Popular Day Hikes, 1: Kananaskis Country.

Sandy Campbell is a reference librarian in the Science and Technology Library at the University of Alberta.

In Kananaskis Country, Gillean Daffern has created a guidebook for people who just want to day-hike. The guide gives basic information for 35 hikes, including distance, difficulty, height gain, high point, and specific hiking directions (e.g., Upper Kananaskis Lake hike: “pass a green tarn, then contour around the head of a deep inlet”).

      Most of the trails are easy to locate and follow. They are sometimes on roads, along horse trails, marked by cairns, or ingrained through frequent use. Descriptions of the trails are accompanied by sharp, bright photos and contoured maps. Landscape shots often show the trail so hikers can get a sense of the terrain. The guide is printed on glossy paper.

In contrast, Dustin Lynx’s Hiking Canada’s Great Divide Trail is printed in black and white and on lower-quality paper. It is, however, much more than just a trail guide—it’s a valuable contribution to the documentary history of the Rockies. The introductory essay describes the various attempts dating back to the 1960s, to create a continuous trail up the backbone of the Canadian Rockies, and details both government and private efforts to improve the trail and have it formally recognized.

As a further contrast to Daffern’s book, Lynx’s guide largely focuses on remote hiking. Though the Great Divide Trail does pass near Jasper townsite, other parts of it are a three-day hike from the nearest road. Lynx recognizes that few people will want to hike the trail end to end, so he has chunked it into sections of 25 km to 80 km that can be hiked separately. For each section, he includes general trail information, north and south access points, campgrounds, where to re-supply, and brief trail notes.

Both volumes would be good additions to collections supporting Rocky Mountain pursuits. Recommended.