Hiking the Historic Crowsnest Pass

Maryon McClary is a librarian in the Periodicals and Microform Centre at
the University of Alberta.

Not part of the parks system and having once been an industrialized
mining zone, the Crowsnest Pass area has escaped the attention of most
hikers and hence guidebook writers. The authors, both employed by the
Historic Sites and Archives Services of Alberta’s Department of
Culture and Multiculturalism, have effectively used their knowledge of
the area’s history in combination with an obvious enthusiasm for its
natural beauty to correct this omission, and in doing so have produced a
useful, informative, and well-illustrated guide for those who wish to
explore for an afternoon or several days.

As a trail guide, the book is nicely laid out, providing the hiker with
duration, distance, elevation gain, and difficulty ratings for 47
separate hikes. Each description gives a brief introduction to the hike,
explaining names and describing what historic sites may be encountered
and vistas attained. Black-and-white photos of the area, many of them
from the mining heyday (1900–1914) and others capturing the natural
beauty, enhance each trail description. Four detailed maps of the zones
within the area (Livingston Range, High Roch Country, Flatheads, and
Eastern Portal) permit the hiker to plan half-, full-, or multi-day
excursions ranging from “after dinner strolls” to strenuous hikes.
The detail given in the body of the descriptions should make the routes
easy to identify and follow. The guide’s historical snippets provide
interesting and informative reading.

A four-page introduction describes the Crowsnest area very generally in
terms of its geological zones and early settlement, and provides the
hiker with a sense of the climate and hiking conditions. The final
section of the book consists of a glossary of terms, useful tourist
information about the area (restaurants, campgrounds, etc.), a very
brief list of further readings, and an index.

This well-organized hiking guide is recommended for library collections
that support travel and vacation planning. The visitor intending to
spend several days exploring on foot will find it a worthwhile purchase,
both for planning and as a source of information on the trail.