Canadian Rockies Trail Guide, 7th edition, Patton and Robinson, published by Summerthought. This is the bible.
Classic Hikes in the Canadian Rockies, Graeme Pole, published by Altitude. Not as comprehensive as Patton and Robinson, but it has colour pictures and great maps.
Walks and Easy Hikes in the Canadian Rockies, Graeme Pole, published by Altitude. A survey of short hikes in the parks.
Hikes around Invermere and the Columbia River Valley, Cameron and Gunn, published by Rocky Mountain Books. An excellent guidebook. There is some overlap in area with this site.
Scrambles in the Canadian Rockies, 2nd edition, Alan Kane, published by Rocky Mountain Books. Excellent guide for those who want to take their hands out of their pockets.
Selkirks South and Selkirks North, David P. Jones, published by Elaho. the South volume covers south of the Trans Canada Highway, and the North ... you get the idea. By the way, the author now lives in Golden.
Selected Alpine Climbs in the Canadian Rockies, revised 1999, Sean Dougherty, published by Rocky Mountain Books. Locally known as Sean's Book of Lies. Beware that some of the estimated times in this book are grossly underrated.
Canadian Rockies Whitewater South and Central, Stuart Smith, published by Headwaters Press. If you find these books, it is probably going to be secondhand... and they're probably going to cost you a whack of money.
The Handbook of the Canadian Rockies, 2nd edition, Ben Gadd, published by Corax Press. Patton and Robinson is the bible for trails. This is the bible for everything else. And we mean everything. It's a hefty puppy, though, so you might want to leave it in the car and pack one of the following, depending on your focus of the day.
Birds of the Rocky Mountains by Chris Fisher, published by Lone Pine. Most popular local guide. Good drawings.
Mammals of the Rocky Mountains by Fisher, Pattie and Hartson, published by Lone Pine. Same series as the above bird book. Makes it easy to identify species.
Central Rockies Mammals, John Marriott, published by Luminous Compositions. Not as comprehensive, but small enough to fit into your pocket.
Wildflowers of the Canadian Rockies by Scotter and Flygare, published by Alpine Book Peddlers. Photographs, colour-coded, comprehensive.
Central Rockies Wildflowers, Mike Potter, published by Luminous Compositions. Again, not as comprehensive, but small enough to fit into your pocket. Also, it categorizes flowers by the number of petals they have, which is really useful.
Plants of Northern B.C. and Plants of the Southern Interior, McKinnon, Pojar, Parish, Coupe, Lloyd et al., published by Lone Pine. Includes trees, shrubs, flowers, grasses, lichens... if it's botany, it's here. Either volume will work for Golden.
Animal Tracks of the Rockies, Ian Sheldon, published by Lone Pine. Pocket size guide to tracks.
Sources of the River, Jack Nisbet, published by Sasquatch. Well written account of David Thompson, the first European through this area (and an amazing navigator).
Icefields, Thomas Wharton, published by NuWest. A wonderful poetic tale set in and around Jasper in during the First World War.
Raven's End, Ben Gadd, published by McLelland and Stewart. Yes, the author is also the guy who wrote The Handbook of the Canadian Rockies. When he finished that definitive volume of facts, he decided he wanted to write something with no facts at all. The result is a terrific read, about a raven in the Canadian Rockies. It has been compared to Watership Down.
All these titles are available at Bacchus Books in downtown Golden.