If outdoor blogger Leigh McAdam could only recommend one hiking trip in Canada, she’d pick the East Coast Trail in Newfoundland.

That’s one of the excursions highlighted in the former Vancouver resident’s new guidebook, Discover Canada: 100 Inspiring Outdoor Adventures (Granville Island Publishing).

“It will take you all along the coast, basically, into some little villages,” McAdam told the Georgia Straight by phone from Calgary, where she lives now. “Sometimes it’s into really wild, off-the-beaten-track country. Just superlative, rugged coastal scenery. Icebergs in season, whales, you name it—you get it on that particular trip.”

McAdam is the 57-year-old former geologist, dietitian, and entrepreneur behind the blog Hike Bike Travel. It took her two “intensive” years to undertake two-thirds of the trips described in Discover Canada, her first book. She had already done the rest in previous years.

Discover Canada, which spans 224 pages and is available in paperback and ebook formats, features must-do outings in every province and territory. These include backpacking in Auyuittuq National Park in Nunavut, canoeing the lakes of Algonquin Provincial Park in Ontario, cycling the Kettle Valley Railway in B.C., and kayaking the Saguenay Fjord in Quebec.

The book devotes two pages to each trip. There’s a basic description, a photo, and information about highlights, booking, cost, and the best time of year to visit.

McAdam, who has visited over 55 countries, noted she aims to get Canadians to “look past their own backyards” and “see how wonderful Canada is”.

“How many people in British Columbia have been to Newfoundland and seen what a marvellous province that is?” McAdam asked. “So it’s really trying to open people’s eyes to what’s out there in our own country.”

According to McAdam, the East Coast Trail, with 265 kilometres of developed paths on the Avalon Peninsula, is well suited to hikes lasting between one and 14 days. She also highly recommends backpacking the Tombstone Mountains in Yukon at the end of August “when the colours are a ablaze”.

McAdam’s favourite cycling trips are Banff to Jasper in Alberta and the Cabot Trail in Nova Scotia.

Most of the trips highlighted in Discover Canada are best done in summer and fall. McAdam noted that natural beauty, geographic diversity, and cost were factors in choosing which adventures made it into the book.

Twenty-one of the adventures are in B.C. These include backpacking the Chilkoot Trail and West Coast Trail, canoeing the Bowron Lakes circuit, cycling the southern Gulf Islands, and hiking to the Black Tusk.

“Go prepared for some crappy weather,” McAdam said of the 53-kilometre Chilkoot Trail, which starts in Alaska and ends in B.C. “It can really deliver anything to you. When you get to the U.S.-Canada border at the top of pass—when I was there, a warden was there—they offer you hot tea and a warm place to sit down. Which is wonderful, because on the other side, once you head into Canada, chances are you’re on snow, no matter what the year.”

McAdam said she paid for 60 to 70 percent of the activities mentioned in Discover Canada. The rest were covered by freebies and discounts from tourism organizations and companies.

So where is McAdam headed next? Her plans include hiking the Arctic Circle Trail in Greenland and canoeing Reindeer Lake in Saskatchewan.