cultural history. This book is a good choice for people with less time or mobility, but who still want to get more out of their visit to the mountains than just admiring the scenery from a comfy chair on a deck. Daffern, the author of two other guidebooks, has spent 20 years exploring Kananaskis Country.
Ridgewalks in the Canadian Rockies
Mike Potter. Luminous Compositions: 304 pages. Ridgewalks in the Canadian Rockies is perhaps one of the most unique hiking-related guidebooks — not quite hiking and not quite scrambling, ridgewalking is an art unto itself. Mike Potter has explored, mapped out and described 150 ridgewalks in some of the most beautiful terrain from the southern Rockies north to Jasper in what is the Rockies' only such guidebook. Potter has included 160 photographs and 50 pages of maps to help inspire hikers looking for a different challenge. So far, Potter has written six books on the Rocky Mountains.
SPORTS - Climbing
Sport Climbs in the Canadian Rockies (fifth edition)
John Martin and Jon Jones. Rocky Mountain Books: 368 pages. Chock full with over 1,400 climbs, this guidebook covers all of the best sport routes in Banff, Lake Louise, the Bow Valley, Ghost River area and Kananaskis Country. An easy-to-follow approach and clear route descriptions and diagrams help make this an essential guidebook for climbers. It is also compact and easy to toss into a pack. The book also includes a number of marked photographs that help in finding individual routes and crags. Both John Martin and Jon Jones established many of the sport climbs in this guidebook in the mid-1980s and early 1990s.
SPORTS - Ski Touring
Ski Trails in the Canadian Rockies (third edition)
Chic Scott. Rocky Mountain Books: 240 pages. Practically all the information a Nordic skier could need is in this book. Ski Trails in the Canadian Rockies covers 150 trails and traverses in all of the Rocky Mountain national and provincial parks. Scott provides good maps along with full descriptions of the trails — including groomed ski areas that can be skied with cross-country skis. A number of inspiring black-and-white photographs fill this book, as well. Chic Scott is a Cochrane-based writer and mountain guide who is also the author of the award-winning Pushing the Limits: the Story of Canadian Mountaineering.
FLOWERS
Rocky Mountain Wild Flowers
A.E. Porsild and Dagny Tande Lid (illustrator). Natural Museums of Canada: 454 pages.
Trees and Shrubs of Alberta
Kathleen Wilkinson. Lone Pine Publishing: 192 pages. One of the most stunning sights in the Rocky Mountains is a vibrant green alpine meadow filled with yellow, purple and red flowers. Beautiful to look at, but what are those flowers anyway? Rocky Mountain Wild Flowers will tell you. This book is filled with accurate full-colour illustrations for plants and flowers and a brief, but detailed description to assist a positive identification. The only drawback to this book is that the plants are grouped by family. Finding the right flower may require some searching.
Finding trees and shrubs in the Rockies is easy. Telling them apart can be much harder. Trees and Shrubs of Alberta helps separate the trees from the forest. Each tree and shrub is illustrated with black and white drawings and full-colour photographs to offer detail and perspective. Descriptions include habitat, history of the name and uses. This book has sturdy covers and thick pages — ideal for carrying it around in the car or pack.
Rob Alexander
These guidebooks for the Rocky Mountains, along with many others, are available in Banff at the Banff Book & Art Den Book at 94 Banff Avenue, and in Canmore at Café Books at 826 Main Street.
Rob Alexander is a Canmore-based freelance writer. He is currently involved in research and writing for a historical book project with the Exshaw Historical Society.
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