If you’re looking for a great, locally produced and locally focused Christmas gift, may I humbly suggest my Day Trips From Calgary book, just out in its fourth edition.

Why? It unveils nearly 100 things you can see and do on day trips within a two-hour drive of Calgary. They range from visits to world-class museums (like Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump) to nearby picnics (Big Hill Springs Provincial Park). From native-grass walks (the Whaleback) to scenic drives through prairies, foothills, mountains and badlands.

The Whaleback in southwest Alberta

Did I mention these are day trips, where you can just hop in the car and discover all the great landscapes of southern and central Alberta… and be home in time for dinner?

In other words, no horrors of airports, flying or wondering about the maskless coughing of a seatmate? Or, if you’re driving stateside, about lines at customs and dollars that cost nearly $1.40 Canadian.

Blackfoot Crossing Historical Park in eastern Alberta

Did I also mention it’s expensive to travel internationally these days, whether it’s flights, hotels or car rentals (yikes!). On a day trip from Calgary, your primary cost is gasoline, which has recently come down to under $1.30 per litre.

So why do you need my book? Well, it’s been in print since 1995 and sold more than 60,000 copies, so at least some folks think it’s worth keeping in their glovebox. It’s got a ton of trip ideas and enough detail to provide a rather complete natural and human history of Alberta, from the Crowsnest Pass north to Wetaskiwin, from Dinosaur Provincial Park to Lake Louise.

Historic Flat Iron building in Lacombe

Plus, in this edition, there’s a fairly comprehensive list of good, affordable eats and drinks in cities, towns, hamlets and roving food trucks (You knew there had to be a tie-in to Marathon Mouth). The photos are mostly new and better; thank you iPhone Pro.

Fabulous Homestead Bakeshop in Fort Macleod

It all adds up to nearly 400 door-stopping pages, for a steal-of-a-deal price of about $25.

Dry Island Buffalo Jump Provincial Park in central Alberta

Where can you buy it? Pretty much all the great, local, independent booksellers—Owl’s Nest Books, Pages on Kensington, Shelf Life Books  and even Cafe Books in Canmore—carry it. As do the online giants Amazon and Indigo Chapters.