Where can I buy a Gem Trek map?

There are many outdoor stores and bookstores in southern Alberta and the Canadian Rockies that sell Gem Trek maps. In Calgary, Alberta, Map Town (phone (403) 266-2241 or (toll-free in North America) 1 (877) 921-6277) carries our full line of maps and always has stock, unless a particular map is temporarily out of print.
Map Town also fills and ships all of our on-line map orders.

Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC), also in Calgary, carries all of our trail maps (phone (403) 269-2420). Do note that, for MEC, you must have (or must purchase) a membership to buy from them.

For the names of other stores that sell Gem Trek maps in Calgary and the Canadian Rockies, please check our Dealers page, or contact our Canadian Rockies distributor, Alpine Book Peddlers, phone (403) 678-2280.

In addition to the southern Alberta and Canadian Rockies areas, various stores across Canada and overseas carry our maps. For the names of specific stores that sell Gem Trek maps, please contact our overseas distributor, Map Connection, phone (403) 215-4058 or toll-free within North America 1 (877) 457-6277.

Will you be making a map for David Thompson Country in the near future? Crowsnest Pass? Mount Robson? The Kootenays?

We are not currently working on any new maps for Alberta. There are a number of maps we could make, but there needs to be a certain number of recreational travellers to a particular area before the map becomes financially viable. Currently, our only full-time staff member, Donna Nelson, is kept extremely busy with updating our existing 22 maps, (not to mention trying to keep the website up-to-date and doing the other administrative tasks that running a small company involves!)

Are Gem Trek maps available in digital format?

The short answer is no. The longer answer is that we have looked at the idea of making Gem Trek maps available on CD several times over the last few years, but the numbers don't work for us yet in terms of production costs and projected sales.

There are a couple of side issues that also pop up every time we look at the digital format question - the issue of scale (Gem Trek maps are at different scales) and the issue of continuous coverage (Gem Trek maps do not provide "seamless" coverage), both of which issues would require a significant investment of time to resolve.

Are Gem Trek maps available for uploading into my GPS?

In most cases, such as with Garmin GPSs for example, the software for uploading maps into the GPS is proprietary. So, even if the Gem Trek maps were available in digital format, Garmin doesn't make it possible for you to load them into your GPS.

You can enter waypoints manually in your GPS. Or, if you have OziExplorer, you can load a map of the area into OziExplorer, click where you want to set waypoints, then "trace" the trail manually to make a track. When you are finished, upload these waypoints and the track into your GPS.

What do the blue numbers mean that are placed around the edge of the map?

These are UTM (Univeral Tranverse Mercator) numbers, which are an alternate grid to Latitude-Longitude. For comparison purposes, think of the metric system of metres and kilometres compared to the English system of feet and inches. The UTM grid is easier to use once you get the hang of it, and more acurate, because the divisions are all in tens.

Try searching the internet for some information about how the grid works and how to define points on the grid (grid references). You can easily set your GPS to operate in Lat-Long or in UTM, similar to selecting miles or kilometres.

Here are a couple of websites from the Canadian Map Office to start you off:
The Univeral Transverse Mercator Grid
Finding UTM References

Why don't the UTM Grid References used in Gillean Daffern's Kananaskis Country Trail guidebooks make sense with my Gem Trek map?

Daffern bases her grid references on the NTS government topographic maps (we don't know why she still does this, either), and many of these NTS maps (the ones published before 1983) are based on NAD 27 (North American Datum from 1927). All of the Gem Trek maps are based on NAD 83 (datum from 1983), which is a more up-to-date representation of the shape of the earth.
On Gem Trek's Bragg Creek-Sheep Valley map, for example, to convert from NAD 27 to NAD 83, on the Easting, subtract 80 metres and on the Northing, add 209 metres.

Depending on which Gem Trek map you are using, Daffern's grid references will differ by about 200 metres. Or, a particular grid reference may not differ at all, if she is basing it on a NAD 83 government topo map. Unfortunately, when she gives a grid reference, she doesn't say which datum she is using.

If you have a GPS, you can figure out the conversion factor yourself for any Gem Trek map.
With the map datum on your GPS set to NAD 83, choose a spot approximately in the middle of the Gem Trek map and enter the full UTM coordinates for that waypoint (not just the 6-number grid reference) in your GPS. Then set the map datum in your GPS to NAD 27. Write down the two different waypoints, then add or subtract to calculate what the difference in Easting and then Northing is in metres, and in which direction (east or west, and north or south).

How do I notify Gem Trek of an error or omission on one of the maps?

We welcome feedback and notification of errors. Our maps have evolved and improved through the years based on input from map-users. If you know of anything new, such as a new backcountry lodge, a new or a decommissioned campground, or a difference in location for trails, roads or services shown on one of our maps, we would like to hear about it.

Please email us with as many specifics as possible. If you have the trail waypoints and a track from your GPS, you can download them to OziExplorer, and email us the .wpt and .plt files with the details. (For security (virus-related) reasons, please check with us before you do this.)

Why are you discontinuing the relief shading on your 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.

There are other issues as well, such as the fact that, in 15 years, we have not been able to get reliable consistency in color of the relief shading at the printing press. In spite of using the same color specifications on every map, what we got back from the printer varied widely, from acceptably light to unacceptably dark, depending on the particular press and pressman.
With our recent return to printing our maps on paper (see next FAQ), we foresaw even more problems, as the relief shading would print even darker on paper, due to increased absorption of the ink.

In spite of all of these issues, the return to traditional topographic colors was still a difficult decision for us.
Roger Nelson, co-owner of the company, developed his own process for producing relief shading at a time when very little had been done in this area and a large computer file was 5 or 10 megabytes. Many times he left files to process overnight and came back in the morning to find the computer had crashed and he had to start his experimentation over again. So we have taken great pride in developing the relief shading used on our maps and, over the years, making it part of our "signature" look.

Certainly, the traditional topo colors of white and light green don't make topo map reading intuitive like the relief shading did, nor do they have the same impresssive visual impact as the relief shading does. But we do hope that the improved readability of the maps will help to make up for that.
Form or function. Basically, it came down to that. And we chose function.

In the meantime, we are sorry if you are disappointed by the change, and urge you to email us and let us know if you feel strongly about it. We are sensitive to your feedback and, as much as we are able, will continue to base our decisions on what map-users want.

Why are you going back to printing your trail maps on paper, instead of on waterproof material?

Over the last ten years or so, during the time we have been printing on waterproof material, we have absorbed much of the cost of the wastage ourselves, trying to keep the price of the maps down for the map-user and hoping for better days ahead. To try to cut costs as much as possible, we bought the waterproof material directly from the manufacturer, had it shipped here, warehoused it ourselves and apportioned it out to the printer each time we printed a map.

However, with decreased visitors (and hence sales) to the national parks after 9-11, a subsequent slowdown in rubber-tire traffic from the USA because of changing passport regulations, the price of gas and now the rising Canadian dollar, we have had to change the way we do things in these new market conditions.

Although many map-users have told us that they are willing to pay more for a waterproof map, what many people aren't aware of is that the majority of our maps (up to 85 percent of them) are purchased in the national parks by short-stay visitors to the area, for whom price point is an important consideration.

That said, this winter (2007-2008) we are arranging to plot a limited number of the Kananaskis maps on waterproof material and make them available through a few of our larger retailers, starting with Map Town in Calgary. These waterproof maps will likely be $20.00 to $24.00 each, to reflect our real costs. If this "test run" sells well, we will look at also plotting a limited number of our National Park maps (for Banff, and Lake Louise) on waterproof material. In the meantime, we are looking into whether or not the waterproof material on the plotter is tear-proof, and whether or not you can print on the back of it.

If you would like to be kept posted as to the progress of the waterproof Kananaksis maps, send us an email, and we'll keep you informed.

In the meantime, to keep your map dry on the trail, may we suggest that you slip it into a plastic watertight map case. Of the many brands available, we like the ones made by Seal Point Line. For more information, please see Waterproof Map Cases.

Hopefully, this has given you some background explaining why we have made this change.

Where's Banff?

For a map and some background information on this very special part of the world, see our Where's Banff page.

Can you help me plan a trip to the Canadian Rockies?

Yes, we can. There are many useful links we have brought together on our site. We have included links to Parks Canada, various tourism bureaus, accommodation, guiding companies, outdoor clubs and mountain festivals.

For a good overview of the Canadian Rockies and a guide to the highlights, we suggest you start with our Banff and Jasper touring (driving) map.

Can you recommend a good day hike in the Canadian Rockies?

Yes, there are a number of wonderful day hikes in the Canadian Rockies that we have chosen as favorites. See our list at Favorite Hikes.

You may also want to check out the trail recommendations in various guidebooks, such as the handpicked hikes described by Craig and Kathy Copeland in their wonderfully opinionated guidebook, Don't Waste Your Time in the Canadian Rockies, or those described by Graeme Pole in Classic Hikes in the Canadian Rockies.

The most complete guidebook that includes descriptions of virtually every trail in the Canadian Rockies is The Canadian Rockies Trail Guide by Brian Patton and Bart Robinson. Local hikers consider this their "bible," and most of us have one or two well-used copies on our bookshelf.

These guidebooks, and many others pertaining to the Canadian Rockies, are listed on our Trail Guidebooks web page. You can purchase these guidebooks on-line or by telephone through Map Town, a large map and travelbook store located in downtown Calgary.

What is the weather like in the Canadian Rockies at this time of the year?

Check the internet for current Weather Network Alberta park weather reports and Environment Canada Banff and Jasper weather forecasts. Parks Canada has a web page for the Mountain National Parks Road Condition Report.

What are the copyright rules on Gem Trek maps?

All Gem Trek Publishing Ltd. maps are copyrighted. This means that they cannot be photocopied, scanned, digitized or otherwised copied mechanically or digitally without the written consent of the publisher. To do so, except for one copy for your own personal use (not club- or business-related use), is considered copyright infringement.