If you’ve got this guidebook in one hand, better grip your paddle tightly with the other. Tania Millen and friends have detailed 47 whitewater runs and 10 play spots that comprise the best paddling in Northwest British Columbia. From the Sacred Headwaters of the Skeena, Nass and Stikine rivers in the north to the Morice and Bulkley rivers in the south; from Butze Rapids (a northern Skookumchuck Narrows) in the west to the salmon-rich Babine and Kispiox rivers in the east, each description contains the information you need to find the goods and have fun when you get there.

Rafting the Babine, paddling a canoe up the Gitnadoix or challenging the bedrock slides of the Khtada in your creek boat, there’s world class water here for novices, experts and crazies. And there’s something to paddle in every season.

There’s even a description of the Grand Canyon of the Stikine, a run portrayed by Millen as “more difficult than what most boaters will ever paddle in their lives” and “one of … the toughest runs in North America.”

The runs and play spots described are scenic, challenging, refreshing, thrilling and -- thanks to Millen’s historical/cultural notes – educational, all at the same time. So pack your dry bags, neoprene and cameras and see Northwest BC from a very different perspective.