Outdoor Trip Planning Books, Maps and DVDs

The latest addition to Kevin Callan's guidebook series provides the 20 best canoeing, kayaking, and hiking trips in Ontario's picturesque Killarney/French River region, a favorite wilderness getaway spot in central Ontario. At least three of the routes in this book are documented here for the first time.

Authored by renowned canoeist and outdoorsman Kevin Callan, this book covers the Ontario region closest to the American border and just a couple hours drive from Toronto. Here are 20 perfect quick-getaway canoe routes for one-, two- and three-day paddles. All are easy on the portages, big on the rewards of nature and not too far from your own backyard. These routes offer a variety of experiences, from cushy trips for novice paddlers to more challenging excursions for experienced canoeists.

Dick Proenneke retired at age 50 in 1967 and decided to build his own cabin on the shore of Twin Lakes. The first summer he scouted for the best cabin site, and cut and peeled the logs he would need for his cabin. Dick Proenneke returned the next summer to finish the cabin where he lived for over 30 years. Dick filmed his adventures, and Bob Swerer later turned the film into a video so we can all watch this amazing man build his cabin by hand.

Becky Mason's Advanced Classic Solo Canoeing includes 4 films for beginners, novices, expert paddlers and armchair enthusiasts alike. This DVD contains Becky's films "Classic Solo Canoeing", "Solo Reflections" as well as the new "Advanced Classic Solo Canoeing" and "Classic Solo Moments (blooper reel)".

A fun-filled field guide into the creepy-crawly world of Ontario's bugs. Learn about 125 of the coolest bugs you might encounter in the province's great outdoors. John Acorn,an avid 'bugster' and host of the popular television series "The Nature Nut", supplies a lively and personable text that evokes each species' character.

First Nations people call it Nishwawbe-Aski; "Land of the Original People." The area known as the Little North lies in Ontario and Manitoba, north of Lake Superior, east of Lake Winnipeg, west of James Bay and south of Hudson Bay. Early French fur traders referred to it as Le Petit Nord, as distinguished from the vast area west and north of Lake Winnipeg, Le Grand Nord. Despite its name, the Little North encompasses over 20 major lake and river systems within more than 500,000 square miles.

This remarkable atlas, in an oversize format, is a landmark publication - the result of five decades of travel, research and documentation.

Over 80 species of birds common to Ontario are featured in this easy-to-use introductory field guide. Colour illustrations and extensive natural history are featured in each two-page account.

For years, artist Cory Trepanier has explored some of the most wild places in Canada. Few have walked in these landscapes. Even fewer have captured them on canvas. Now he's going further, into remote lands that are more challenging and more dangerous. Into a breathtaking arctic wilderness to experience and paint a land that might never be the same again.

Throughout human history plants have provided us with food, clothing, medicine and shelter. Canada is a huge country with diverse habitats that are home to an incredible diversity of plant species that have helped native peoples and early settlers survive through the centuries.

Jeff's Maps 5 waterproof, tear resistant maps of the Temagami Region includes routes throughout the Provincial Parks, Conservation Reserves, Forest Reserves, Crown Land and river systems of the Temagami region. Like all of Jeff’s Maps, they are meticulously detailed with portage distances, paddling times, hiking routes, campsite locations, historical sites, and other exhaustive information. If you're planning a trip to Temagami, these are the maps to have.

The highly respected Alpin PRO sighting compass works as a standard baseplate compass with a 2 degree resolution bezel, or by flipping up the sighting prism, provides for precise reading of the internal compass card with 1 degree resolution, quick and easy declination adjustment, and a luminescent thermo-electric capsule for easy reading in low light, at temperatures ranging from -30° C to +70° C.

Like all K&R compasses, The K1-L sports an electrostatic dampening thermo-elastic capsule for 4 season performance (yes, even in -30° C), both 1:25,000 and 1:50,000 map scales, luminescent navigational points, and a clear baseplate with a magnifying lens. Perfect for hiking, canoeing, hunting or snowmobiling and ATV’ing, the German made K&R K1-L is a rugged, durable compass companion for all your outdoor adventures.

The mighty polar bear. The plucky beaver. The majestic caribou. These iconic animals are etched in our national consciousness (and on our coins), but they represent only a small fraction of the amazing variety of mammals found in Canada's wild.

While Mors Kochanski’s much loved “Bushcraft" is devoted mostly to the use of nature as the source of materials to live comfortably in the bush, his new title “Basic Safe Travel & Boreal Survival Handbook" goes into great length on how to cope with the major stresses one is apt to encounter when survival is one’s prime concern - including: dehydration, hypothermia, sleep deprivation, sleeping bags, bush beds and shelters, warming and signal fires, knife skills, useful knots, and conduct on bear country plus sections on navigation, map and compass skills, and crossing rivers safely.

Mors Kochanski covers knots and lashings for bushcraft and general outdoor use. Practice will make perfect, but Mors provides crucial info for getting you started.

Snowshoes, pack frames, saw frames and axe handles; Mors Kochanski covers these exceptionally handy tools for wilderness living that will make your stay in the woods more comfortable.

A full-colour photographic field guide to over 600 mushrooms and fungi of Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada as well as the northeastern United States. Spectacular photos and excellent species information combine to make this a must-have reference book. Includes notes on edibility.

The Outdoor Medical Emergency Handbook is an essential guide to emergency medical procedures away from home, and provides easy-to-follow advice on how to prevent, treat and care for illnesses and injuries while outdoors or traveling.

This is the bible of bushcraft: Water, shelter, fire, cordage, food, outfits...it's all here. 240 pages of everything (or almost everything) you need to know about bushcraft.