Routing Question from my Canadian Friends

[rkassl]

Can someone recommend a good route entering Alberta north of Shelby Montana to get to Dawson Creek, but avoiding Calgary and Edmonton, we would be pulling a 40' 5th wheel trailer. Nothing against the two cities but not a fan of urban towing.

Thanks!

[trigley]

All of the above replies are accurate but no one has mentioned you can take highway 22 all the way from highway 3 to 16. It is a good 2 lane highway with shoulders. Wanders a bit in places but a nice scenic drive although not as scenic as the Park route.
When you reach highway 16 you can cut west and pick up highway 22 again north to 43 or you can continue west to Hinton and take highway 40 which is a nice scenic drive.
As others have stated the Calgary Edmonton bypasses are not bad. In fact the highway 2 traffic between the cities is often worse than the bypasses.

[Uncle_Rj]

Depends on how much time you have. If you want to sightsee on the way, then go through Lethbridge, Fernie, Cranbrook (turn just before), Radium, Lake Louise, Jasper, Hinton, Grande Cache, Grande Prairie and then Dawson. Scenic, but slow. And a lot longer.

If you want to make some time, easily the best way is through both Calgary and Edmonton. I don't care for urban towing either but it is easy to get through both cities on the freeways. Calgary has both Deerfoot Trail (direct through the city) and Stoney Trail (ring road on the east side). Neither one is difficult to navigate.

Edmonton has Anthony Henday on the southwest of the city. It is a great way to get through quickly.

If you are adamant that you want to avoid cities, then use highway 22 as another poster has said. It will add some time because it is not as direct and is also single lane so it is slower.

[SideHillSoup]

I assume your going to cross in to Canada and Alberta at Coutt / Sweetgrass.
From there follow the hwy up to Lethbridge and then on to Fort MacLeod. From here you follow Hwy 3 west towards British Columbia it's about ( if I remember) about 40 miles to the Hwy Jct with hwy 3 and 22.
Follow Hwy 22 North all the way to Hwy 1.
There is a nice campground that we stay at when we visit the kids in Cochrane called Bow Riversedge campground, which is about 10 to 12 miles past the Jct with Hwy 22 and Hwy 1, in Cochrane.
Take Hwy 1 west to Banff Lake Louise and then take at Lake Louise take Hwy 93 North to Jasper.
Once past Jasper take hwy 16 towards Hinton , just before Hinton there is another road which is Hwy 40 . That road will take you right up to Grande Prairie. About Hwlf way up Hwy40 there is a town called Grade Cashe, fuel stop and it does have a nice community camp ground the last time we went through.
From Grande Prairie it is a short drive over to Daswon Creek.
My DW is From Stewart BC and a few years back we did this exact route starting at the Jct with Hwy 3 and 22, North up to Watson Lake and then down Hwy 37 to Stewart / Hyder Alaska.
I'm pulling a 34' 5er so I feel your pain on city driving.
Soup.

[pianotuna]

I vote for the scenic route, too. The by pass in Calgary is a godsend.

[netjam]

Just a tip if staying anywhere near Calgary or Edmonton. Don't...the parks there are not great. Try Cochrane, AB (west of Calgary) or Stony Plain (west of Edmonton).

[Oldcoots]

Both Calgary & Edmonton have ring roads that go along the outer edge of the cities, this makes your trip go much quicker

[garyhaupt]

If you were to take a gander at this Google map...highway #22 takes you out of all of it. It is the Cowboy Highway..paved..ranches, and cattle. Some traffic but no big deal.

https://www.google.ca/maps/place/Alberta/@51.4869528,-114.7887017,9z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x5309b282a8241...



Gary Haupt

[bobsallyh]

I was thru both Edmonton and Calgary last summer headed to Alaska and on return with our dually crew cab and 40" fiver. Even hit Calgary at rush hour. No problems at all! You will be thru them quickly as to me they aren't really that large of cities compared to east coast US cities.

[agesilaus]

Looking at the map you can take 22 up to Banff and the park highway up to 40 and there to to Grand Prairie. Looks to be much more scenic.

[donn0128]

Edmonton is not a big deal to get through. And definitely the fast was toward Grande Prairie.