Route to Alaska all the way through Canada?

As I went to bed last night I thought about my math giving heaper gas. I am usually pretty good at math but sure got that price wrong. Our gas here is $2.00 per gallon and that is 53 cents per litre. It is still cheaper than what I paid in Ontario last month.

We use Hwy #2 from upper Michigan to Shelby, Montana and then up to Sweetgrass to enter into Canada, when we go out to western Canada(Alberta), except where it dips way down south. We then head up to Marquette, MI. and keep going until we hit #2 again. We were out there this past summer. The highways are pretty good with road construction here and there. The speed limit varies with the state that you're in. Montana used to be whatever you thought was safe and prudent but they do have a speed limit now. Granted we are from southern Ontario but after going through Chicago one year we will never, ever, ever, did I say ever, take that way again. There aren't any problems getting diesel or gas. There are plenty of half decent campgrounds to stay at and if you get in early enough, like we do, you don't have to worry about reservations. Yup the price of fuel is different in both countries but it's falling daily with diesel here being more expensive. Last night gas was 88 cents a liter and diesel was $1.10 a liter. A US gallon is 3.785 ltrs and a Canadian gallon is 4.546 ltrs. Enjoy your trip whatever way you take to get there. We haven't been out west via the Canadian way in 36 years now. Just find it better for us to go through the northern US.

Thanks everyone for the input and special thanks to Pulsar for taking the time to provide the info on fuel prices and for correcting my assumption that the northern route will be longer.

We do not have a specific time table other than the plan to leave here in mid-May. We want to take our time to see the sights along the way. We will definitely be taking the northern route as we drive west. The Icefields parkway, Banff, Jasper are definitely on our itinerary. We are planning to head back east in the US after visiting some friends in Seattle so we will get to experience both routes. If you have any suggestions for things we absolutely should visit, particularly between Ontario and Alberta, please let us know.

Maybe we will see some of you on the road.

edbehnke wrote:
pulsar, fuel is simply more expensive in canada. don't over think it.

and, at this point fuel is getting cheaper every minute.

I was responding to a specific comment:

Artum Snowbird wrote:
You will probably not find the price of fuel is so different....

Instead of simply posting "fuel is simply more expensive in Canada," I thought it better to post the numbers.

My second post had two purposes: to correct the misconception that the "northern route" would be longer and to satisfy my own curiosity about what the expected fuel costs would be for the different routes the original poster might take. You did notice that there was very little difference in the estimated costs?

I'm sorry you found the sharing of my research worthless, hopefully it had some value to someone other than myself.

Tom

We picked up Trans-Canada 1 in Brandon, Manitoba and drove it to Banff. Good road and varied scenery, from farmlands to beautiful mountains.

We drove the Yellowhead from Kitwanga, end of the Cassiar, to Jasper. Beautiful drive and good road.

I would do both again!

I would like to drive the length of Canada once. Maybe on our next trip!

I must be getting old I remember when the exchange rate was reversed.

bsinmich wrote:

Artum Snowbird wrote:
You will probably not find the price of fuel is so different. The US $ is 20% higher, and the US gallon is 20% smaller. Gasoline is much cheaper in the USA, but the price of diesel remains much higher.

Actually there is a huge difference in price. There are 3.78 litres in a US gallon. We have gas for $2.00 per gallon here. That figures out to 26cents per liter. In Ontario it was 70-80 cents per litre. Even with the exchange on the money there is still a huge difference. A few years back we came from Edmonton, AB. to the UP of Mich without any freeways. We just followed a road East until the pavement ended or the road ended and then turned. It was very interesting. I have covered most of the Trans Canada from Vancouver to NB.

Part of the difference is in the way we do math. In our system the U S gas at 2.00 would be 53 cents per litre. Canadian gas at 80 cents per litre would cost about 69 cents U S per letre as the present exchange rate.

pulsar, fuel is simply more expensive in canada. don't over think it.

and, at this point fuel is getting cheaper every minute.

Artum Snowbird wrote:
You will probably not find the price of fuel is so different. The US $ is 20% higher, and the US gallon is 20% smaller. Gasoline is much cheaper in the USA, but the price of diesel remains much higher.

Actually there is a huge difference in price. There are 3.78 litres in a US gallon. We have gas for $2.00 per gallon here. That figures out to 26cents per liter. In Ontario it was 70-80 cents per litre. Even with the exchange on the money there is still a huge difference. A few years back we came from Edmonton, AB. to the UP of Mich without any freeways. We just followed a road East until the pavement ended or the road ended and then turned. It was very interesting. I have covered most of the Trans Canada from Vancouver to NB.

Artum Snowbird wrote:
Pulsar, you are correct for the most part, but you haven't factored in the value of each others dollars. Also our gas is better because it has rendered whale fat, melted igloos, and ground up hockey pucks in it.

Enjoy your day.

You are correct about not accounting for the exchange rate. I've adjusted the numbers using today's exchange rate - $1 Canadian = $0.85 US.

Tom