If you’re visiting Glacier and Waterton Lakes National Parks (in Montana and across the border into Alberta) without a lot of time to spare, Best Easy Day Hikes: Glacier and Waterton Lakes National Parks is a slim guide worth packing along.

One of the Falcon Guide “Where to Hike” series, the Glacier and Waterton Lakes National Parks book starts with an overview map, listing numbered hikes available in each park. Readers have the option of jumping to a numbered hike taken off the overview map, using the table of contents to find a hike by region, looking up a particular trail name in the back index, or choosing a trail by ranking (easiest to most difficult of the 28 hikes covered in the guide).

Number one hike (Bowman Lake) starts out with a list of hike type (e.g. out-and-back, shuttle or loop), distance, time required and elevation change. “Finding the trailhead” follows above the detailed hike description and “key points” (mileage markers) wraps up the section. This consistent and concise formula is repeated for each hike.

This guide doesn’t cover all the hikes in each region, focusing instead on the best “easy” hikes. According to the introduction, trail distances range in length but most are short, don’t involve climbing straight up steep hills and are easy to navigate (no route-finding) – but I have to wonder just a little about the trail selection process when the author then goes on to describe part of the Apikuni Falls hike (ranked as the most difficult of the 28 hikes) as a “relentless and calf-burning climb.” Doesn’t sound particularly easy for novice hikers; good thing it’s short, I guess!

As a parent, I was happy to see the two-page overview on hiking with kids since a lot of families will pick up an “easy day hike” book as a guide for their trips. But parents need to heed the advice within – “set your goals with your youngest child’s abilities in mind.”

The mini-maps are detailed, but finding the individual trail you are interested in takes a second look. The specific trail covered by the map is “highlighted”, but because all maps are black-and-white and hold a fair amount of detail with a variety of fonts and small type size, the grey shading outlining the trail takes a moment to find.

Overall this is a great little guide with plenty of detail to help first-time visitors to the area find a hike that will help them experience the best that Glacier and Waterton Lakes National Parks have to offer.