Consider using highway 40 from Hinton to Grande Prairie. There are quite a few real boondocking sites with no facilities except signs saying you are welcome to stay as long as you take your garbage with you. There is one about 30km west of the hamlet of Muskeg, then there is a very nice provincial picnic site called Mason Creek just a few km further west, on the right, hard to spot. It isn’t a campsite but it is a favourite boondocking spot for us. North of Grande Cache, down the hill and across the river there is almost continuous boondocking opportunity for 20 km and then past the coal mine and power plant another good place just across Sheep Creek, on both sides of the highway.
If you choose the shorter and faster 4 lane highway 34 north from west of Edmonton, you’ll find several bleak rest areas for free but I urge you to consider Waskahigan River Provincial Recreation Area a couple of miles off the highway from the hamlet of Little Smoky about half way between Fox Creek and Valleyview (three hours from Edmonton, 1.5 to Grande Prairie). We usually have the place to ourselves, the cost is about $15 and it’s a nice place for walking, playing on the sand beach and wading in the cool creek - follow the trail from the campsite NW corner.
Just before Valleyview there is a large paved rest area separated from the highway where overnight boondockers gather. Has dumpsite. The town has a few restaurants including A&W - last fast food before Grande Prairie, a substantial city of 60 000.
