New Gem Trek Maps: 2020
Announcing the release of four new editions of Gem Trek maps: Canadian Rockies (12th edition), Southwest Alberta and Southeast British Columbia (7th edition), Southwest British Columbia and Northern Washington (4th edition) and Lake O'Hara (5th edition). All four maps...
Gem Trek’s Changing Cartography Styles
The first map published by Gem Trek was Kananaskis Lakes in 1991. It was a manually-drafted 1:50,000-scale topographic map based on topographical information found on National Topographic System (NTS) maps produced by the Canadian Government. These maps, while...
2019: New Editions of Gem Trek Maps
Announcing the release of two new editions of Gem Trek maps: Canmore and Kananaskis Village (7th edition) and Kananaskis Lakes (7th edition), which were printed on waterproof and tear-proof paper by the Burke Group in Edmonton. The cartography update for both maps was...
Kananaskis Maps Press Check
We recently did a Kananaskis Maps press check for the Canmore and Kananaskis Village and Kananaskis Lakes maps at the Burke Group for new editions. Burke has been printing most of our waterproof maps for many years, and so it was good to visit with them and see the...
The History of Gem Trek Maps (Part 2)
Click here for the early history of Gem Trek Maps (Part 1). Gem Trek Publishing was founded by Donna and Roger Nelson in 1991. Here is the second part of the Gem Trek story. By the mid-1990s, Gem Trek maps had a wide following in the Canadian Rockies, especially among...
The Early History of Gem Trek Maps
Gem Trek Maps was founded by Donna and Roger Nelson in 1991. The Nelsons had opened Map Town, a retail map and travel bookstore, in downtown Calgary, Alberta, in 1989. Here, they were deluged by requests for up-to-date hiking maps of Kananaskis Country, a popular...
Gem Trek Maps Recommended by Lonely Planet
Gem Trek maps are recommended by all major guidebook publishers that cover the Canadian Rockies including Lonely Planet, Frommers, Moon, and Dorling Kindersley. Here's what Lonely Planet has to say about our maps: For the Canadian parks, the best topographical maps...
2017: New Editions of Gem Trek Maps
Announcing the release of five new editions of Gem Trek maps: Banff & Mount Assiniboine (8th edition), Lake Louise & Yoho (10th edition), Jasper & Maligne Lake (8th edition), Best of Jasper (5th edition), and Waterton Lakes National Park (4th edition). All...
Gem Trek in Explore Magazine
Thanks for Explore Magazine for giving Gem Trek a plug in their article How to navigate today's topographic maps. The article discusses changes to the mapping industry here in Canada, and the bright future companies like Map Town see for paper maps in the...
2016 New Editions Review
Thanks to Brian Patton, co-author of the Canadian Rockies Trail Guide for reviewing the new editions of our Kootenay National Park and Bow Lake and Saskatchewan Crossing maps. Brian, who has been contributing to our maps with updates for many years, writes "A...