Canadian Rockies

Switchbacks: True Stories from the Canadian Rockies

Sid Marty

Sid Marty spent decades as a park warden in the Canadian Rockies, and this collection gathers the stories that experience left behind. Drawn from his own youth alongside the friends and colleagues who shared the backcountry with him, the tales range from wry to wondrous, including the memorable A Horse Named Candy.

A Traveller's History of Canada

Robert Bothwell

Robert Bothwell moves briskly through Canadian history, from its earliest peoples to the present day, without ever feeling rushed. The pace suits a traveler well, offering context without demanding a semester's commitment, and a handy timeline keeps the larger arc in view.

How Old is That Mountain?

CJ Yorath

CJ Yorath writes for the curious rather than the credentialed, unpacking the faults, glaciers, hot springs and peaks of Banff and Yoho national parks in plain language. No prior grounding in geology is required, only a willingness to look at a mountain and wonder how it got there.

Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History

Stephen Jay Gould

High in the Canadian Rockies, a modest limestone quarry called the Burgess Shale holds fossils more than 530 million years old, with outcroppings still visible at Yoho, Kicking Horse Pass and Kootenay National Park. Stephen Jay Gould, the renowned Harvard evolutionary biologist, uses this find to reconsider how the story of life on Earth is told.

Northern Rocky Mountain Wildflowers

H Wayne Phillips

H Wayne Phillips catalogs more than 300 wildflower species found across Glacier, Waterton Lakes, Banff, Jasper, Kootenay, Mount Revelstoke and Yoho national parks. Each entry is organized by color and family for quick identification on the trail, paired with photographs sharp enough to settle any debate.

Field Guide to Banff National Park

James Kavanagh

James Kavanagh condenses Banff's commonly encountered wildlife into a single fold-up, laminated card built to survive a backpack, with 133 color drawings and concise descriptions arranged alongside a park map. The card slips into a jacket pocket or day pack without adding noticeable weight, ready the moment something moves in the trees.

Why I Hate Canadians

Will Ferguson

Will Ferguson's title is tongue-in-cheek, though the wit inside is entirely sincere. This collection of essays, the one that launched his career, takes a wickedly astute look at Canadian identity, unpacking the quirks and contradictions with genuine affection beneath the humor.

Conrad Kain: Letters from a Wandering Mountain Guide

Conrad Kain, translated by Maria Koch and John Koch

Conrad Kain, the Austrian-born guide who claimed first ascents on more than sixty routes including Mount Robson, Mount Louis and Bugaboo Spire, left behind a remarkable trove of correspondence. This collection gathers 144 of his letters, translated by Maria Koch and John Koch, offering a rare look at the man behind the legend rather than the achievements alone.

Rocky Mountain Cooking

Katie Mitzel

Katie Mitzel spent two decades as chef at some of the Canadian Rockies' leading backcountry lodges, and this cookbook gathers her favorite recipes from those years. Each dish draws inspiration from the mountains themselves, from glacial lake colors to wildflower fields to nights heavy with stars.