Customer Reviews

Lonely Planet Banff, Jasper & Glacier National Parks (Lonely Planet Travel Guides)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I own and use several Lonely Planet Guides. I have come to trust these books as thorough, authoritative and helpful in planning and implementing trips. The Banff, Jasper & Glacier National Parks book is an exception and meets none of these criteria unless you sole focus is hiking. This book is for hikers and has little information for others. Furthermore, of the 280 pages of actual information, only 57 pages are devoted to Glacier National Park. Information concerning lodging, restaurants and other activities such as cycling is sparse. The few maps that are included detail mainly hiking trails. If this book had been titled A Hikers Guide, I would highly recommended it.

I have used Lonely Planet travel guides for years. Yet, I am sorry to say that this one is a real let down. The lay out is not user friendly. The print styles are very difficult to read. The book is not directed to the outdoors person as was the hallmark of the series. I was throughly dissappointed in this guide. The Moon guide is a vastly superior guide to this area.

Just the kind of book I'd want wandering these Parks for the first time. Along with lodging and eating ideas, this book includes maps of the parks, hiking routes and descriptions, and my particular favorite, the section near the end which gave background of the geological, flora and fauna aspects of this region. It was well organized and easily utilized. I carried it my bag and referred to it often, and was able to astound (or annoy) my companions with countless facts.

maybe b/c we're hikers, we wish there was even more info on hiking in these parks! but the hiking info in the bks we thought very helpful. we thought the bk did a great job hitting all different tourists' needs. we especially appreciated all the little charts of "must see's," the basic info (post offices, laundry, etc.), the many well-laid out maps, etc.
our only complaint is that it seems the authors put more passionate energy into the canadian parks. the descriptions in Glacier were a little more blah. in all, a great help though! well worn on our trip.

Just the kind of book I'd want wandering these Parks for the first time. Along with lodging and eating ideas, this book includes maps of the parks, hiking routes and descriptions, and my particular favorite, the section near the end which gave background of the geological, flora and fauna aspects of this region. It was well organized and easily utilized. I carried it my bag and referred to it often, and was able to astound (or annoy) my companions with countless facts.

I used the book only for touring Waterton-Glacier. It doesn't go into enough depth-- barely a page on Going-to-the-Sun Road, the main way people visit the park. The map section is disappointing; where in the past Lonely Planet used glossy paper and enough colors for easy reading, here the screens of green and gray are hard to tell apart on the same paper as the main text. Having a map section doesn't even make sense if they don't use a different paper-- maps could easily move to more useful places in the book. But the maps are also poorly conceived: there is nothing in between a very small-scale map of Glacier as a whole (roughly the same detail as you'll find on a AAA map of Montana) and close-ups of individual trails. It would seem obvious that there should be a map of the Many Glacier/ Swiftcurrent section of the park, showing locations of lodging, services, and all trailheads-- but no such luck.

Judging from the material on Glacier and Waterton, this book would only serve someone just getting started in learning about the region-- and who plans to pick up other materials for guidance on an actual visit.

The title is confusing, as there is a Glacier National Park in British Columbia as well as one in Montana. The book covers Waterton-Glacier, the "international peace park" comprising Glacier in Montana and Waterton National Park in Alberta. (It doesn't cover the smaller, less well-known Glacier National Park in Canada.)

This book is a great way to plan the trip ahead.
Pretty much all the information is present in Canada's great
topographical maps, but those are available only when you're there...