The essential resource on how to canoe, now back in print.

Calvin Rutstrum’s fans have long known about his nuts-and-bolts approach to wilderness living. With this reissue of North American Canoe Country, a new generation of readers has the opportunity to learn time-tested secrets of a safe canoe adventure from a master outdoorsman.

First published in 1964, North American Canoe Country is a complete treatise on the art of canoeing. Written as a guide for travelers who want to embark on self-sufficient trips deep into the wilderness, this book offers readers all the information they need to plan and undertake a canoe trip. Rutstrum gives the essentials on canoes, comparing birch-bark, wood, wood-and-canvas, and aluminum crafts. His paddling techniques are timeless-he describes strategies for rough waters and rapids, for boating alone or in tandem, including stroke diagrams. Portaging, safety procedures, direction finding, towing, and much more are systematically explained.

Rutstrum also writes about some of the epic canoe journeys of the twentieth century. This book will be of interest to both armchair adventurers curious about life in the great American wilderness and to those who want ideas on how to return to a less complicated way of enjoying the great outdoors.