On our way into Canada, one route we're considering is the 15N thru Coutts crossing. I read that it is one of the busier commercial crossings. I'm assuming the commercial group is separate from the mere mortals in passenger cars and us RV'ers:)?Any opinions on is this going to be a backed up crossing area? Or other suggestions for crossing over into Canada? We are going to be East of the Washington and Idaho area crossings. Which works wellfor us as we do travel with wine on board. One plus, if I've got this right, is the Alberta fees for wines are much less per bottle then the BC crossing. We sure will answer correctly that we have wines on board, and if asked will show them every bottle, so not trying to hide anything. (I get the impression it is the individual agents judgement on if they want to bother with filling out the paperwork for collection of these fees.)As I read about this, I picked up that small border crossings vs large ones like Coutts, have different feels about them? But got the impression that sometimes the smaller crossing staff have more time to spend on the border crossing process:)!Mostly looking for opinions on how busy Coutts is for non commercial traffic, and if others have crossing along Montana they specifically like.Thanks,Smitty

Being Canadian perhaps our experience is not the same as for US citizensbut we cross there all the time. We try to get there early in the morning, usually stay in Shelby the night before but we have never been held up for more than 15 minutes and we find the agents to be very nice. We have at times been over our allowance and told them so and have never been asked to pull over or pay duty. One time we had to purchase new tires for our truck as we had a flat that could not be fixed. Being an unusual tire size, we had to purchase 4 new tires in Idaho. They were not cheap so when we went through customs we declared them along with all the other things that we had bought over our winter stay in AZ. We fully expected to pay duty and did double check to make sure that the agent had hear us and their comment was, that we were honest, so have a nice day!We don't normally have liquor, sometimes a few bottles of beer but do have cigarettes which we always declare. My advise is always to be honest and you should not have any trouble.Have a safe trip.

We have used the Sweetgrass/Coutts crossing many times going into Alberta. The commercial part is off to the right from where you will go but there could be a bit of a back up, or nobody for miles, for us regular folk :). Just answer the questions that you're asked and no more. They may or may not ask about liquor but probably will. In Sweetgrass just before you go to Canada you will see an exit for Sweetgrass. There's a duty free shop there if you want to get something. Just for your info, there's been a dust up about the customs agents using their discretion about letting people go through when there is duty to be collected, so they might not be letting people through that they might previously have. You might be paying for extra wine etc. Good luck.

I passed through there a couple years ago. I got into the wrong lane and it was a nightmare to change lanes with the TT. I answered all the standard questions and then went on to be questioned about the TT. They wanted a lot of info as to when, where, how much was paid... They were only satisfied when I showed them the original bill of sale and registration documentation from Canada.

We cross there every year. VERY EASY. Stay in the left lane. Never waited more than 10 minutes. Good luck.

Cross there most years in April (going north). Never had much to declare so can't comment on that, but have never got through in less than an hour. My average is 1.5 hr wait. I usually get there between 11 and 12.

Montana to Canada Border Crossing - Coutts | Good Sam Community

Smitty77
Explorer
Apr 14, 2014
Thanks All - We'll figure out our crossing more based upon we are when we're ready to depart Montana.

We're looking forward to enjoying Canada the same as Alaska. I've heard so many wonderful things about say Jasper, and other great parts of Western Canada - we sure are not just 'Going to Alaska' - we're going to 'Canada & Alaska!'.

Since we need to be back into the South West by late August, we may not take as much time within Canada as we had wanted to. But we've already planned a 2016 trip to Glacier, and figure we'll spend more time in Canada on that trip.

Appreciated the info sharing, best to all,
Smitty
daveB110
Explorer
Apr 15, 2014
We rentered into Canada at the Sweetgrass-Coutts border crossing in April, 2013. We were surprised by the long, single file lineup waiting to cross, the result I suppose of Canadians returning from holidays as Gooveman alluded. As we slowly moved up over a period of 40 minutes or so, perhaps fifteen or twenty cars and pickups made their way through the "Duty Free," reappearing to try to merge into the lineup, far in advance of where they might be otherwise. Without exception they made their way to the border well in advance of others, so our total time at the border was over an hour. Bad time of day, bad time of the year. But a beautiful drive from Butte that day, our first time crossing the Missouri.
netjam
Explorer
Apr 16, 2014
Went I-15 and crossed at Coutts/Sweetgrass today (Apr 16). Felt today might be good as it was cold/snowing with a weather advisory. I was correct and the line was shorter than I have ever seen. Took 45 minutes to get through the line to the customs person. I had a wheel brake disintegrate this winter taking out a tire, so I declared the repair and new tires. Took another 45 minutes to pay the tax on that ($70 tax) Total 1.5 hrs at the border. Based upon past experiences this was not bad.
SideHillSoup
Explorer
Apr 17, 2014
since you like wine you may want to think about coming up Hwy 97 and crossing at Osoyoos and try some Okanagan Wines.
Wineeries in the Okanagan Valley
Until the wife started making her own wines, she loved Okanagon Wines.
Soup
Smitty77
Explorer
May 03, 2014
We ended up taking the route to 89 after we left Helena, MT on 4/30. We crossed over around noon at Piegan, MT crossing. Nice lady, maybe 3 mins of questions, and then she wished us a good visit while in Canada.

We then stayed in Cardston just North of the border at Lee Creek Campground, so that we could do a day visit to Waterton NP. Lee Creek does was really not supposed to open until 5/1, but they said if we did not mine having water we could stay. Site electric and sewage were all available, and as it turned out, they had the water on by our second day. The park was empty except for two other campers - so very nice stay next to a nice creek with a small hiking trail. (We were spoiled, as with the park just about empty - it seemed wide open and very spacious... and Waterton Lakes NP was mostly still closed down but is just a spectacular location.

We can sure see why soo many people have posted to take the time to enjoy what Canada has too... We've been here less than 3 full days, and we've both agreed to make a Canada only trip in 2016!

Thanks again to all that responded, and best to all,
Smitty
(In Red Deer, waiting for a few days of snow to come in and blow thru before moving another few inches on the map North!!)
John___Angela
Explorer
May 03, 2014
Glad you are enjoying your trip neighbour. Bienvenue au Canada. Welcome to Canada. :)
Smitty77
Explorer
May 03, 2014
John & Angela wrote:
Glad you are enjoying your trip neighbour. Bienvenue au Canada. Welcome to Canada. :)

Thanks! We've very much enjoyed our friendly interaction with the nice people we met in Cardston. Both at the campground letting us stay even though they were still getting ready to really open on 5/1. Also had very good results working with a gent named Mike at Cardston Silver Auto store. He helped us set up a Telus SIM Voice/Text/10GB no contract plan, working around some of the unusual computer feedings of a Yank with no Canadian address:)!

I'm sure we will run into the same blend of mix of people we do while driving around the states. But our first few days of mingling with those that beat our Hockey Teams at the Olympics ( :)! Good games!) - has been very cool!!!

Best,
Smitty
rag-ftw
Explorer
May 03, 2014
Smitty,
If you are still in the area we would recommend Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump in Ft. Macleod.
We are currently setting in a snow storm while parked at the Daisy May RV Park in Ft. Macleod.
Have a good trip!

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