95 Hikes in the Canadian Rockies: Banff, Kootenay and Assiniboine Parks

Lore Hoar is an information consultant living in Calgary.

The abundant variety of mountainous vistas in the Canadian Rockies has long been acclaimed by enthusiastic outdoorsmen. The Rockies also contain a wide variety of trails, which have attracted hikers from all over the world. Banff National Park, the largest and the most popular of the national parks, contains the greatest variety of hiking trails. Kootenay National Park has many outstanding day hikes and overnight trips, although they are less well known. And Assiniboine Provincial Park is definitely a hiker’s paradise.

The authors hiked almost every trail in the three parks before selecting the 95 trips described in this book. Each entry includes the round-trip distance (in kilometers and miles), average hiking time, elevation gain (in meters and feet), high point, best season, topographic map information, scenic photos, and a sketch map of the hike. The essay for each entry is quite short, explaining how to find the trail head and very briefly describing the trail itself.

This guide is very well researched from a hiker’s point of view, with clear descriptions and easy-to-follow directions. The section devoted to Assiniboine Provincial Park is quite comprehensive and is a welcome addition to hiking guides for this area. Spring and King list more hiking trails for Kootenay National Park than do Patton and Robinson in their book (Summerthought, 1971). Therefore, this is the better guide for the Kootenay National Park hiking trails. Some of the trails have been developed just in the past ten years, making this book a more up-to-date guide. The trails listed in the book apparently were chosen for the scenic rewards they could offer. However, the variety in types of hikes listed is noticeable also. They range from one to twenty miles in length and from 200 to 2500 feet in elevation gain. This guide should appeal to the avid as well as the casual hiker.