My roommate lives in Saltspring, BC and will be picking me up in Edmonton, AB to go to Waterloo, ON. I’ve been looking at MSN’s Mappoint, and it basically says the fastest and shortest routes are to take a south at Winnipeg into North Dakota to go south around the Great Lakes. Another possibility I’ve heard of is going south of Edmonton into Montana, but I don’t know where to go from there.
My friend is inclined to just take the TC the entire way, but I’ve heard the roads (especially from Winnipeg to Thunder Bay) are quite bad. The reason he’s hesitant to go into the US is we’ll be carrying our belongings for the next four months (clothes and the like) on this trip, and it may prove to be a hassle crossing the border.
Most likely we will be leaving Edmonton on April 24th, but we need to arrive on May 1st. We plan to drive 10 hours a day.
So has anyone who has done this before care to comment? Or if you have any general road trip stories/tips that would be cool too, although we probably have most of the basics covered.
I did much the same trip in the reverse direction about two months ago when I moved from Hamilton to Moose Jaw. I crossed the border at Sarnia, drove through Chicago and spent the first night in Madison, WI. That was about an eleven hour day, I think. The second day took me to Winnipeg. Again, about ten or eleven hours. Winnipeg to Moose Jaw was around seven hours. Edmonton to Winnipeg would probably be via the Yellowhead highway, so that would probably be quicker than the Trans-Canada but I’d expect that leg would still take two days. April 24th to May 1st should be more than enough time to make the trip.
Another alternative would be to drive through Michigan south of Lake Superior and cross either at Sault Ste Marie or Sarnia. I think the route I took is the quickest option.
When I did the trip I was moving so my car was pretty much filled to the top with my stuff, and the customs agent asked a question or two about it but it was no real hassle.
I’ve travelled between Saskatoon and Windsor several times, which covers much the same ground. Mappoint is wrong, and I’ve seen Yahoo Maps make the same mistake - sending you to Winnipeg and then south on 77/I-29 to Fargo adds a couple hours to the drive at least. I suppose it does keep you off the 2-lane roads a bit more, but not by much, since there’s a long chunk of 1 that’s two lanes east of Regina. My route from Saskatoon was 11 south to Regina, then 6 & 39 to the border through Weyburn and Estevan. From the border, 52 to Minot, then south on 83 to Bismark, and then I-94 through to Detroit/Windsor. If you’re going up to Waterloo, then it’s likely better to split off on I-69 in Michigan and head up through Port Huron/Sarnia and onto the 402. Try not to go through Chicago during rush hour.
Taking the Trans Canada the whole way is a much longer drive. From Kenora to Sudbury takes forever, and you’re on a 90kph 2-lane road stuck behind Grandpa with his 5th wheel camper doing 75 for a hour before you get to a passing lane. Very pretty drive, though. If you’re not just trying to get to the destination, it could be nice.
The final option is to go via Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Then you would go to Winnipeg, south to Grand Forks, then cut east on 2 through Duluth to the Mackinac Bridge, then south on 75 to Flint and east to Sarnia again. This looks on maps to be only slightly longer than the first route I gave, with the advantage of bypassing Chicago, but it took me quite a lot longer. You can’t make time on 2 like you can on the interstates. I suppose you could also go south of Superior as described and then cross at the Soo and head down the east side of Huron, but I’m not sure why you would.
I’m from Waterloo and unfortunately still live here. I lived in Thunder Bay for a bit, and drove to and from there.
We took 2 ways.
One was the Michigan peninsula route Gorsnak suggested, which wasn’t bad. A bit quicker than staying on the Canadian side, but such a boring drive… Though there was this one bit of insane construction, (Which would be gone now, and would have no bearing on your trip, but I must share this insanity) They had traffic entering a 4 lane highway via a 90 degree right turn after a stop sign(I think it may have been an 8 lane with the outside lanes shut down.) So basically, you were going from a complete stop to 100 kph, with no area to speed up/merge, with heavy traffic comping straight at you. I’m still amazed I didn’t see any accidents (several close calls though,) in the half hour we spent in the traffic jam to get on to the highway… but if I were in charge, I’d have fired whomever’s idea that was.
Although we weren’t in the US long, we did have my stuff with me (I was moving), and we didn’t get hassled at all (It was me and my parents, so it’s really no surprise we didn’t get stopped) but like you, we were very hesitant to go through the US to get there, which is why we took the other way from then on.
The other way was much, much better. We took 11/17 (Yonge street) from Thunder Bay all the way around the top of Superior, past Sault Ste Marie and down on to Manitoulin Island, where we then took the ferry across form South Baymouth to Tobermory. While it takes about the same amount of time as if you were to drive around Georgan Bay, it’s much more relaxing and well worth it. Plus the drive in northern Ontario is great, and the roads we took were in great conditon (I’ve never heard anyone complain that the roads between Thunder Bay and Winnipeg were in poor shape.)
Either way, the way we drove (about the same as most traffic, though it wasn’t rare to get passed) it’s about 16-19 hours between Thunder Bay and Waterloo. Sault Ste Marie is pretty much halfway (8 to 8.5 hours, if you’re not in a hurry) And the trip between Thunder Bay and Waterloo can be done in a day if you drive right through. Personally, I prefer to stay in Canada, just in case.
I drove from Vancouver to Thunder Bay in July, and then from Thunder Bay to Waterloo and back in January. TC is definitely the longer route, but I’m inclined to stay in Canada whenever possible, regardless of the required driving time. The roads from Winnipeg to Thunder Bay are not bad, just not as direct as the interstate in the US would be. The worst road (physical condition) I encountered on the whole trip was between Calgary and Medicine Hat - not an issue for you, obviously. The road from Thunder Bay to Sudbury can be extremely slow, depending on who you get stuck behind. It wasn’t really an issue for me, since I tend to do my driving at night, but if it’s busy you could be there for a while, in which case ducking south of the lakes might be the better idea.
Nipigon to Marathon, and Wawa to the Soo, are exquisitely beautiful drives, so do those sections in the day if you drive across the top of Superior. And slow down in Terrace Bay, for there is often a speed trap there. His name is John.
Well it seems like staying in Canada is the way to go. The main appeal of going through the US is it seems it could be more eventful, but going through Canada looks quite a bit easier. Any interesting stuff in particular I should look out (or plan ahead) for on the Canadian route?
Odd. I would have put it precisely the other way around. The US route is dead easy, but boring as hell. Almost a straight run on the interstates, except for the bit running through Chicago which can be a bit of an adventure depending on the time of day (for a prairie farmboy, anyways). On the other hand, the Canadian route has some truly spectacular scenery once you’re into the Shield, but is significantly slower and longer (though perhaps not to the same extent if you’re going to Waterloo as for me going to Windsor). Customs was never an issue for me even with my car crammed right full of stuff, but then all my crossings were pre-September 2001 and I don’t know how much things might have changed.
I’ll give you my standard advice, although it only applies to the Canadian parts of your journey:
Here are some good places to stop for a rest.
Have a good trip!
