Moon Canadian Rockies: Including Banff and Jasper National Parks (Moon Handbooks) (Paperback)
Product Description
Canada resident and avid outdoorsman Andrew Hempstead knows the best way to experience the Canadian Rockies, from rafting on the Bow River and hiking Lake O’Hara to staying in a remote log cabin. Hempstead includes unique trip ideas such as “A Week Under the Stars” and “Exploring the Canadian Rockies with Children.” Packed with information on dining, transportation, and accommodations, Moon Canadian Rockies has lots of options for a range of travel budgets. Every Moon guidebook includes recommendations for must-see sights and many regional, area, and city-centered maps. Complete with details on escaping the crowds at Lake Louise, viewing wildlife at Moraine, or dining in Banff, Moon Canadian Rockies gives travelers the tools they need to create a more personal and memorable experience. With expert writers, first-rate strategic advice, and an essential dose of humor, Moon guidebooks are the cure for the common trip.
2007′s “Canadian Rockies” is the latest Moon handbook on the swath of wonderful parks that straddle the Canadian Rockies from Jasper through Banff to Waterton on the U.S. border. Packaged in a convenient size and packed with a variety of information, “Canadian Rockies is a superb guide for planning a vacation in a area full of opportunities.
The guide covers Banff, Jasper, Yoho, Kootenay, and Waterton National Parks, along with the Kannaskis Country provincial parks just west of Calgary. Information is provided on a range of accomodations, restaurants, museums and tourist exhibits, and opportunities for recreation. The guide includes a nice selection of maps and photographs. Segments on local history provide context for each area. The guide includes information on access to the parks and cautionary warnings on interacting with the abundant wildlife.
Depending on the season, the Rockies offer hiking, camping, boating, biking, golf, or skiing at a variety of venues. For example, each park narrative includes a representative sample of day hikes and longer hikes. This reviewer and his family are frequent visitors to the Canadian Rockies and found unsurpassed opportunities for hikes to spectacular terrain accessable in few other places in North America.
This guide is very highly recommended to those planning a vacation in the Canadian Rockies.
Using Amazon and local bookstores, I checked out all the recent Canadian Rockies guidebooks I could find before choosing this one. It has good explanations of geology, flora, and fauna found in this area. We took many of the suggestions for lodging, food and things to do, and was not disappointed with any. I’m not a hiker – I walk – so I can’t judge the suggested hikes, with the exception of one, rated “easy” near Banff. Not easy. For un-hikers who want to “hike” I recommend Graeme Pole’s “Walks and Easy Hikes in the Canadian Rockies”. It rated the Banff walk as “harder” (that is the toughest of his ratings).
Before heading to the Canadian Rockies for the first time, I spent time reviewing and reading several guidebooks. This one is notable for its really broad overview of the Canadian Rocky area and covers a wide variety of topics such as restaurants, hikes, lodging, sites to see, etc. I used it a lot during the trip and it really made a positive difference in my experience (e.g., by being able to choose great restaurants in the evening, by choosing lesser-known but really cool sites to visit, etc.). It also provided good history of the area, and descriptions of the flora and fauna, all of which interests me when I travel to an area. I used much of the information later to create a photo album with much more interesting verbiage on the places and sites.
I am an avid hiker and backpacker, and therefore did not have the expectation that such a general guide would meet all of my needs in providing detailed and extensive information about trails. This book is not intended for such, and therefore should not be considered a fault. It is probably sufficient for most who enjoy an occasional hike. For those looking for detailed and more thorough hiking information, I highly recommend the hiking “Bible” of the area: “Canadian Rockies Trail Guide”, by Brian Patton and Bart Robinson.