Southern Alberta

Welcome to the second edition of Southern Alberta Backroad Mapbook. Users of the old mapbook or its predecessor–Southwestern Alberta– will once again find many notable updates and additions. There are new Hunting and OHV as well as Snowmobiling sections in the writing along with the countless updates or additions to the other sections. Equally impressive are the updated maps with even more roads, trails and recreation points of interest to explore.

Southern Alberta is an area of dramatic contrast–where sweeping prairies butt against towering mountain peaks, and the temperature can vary 80 degrees Celsius between summer and winter. Here you will find mile upon rolling mile of unbroken farmland backed by one of the most dramatic mountainscapes in the world, and here are near desert conditions, through which flow some of Canada’s largest rivers, where rolling fields of yellow canola seem to stretch to meet the deep blue sky. It is also an area of incredible beauty. There are few highways as spectacular as the Crowsnest Pass leading into BC, few hikes as breathtaking (in more ways than one) as the Crypt Lake hike in Waterton Park, and few campsites as nice as the ones you will find on the shores of Kananaskis Lake in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park.

For people unfamiliar with the Backroad Mapbook Series, you will find these guides extremely useful in planning your outdoor adventures. It is not merely a roadmap, or a fishing guidebook or a trail guide. It is all these things and more.

The reference section of the book contains thousands of brief write-ups on popular activities that not only tell you where you can engage in these activities, but also what you will see or do en route. Anglers, for instance, will want to check out the fishing section, where there are over 200 streams and an equal number of lakes listed. And cross-country skiers will find the winter section to their liking. Into paddling? We have described this area’s best rivers and lakes for canoeing and kayaking. Hiking? There’s more trails listed and described here than you could probably hike in a lifetime.

However we know that not everybody does one activity exclusively. More likely, when travelling to Peter Lougheed Provincial Park, you will want to find a place to camp for the night, a river to fish in the morning, and maybe an easy hiking trail to occupy you in the afternoon. You will find these in the map section of the book. Looking at the map, you may wonder if the Bow River contains good fishing (it does) and if the trail could be done in a day or if it’s best to leave for an overnight trip.

Of course, if all you’re looking for is the best roadmap on the market, well, you’re holding that, too. Not only do our maps contain all the highways and secondary roads, we include all manner or resource roads and backroads. No longer are you trapped to the paved routes; use this book to explore and discover new areas of Alberta.

Of course, things change. While we have done our best to ensure that all the information in the book is current and correct, roads are deactivated. Trails get logged over. New trails are built. Lakes cease to be stocked. If you come across something new that isn’t in our book, we encourage you to tell us about it. Send your notes to updates@backroadmapbooks.com.

The Backroad Mapbook is much more than a set of maps. It is an explorer’s guide. The maps and writing will let you dream of places not so far away. So sit back and enjoy what we have to offer.