Yes there is a park usage fee, except when travelling straight through eg. Calgary-B.C or Edmonton-Valemount or vise versa. I was going straight through, no stops except for fuel, from Vancouver to Edmonton Hwy #1E to Hwy #93N to Hwy #16E into Edmonton. Again when returning Hwy #2S Edmonton-Red Deer, Hwy #11W Red Deer to Hwy #93S to Hwy #1W to Vancouver....... They charged both ways..... I know, they need money for upkeep and improvements. Just burns my ----.
That must have been during WW2 when it was also called the Alcan Hwy...... LOL
Ted
Courtenay, BC
No, it was 1962, and yes it was the Alcan Hwy.
2005 Chev 5.3 Supercharged 395HP 425 T hp. Two wheels on front, 2 on back. one seat, tint windows. front and rear bumpers, headlights, windows. Door on each side. Heater, floor mats, junk behind seats, some dirt. Pulls so hard.
So to avoid this park fee, you have to take 5 north from Kamloops and cross the Rockies via Jasper on CA 16?
MS Streets and Trips gives 717 miles for this route (Edmonton to Vancouver), 780 via Cline and Golden (and 11), giving a slight edge to the Jasper route (in addition to the park fee difference). Aren't passes lower via Jasper?
The route via Calgary adds less than 10 miles.
What's 11 like? Apart from the park fee is it worth the drive? For example if I already paid the fee to take my time and look at sights around Rogers Pass, Yoho, and Lake Louise, is it better to take 11 to Red Deer and then north to Edmonton, or to continue north on 93 to Jasper, and then east?
paulj
* This post was
edited 01/26/08 08:05pm by paulj *
No sir - on #16 you still have to enter Jasper National Park and pay the Park entrance fee.
The only highway to cross the Canadian Rockies without entering a National Park is Highway #3 - the so-called crowsnest Pass route.
No, if you are going STRAIGHT through(no stopping), either on Hwy #1E/W or #16E/W there is no charge. If you want to stop, then the park fees comes into effect. Now, with that said, if you want to take #93N/S or #11E/W, they are going to charge you the park fees. To me that is a form of toll, no matter what they want to call it.
Hwy #16E/W is IMO the easiest route to or from Alberta-British Columbia, the highest point being at a place called Obed between Edson and Jasper. The bad part is it puts you up north in the Edmonton area.
Hwy #11E/W is a beautiful road through the rocks and into Nordegg, you come out at Rocky Mountain House where you can take #22N/S or go down into Red Deer and Hwy #2N/S. I would not hesitate to recommend or take #11E/W. Another scenic route is #40/47 N/S Edson-Robb-Cadomin-Nordegg, when I lived in Alberta it was called the coal branch road, people didn't have to have licenses as the road went from/to nowhere. But would get local input before traveling on it. It will connect with Hwy #40 in the Hinton area for a route through to Grande Prairie & Dawson Creek. Many possibilities, depending or what a person wants to do or where they are going.
Years ago when the best maps I could get (in Chicago) were national map atlases, the 'forestry trunk road' looked like the epitome of backroads travel in Alberta. So far I've only the driven the southern stretch from Canmore to Coleman on the Crowsnest.
Don't forget if you intend to stay in National Parks for more than 6 days total, it is cheaper to buy an annual pass, it will cost about $125 but it is valid for many of the parks which have been recommended, Banff, Jasper, Waterton, Glacier, Kootenay and Yoho plus others.
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So far I've only the driven the southern stretch from Canmore to Coleman on the Crowsnest.
