Travel in Canada---roads paved or rock?

Jagtech wrote:
Actually, you can't get across the Canadian border into Canada in June/July without snow tires, required by law at that time of year. Customs officers will turn you back!

I just show 'em my guns and they shrink back and motion me on!

Actually, you can't get across the Canadian border into Canada in June/July without snow tires, required by law at that time of year. Customs officers will turn you back! :B

tenbear wrote:


Edit: The state of Alaska, USA, has the same problem.

Most of Canada has roads equal to the roads in the US.

That has most certainly not been my experience. Generally, getting to Alaska is a great relief as the road quality improves SIGNIFICANTLY from Tok West.

Troll.

Canadian Rainbirds wrote:
Driven the I-5 in California recently? Many toll roads in MEXICO are in better shape!

Yes border to border last fall. With the standard disclaimer of urban and snow areas I5 is about average.

Clarification: There are good roads in Canada. The Alaskan Highway is not one of them and extreme weather and frost heaves are a big factor in maintenance.

CA Traveler wrote:
I think the OPs statement is likely correct but misguided. MOST of the roads are not paved and MOST of the roads to Alaska are paved.

And there are a lot of miles on the Canadian Alaskan Highway that have a lot of rocks due to the chip seal type of pavement which are not swept off.

OP Protect your radiator and lights if you want. Some go further and protect the trailer. You've gotten some old information about the condition of the main roads. The Canadian roads are certainly not up to the quality of the US roads. Recommend you read the 2 threads Roll Call Alaska 2013... and Roll Call Alaska 2014... These lengthy threads have a lot of excellent information buried in them including real life road conditions.

Driven the I-5 in California recently? Many toll roads in MEXICO are in better shape!

Jack_Diane_Freedom wrote:
Seriously ? And we all live in igloos and speak French.

When visiting Quebec, one question in my broken Deutsch has them more than will to attempt English with me.

301TBS wrote:
Took a trip to Indiana last summer, and the interstate thru Michigan was worse than any road I have experienced in 39 yrs of driving in Canada. Including our holiday trip to the east coast driving the Trans Can. I honestly thought the A frame would break off the trailer from thr constant pounding of the concrete joints. My extension mirrors even shook loose. I was sure glad to get home to my igloo.

Try driving through Chicago sometime. Not only are the roads bad, but the traffic is so heavy you can't swerve to avoid pot holes. Thank god for rental cars. They can do amazing things no privately owned vehicle could ever attempt.

leaddog wrote:
Paved vs unpaved roads in Canada in Kilometers in 2003

Paved Unpaved
Total 415.6 626.6 1,042.2 100.0 39.9 60.1
Source(s): Transport Canada, 2008, Transportation in Canada 2007: An Overview, Addendum, Catalogue no. TP 14816E, p. A85.

Unpaved 60.1%
Paved 39.1 %

Canada paved roads


Unites States paved roads % 67% in 2008

US Paved roads 2008

Note the slight difference in percentages. In both countries, most of the highways are paved. Most of the city streets are paved. Any road that gets a lot of traffic will be paved, because it is cheaper to pave a heavily traveled road than to try to maintain it as a dirt road.

There are regional differences. I live in a part of the U.S. where closer to half the road mileage is still unpaved. Guess what? I seldom drive on those roads. They are going back into somebody's ranch, or to a well site, not where I'm going. It is going to be the same in rural Canada. The highways you need to travel will be paved. Little used access roads into seldom visited remote areas will not be paved.

We drove our 40' MH through Canada, Yukon, Alaska for a full summer. The roads were all paved except for areas of construction - just like the lower 48. We drove our towed vehicle, the Jeep, on rough unpaved side roads just for siteseeing but the main routes to Alaska are paved.

We didn't do any special precautions to our MH or Jeep for the trip and didn't get any damage. The secret is to drive slow. It's not interstate driving and you won't be covering a lot of miles per day like on interstates. Enjoy the scenery!