Canada: Gem Trek Hiking Maps of the Canadian Rockies

From £6.95

Publisher: Gem Trek Publishing
Scale: various

Detailed hiking maps of the Canadian Rockies, covering the most popular areas of the Banff, Jasper, Kootenay and Yoho National Parks, as well as Waterton Lakes NP further south and the adjoining Goat Haunt area of Montana. The maps are contoured (50m or 25m interval in most titles). Some titles also have relief shading, although the publishers have now decided to drop this feature in future editions (see below).

Extensive overprint highlights hiking trails, many with detailed descriptions provided on the reverse. Most titles also include mountain bike, equestrian and ski routes. Symbols indicate various facilities, including camping grounds, hostels, lodges, visitors’ centres, viewpoints, canoe rentals, etc. The maps have UTM coordinates and latitude/longitude margin ticks. On the reverse, in addition to the descriptions of the trails, there are contact details, general tips, and other useful information.

See descriptions of individual titles for further details.

Dropping relief shading - the publisher’s comments:
“Why are we discontinuing the relief shading on our maps? In a word, readability. Over the years, we have received a great deal of feedback from hikers who told us that, although they liked the look of the relief shading, they found the text and contour lines on the darker background hard to read, especially in the field. With the baby boomers' eyes aging (the majority of the people who use our maps are baby boomers), readability is becoming more of an issue every year. And, as our eyes are also getting a little less sharp than they used to be, we, too, are starting to feel the frustration of trying to read black text and brown contour lines over a dark background.”