Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Canada Transcanada Hwy

I'm considering a drive from Toronto to Prince Rupert in mid may, on the transcanada Hwy. I'm stealing one of your females, and that's when the visa paperwork should be done. Anybody ever do it? Looks like a haul, but figure it'd be a hell of a trip to do, and probably never have the opportunity to do it again.

I've done prince George to Timmins a few times.

You would really have to have a burning inner desire to see what prairie looks like to get anything out of it.

The Rockies are nice, but given your in the coast mtns I doubt you'd be that impressed with them either.

I could see the prairies being a bit boring.. Stores/gas stations pretty common along the hwy, or do you really need to plan things out?

The stretch between Kenora,ON and Vermillion Bay, ON is a death rd.

Why so?

I driven it numerous times and apart from occasional construction, never had any delays or problems.

Jim

It has gotten better since they added the passing lanes going up hills. It is a slow stretch of road though.


ddj

I have been driving this stretch of road for 40+ yrs,still alive.

Stores and gas stations are pretty common. As long as you can get a few hundred km's between fill ups, you'll be fine.

I agree that the drive is 80% boring and 20% interesting/beautiful.

You're stealing one of our girls?

We have laws against kidnapping up here you know.

Not many locals are killed on the Vermillion Bay to Kenora section of road. It seems a heavy foot and inattentiveness( is that even a word) are the biggest problems. Pay attention and it is a beautiful piece of country.

Randy

Calvin;
With the understanding that I've driven the highways from Winnipeg to Prince Rupert and have not driven east of Winnipeg as yet, I would suggest the following.

In the main it's pretty good road heading west from Winnipeg and depending on where you begin to swing northward, as has been said there are plenty of fuel stops available. Certainly more than say running through some parts of rural Wyoming where I recall being very pleased to see they sold gas in Lusk!

My cyber friend Jordan probably hit the mathematical equation dead on regarding the 80% just driving and the 20% seeing interesting stuff.

That said, if indeed you aren't likely to ever do it again and you can spend the time, there are certainly worse activities I can think of.

The locals in some of the out of the way spots in particular can be great and when one has time to not rush the trip and meet a few it can make a trip. I know we've certainly found that when we've traveled through rural Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska and Colorado thus far.

Hopefully that was some use to you and please don't hesitate to drop me a line if you think I can be of any help to you.

Congratulations on your upcoming "theft" of a Canadian lady, I hope you two have a wonderful lifetime together.

Regards,
Dwayne

I like driving through the prairies, probably because it is so different than what I am used to. The long uninteresting part for me is the Toronto to Winnipeg stretch, that being said, lots of people like the area.

take 16 hwy through man,sask,alberta way better that trans canada

When I lived in the area people were getting killed left and right, including one whole family and a 5 semi truck pile up. These are two the stand out in my mind, there were many more.

The problem is with the flatlanders finally getting into the curves, hills and rockcuts that they are not accustomed to, and also after 4 hours on the road, they get drowsy, and that is not a good stretch to snooze on. Way better than the trip through the rockies.

The press dubbed that section of Highway 17 "The Highway of Death." There are lots of worse places on the Transcanada. I policed that area for 22 years. It ain't as bad as the press would have you believe.

Are you in a hurry? The Transcanada is OK, but is also the source of so many "boring flatland" comments about the prairies. You have to spend some time on your feet on our native grasslands, and pay attention to appreciate the subtle beauty of the prairies. Most people don't have the attention span or the time required to make a long drive on the great plains a learning experience. But there is lots to appreciate for those who are open to the experience.
The Yellowhead is generally a more interesting road to me, mostly going through the aspen parkland region with some mixed grass prairie and lots and lots of prairie pothole country along the way. That route is also more direct. If this is a round trip, I'd strongly suggest a loop, on both the Trans Canada and the Yellowhead with some side trips to unique areas like the Cypress hills and some of the lesser known parks like Riding Mountain, catch a fish or two, and smell the fragrance of grass.

Great trip, and May is the time to do it.
If time isn't in short supply, get off the #1 and go through
some of the small towns. Each one has its own story/claim to fame,
and the scenery can be beautiful. Unfortunately, grain elevators
aren't as common as they once were, so it's harder to tell
which town your in
Try to break it up so that you aren't driving all the way
across the prairies in one day. That can be taxing.

Hey Calvin, the only thing you'll really NEED, is a radar detector/laser jammer....Driving across the prairies will test your patience with cruise control....

I drove from Golden BC to Mossomin Saskatchewan in one day, I needed a couple of beers at the end of that drive for sure.

I've been across from Winnipeg into Northern BC 5 or 6 times.. I actually loved going across on the YellowHead Hwy.. I love that Canada isn't built up like the USA.

boring was driving a VW Camper, with a Canoe on top, and I went East out of Drumheller AB, followed the route east thru Sask, rte numbers kept changing but road ran straight.. and finally intercepted the Yellowhead in Eastern Sask, right before going into Manitoba..

had time to kill and wanted to see the "backroads" . had a storm blowing from the North, all the way across.. this was early September, high winds, so one could only do about 45 mph in the VW Bus.. if a large truck pass me in either direction, the VW would almost make an immediate left turn...

had to have the steering to the left and the wind was strong enough that it was trying to push the VW off the road to the right into the ditch..

was like flying a kite, instead of driving a vehicle for 900 plus miles...somehow I still enjoyed the wilds of it all..

I love driving the roads of Canada.. been all the way out on Cape Breton on one side, and have taken the ferry to Newfoundland multiple times, PEI etc..on the east side..far enough north in Quebec where the roads turned to dirt..

Up the Cassier Hwy going up to Alaska, up to Inuvik( sp?) in the Yukon, and then the road to Yellowknife in the NWT...

long before all of this Homeland Security BS..

when crossing the border to Canada and back was just as painless as going thru the California AG inspection in today's world..