HAMILTON AND AREA HIKES GUIDE BOOK

Known as the “Waterfall Capital of the World,” this guide takes you to more than 20 of them. While there’s something captivating about cascading water, the waterfalls are just the beginning of what makes Hamilton and the County of Brant havens for hikers. Within Hamilton’s urban boundaries, there are stands of regionally rare Carolinian forest, tallgrass prairie, wetlands and savannahs. Cootes Paradise, the marsh encircling the tip of Lake Ontario, has been a nature sanctuary for more than 90 years and is deserving of the name “paradise.” And winding its way right though the city is the ever-present Niagara Escarpment — the “mountain” to Hamiltonians.

Hamilton and Area Hikes’s 34 routes range in length from 2.5k to 23.5k and mostly start and end at the same location. Each hike is accompanied by a detailed map, precise directions, loads of colour photos, a smattering of local lore and suggestions about what to do après hiking. Lattes anyone?