Our Latest Map Releases

New edition   Kananaskis Lakes    1:50 000
6th edition, with relief shading and on waterproof material, released May 2011

New edition   Kootenay National Park    1:100 000
4th edition, with relief shading and on waterproof material, released May 2011

New edition   Canmore & Kananaskis Village    1:50 000
6th edition, with relief shading and on waterproof material, released May 2010

New edition   Bow Lake & Saskatchewan Crossing    1:70 000
4th edition, released May 2010

New edition   Lake O'Hara    1:20 000
2nd edition, released May 2010

Why we are going back to printing our maps on waterproof material with relief shading

Because you asked us to.

A few years ago, when we started printing the Gem Trek maps on paper with the traditional topographic colors of green and white, we were inundated with emails from people who wanted the relief shading and waterproof material back. (If we ever get organized, we'll post some of the most passionate pleas we received so you can read them.) Thank you to all of you who feel so strongly about the Gem Trek maps and their waterproof, relief-shaded tradition and let us know your views in no uncertain terms. And our sincere apologies to those we so sorely disappointed when we made the changes to the maps.

As long as our money holds out (we're in a better cash flow position now, after printing on paper for a few years), we will continue with our plan to put as many of the trail maps back on waterproof material as we can.
There are three new waterproof editions with relief shading out now:

• Kananaskis Lakes (6th edition 2011)
• Kootenay National Park (4th edition 2011
• Canmore-Kananaskis Village (6th edition 2010)

Thanks again to all of you who took the time to email us and for your unflagging support of the Gem Trek maps over the years. We truly were humbled by your response - not to mention your generous offers of money, technical expertise and more! Again, thank you.

The two Kananaskis Country maps that are currently on paper are now also available on waterproof material on a print-on-demand basis. These maps are printed on one side only (front map side), as the roll of waterproof plastic will not go through the plotter (large printer) twice.
The cost of each map is $19.95, and both of these print-on-demand editions have traditional green and and white topographic colors (not relief shading).

The two maps now available in a print-on-demand waterproof version are:

• Bragg Creek & Sheep Valley (2008) 5th edition
• Highwood & Cataract Creek (2008) 2nd edition

You can order these two print-on-demand Kananaskis maps (Bragg Creek and Highwood-Cataract Creek) on waterproof material by emailing Gem Trek, with the name of the map(s) you would like, the number of copies of each, your full name, and a daytime phone number where you can be reached when the maps are ready, as they will be printed in small batches. They will be available for pick-up or mail-out from Map Town in downtown Calgary, Alberta, at #100, 400 - 5th Ave. SW, (phone (403) 266-2241).

(Please note: New editions of the two other Kananaskis Country maps were released recently on waterproof material and with relief shading. The 6th editions of the Canmore & Kananaskis Village map and the Kananaskis Lakes map were released in the spring of 2010 and 2011 and these two new waterproof editions are available at all the usual retail outlets that normally sell Gem Trek maps.)

GPS Trail Data Acquisition

Many of the trails on our maps have been up-dated using GPS data acquisition. We do this with a survey-quality GPS (Global Positioning System) which takes an electronic breadcrumb trail as we hike or bike the trails (our favorite part of map making).

Once we're back in the office, we upload the file into our computer.

To date, of the more than four thousand kilometres of trails shown on our maps, we've collected GPS data on approximately three-quarters of them.

If you have any comments or suggestions, or have a good-quality GPS and would like to help us with GPSing the trails (mainly, it's the longer, more remote trails that still need GPSing), please e-mail us at maps@gemtrek.com