Good luck with that. The roads in northern Canada tend to be rough no matter which way you go, due to the low population density and tax base demanding they’re repaired vs. the frost heaves and weather ripping them apart.
Much easier.
I’m agreeing with everything Chefguy is saying. The big thing I’d recommend changing is skipping Edmonton. Now if your only concern is fast and smooth sailing, Calgary -> Edmonton -> Grande Prairie is the fastest route, as it has more multiple lane highways and is roughly 30km shorter. Even factoring that in though, I’d still take Highway 1 out of Calgary instead and going up through Banff and Jasper to Grande Prairie. There’s a toll for driving through Jasper National Park, but I think its worth it for the view alone.
Yes, don’t forget you need a park pass to stop in Banff, and you need one anyhow to just drive through Jasper (aforementioned ‘toll’). If you’re taking Hwy #1 to 93, you’ll hit the gates just before Banff and can buy your pass there. I think it’s around $20/day. This route is a really, really scenic, but as said, will take longer, there are very steep hills and hairpin turns, and a max speed limit of 90 km/hr. You will still have snow and the possibility of a snowstorm at this time of year.
You also have that potential on the major highways, but have more options for stopping and hunkering down if needed.
Very cool! I’ll look for your truck and trailer in the parking lot when we get there. I think I’ll be able to recognize you, I’ve seen your picture on the Giraffe Boards. I’ll just look for a big guy with dark hair.
My visit has turned into a family outing since my brothers decided to go along with me and my parents. So look for an elderly couple accompanied by three middle-aged guys. I’ll be wearing a skydiving t-shirt. We will be getting there around 11 am.
My parents are in their 80s and tire easily so we may not be there very long, but with any luck we can meet up.
I am sorry we were not able to meet up. What a day it has been! Long-story-short: I thought the entrance for the Trinity Site was the same entrance as White Sands National Monument. Boy was I wrong. I arrived around 11:00 and spoke to the Ranger at the entrance who told me where I needed to go. It was over 160 miles away. Fortunately, I had already dropped the trailer off at Holloman AFB. After stopping for fuel, I was able to make it to the Trinity Site gate around 1:40. Just barely made it! We were even able to make it back before the sand dunes closed. Now we are back at Holloman for the night.
I am so glad we went there, though! Thank you so much for the suggestion!
Oh man! Glad to hear you made it in time. We got to the turnoff from Hwy. 380 at 10:45. We drove 3 miles and came to a stop- traffic was backed up for the next 2 miles, all the way to the gate. It took another 45 minutes to cover those 2 miles. Once we got through the gate traffic was fine, but there were a lot of people at the site! The soldier who checked our IDs said they never expected any where near that many people. When we left the line coming in was much shorter.
Yeah, too bad we couldn’t meet up, but that’s the way it goes. Again, I’m glad you at least got there.
We didn’t have a line, and it wasn’t too packed at 2pm. So, I guess it all worked out. Thanks again for tbe suggestion and for the rest of your detailed post. I should have printed it out. LOL. Reliable internet is not as ubiquitous as I thought.
Glad to help. If you want, send me a PM when you’re in the Albuquerque area- maybe we can meet up then. I know a couple of good micro-breweries around town.
I ended up going to Colofado Springs before continuing west. It turned out to be a great decision. I left the trailer there, so I can actually drive at a decent speed and get acceptable gas milage. Plus, driving from there to the Grand Canyon meant I would get to see the Navajo National Monument and pueblo ruins, four corners, and dinosaur tracks off the highway. After the canyon, we stopped at the Hoover dam and stayed in Vegas for a couple days. Im on my way back to Colorado Springs to pick up the trailer and heading North.
Today I will visiting the Meteor Crater in AZ, The Petrified Forest, and then Bandelier National Monument. Ive driven 4300 miles since the trip began!
Unfortunately, the more I see, the more I realize all the stuff I have yet to see and may never get to…
Any ideas when you’ll be in Lethbridge/Calgary? We’d certainly like to take you out for a beer if you stop in either of those places (we can drive down to meet up with **Spoons **in Lethbridge if that’s your stopping place).
Oh - I see from my calendar that that’s the one week of the year that we have other stuff going on (Calgary ComicCon and my husband in class for three days). We’ll make it work, though!
I want to thank everyone for your help. It’s too bad I didn’t get to meet up with any of you, but I pretty much stayed on the move the entire time. Here is a little summary of the trip.
Start: Columbus, GA
Finish: Anchorage, AK
Days: 26
Miles: 9484.5
Fuel Used: 771.6 gallons
States Visited: (14) Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, Wyoming, South Dakota, Montana, Alaska
Main Attractions:
New Orleans: French Quarter; Bourbon Street; Cemeteries, WWII Museum
San Antonio: Alamo; downtown River Walk
Carlsbad Caverns
Roswell
White Sands National Monument
Trinity Monument
Three Rivers Petroglyph Site
Colorado Springs: Pike’s Peak; Garden of the Gods
Navajo National Monument
Four Corners Monument
Navajo Nation Dinosaur Tracks
Grand Canyon
Hoover Dam
Las Vegas (3 Days)
Meteor Crater
Petrified Forest
Bandelier National Monument
Crazyhorse Monument
Mount Rushmore
Devil’s Tower National Monument
Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument
Yellowstone National Park: Old Faithful; Mammoth Hot Springs
Drove the Alaska Highway through Canada into Alaska. A few hundred miles of it through ice and snow.
