Driving from Toronto to Calgary

[Bobblehead]

I've done the drive a few times. I stayed on I-94 until Glendive, MT then cut up to Wolf Point, then West along St. hwy 2.

32-34 hours of driving from London.

[habernac]

the first long drive of my life was from Burlington, ON to Saskatoon, SK. Dad went through the US, but this was also in 1970 so I really have no route information for you. Always wanted to do this drive.

[Titan]

I have done this several times as well. If you have a couple of extra days include Mount Rushmore and Yellowstone in your stops. Way, Way worth it. We actually stayed at the Yellowstone lodge, right at Old Faithful and it was a promo for their anniversary and it was like $89 for the night. Very cool.

Even if you have to blast through the US route is much more interesting.

I Like the Monana part. The road signs for the establishments you will see: bar, guns, liquor. Repeat every 500 feet.

[Finny61]

Well I drove it twice from Toronto area out to Calgary, once to move our stuff out here and the second to bring my family. It killed me. Both times I took the Northern Ontario route and yeah I hated it, it's terribly long and boring and very remote feeling. I was in Sudbury at 11pm and was outside of Marathon when the sun came up the next morning. I was scared to death about hitting a moose, bad things can happen when a car and moose connect. Luckily didn't see anything.

I'm taking the US route next time.

[Seabass]

Unfortunately, we have no time to stop. There are two of us and we are just going to switch off driving. You guys have convinced me to go the US route. I remember the trip from Kenora to Sault Ste Marie seemed like 3 days. It was awful.

[Cactus Jack]

The thing about going to the US is the border crossing. It can take 5 minutes or over an hour, you never know.
________
Extreme Q Vaporizer Cheap

[Seabass]

We are finally back from our trip to Calgary from Niagara Falls. We took I-90 from Buffalo to Sioux Falls, SD and then up I-29 into Winnipeg and across. The US Route is very safe. For instance, in Indiana the toll for the whole state is $6.00, but you can easily see why. The roads are fantastic and every 50 miles is another 24 hour rest area/food court/WIFI/gas station. South and North Dakota are very boring, but overall it was a good trip.

On the way back we had to take the Canadian route, as we had filled our van with stuff to bring with us. I will never do that trip again. All is fine until Northern Ontario. We hit it during the day, and it was insane. Over 10 construction zones, one we had to stop completely for over an hour. There was a couple detours through dirt roads too. Limited passing lanes. If you can help it, do not travel through Northern Ontario.

Beautiful country up between Thunder Bay and the Soo, but I would rather get a cavity search at the US border than go through Sudbury again.

[Ronald Pagan]

Yeah the number 17 through Northern Ontario is terrible.

I was really glad that I drove it though, it really gave me an appreciate for just how immense Canada and Ontario are. Stunning just the size of the boreal forest.

Also the drive around Lake Superior can be very pretty at times.

[CaptainCrunch]

Make sure that you pick up hitch hikers, not only are they good company on long drives, but they make excellent eating if you happen to run out of gas.

[driveway]

nm

[4X4]

Originally Posted by Ronald Pagan

Yeah the number 17 through Northern Ontario is terrible.

I was really glad that I drove it though, it really gave me an appreciate for just how immense Canada and Ontario are. Stunning just the size of the boreal forest.

Also the drive around Lake Superior can be very pretty at times.

Agreed. I'm glad I did it, but I'm happy never to do it again. It is some pretty beautiful scenery in Northern Ontario and into Manitoba. Seeing the canadian shield popping up through the ground and the different, more deciduous forests is really neat after growing up in Alberta.
Only problem is that it goes on and on and on and on and on and on. And then there's Saskatchewan. Holy hell, for all the times I heard people say that you can tie your steering wheel straight and put a brick on the gas pedal and fall asleep, I never believed. Until I drove through there. It's true. Straight and flat. For hours. It's almost exciting when you hit Moose Jaw and there's a curve in the road and a dip into the river valley.
And Sask's roads. Hilarious. About 2 km in from the Manitoba border, the roads suddenly become single, divided and pot hole ridden. Then you hit the Alberta border and you're back on the swanky highways.

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by 4X4

And Sask's roads. Hilarious. About 2 km in from the Manitoba border, the roads suddenly become single, divided and pot hole ridden. Then you hit the Alberta border and you're back on the swanky highways.

Yeah, and they are even better now than before.

Once a buddy caught a ride with me to Winnipeg, and he noticed I was weaving around inside my lane. He looked up from his book and asked "What are you doing?" I explained that I play a game in Saskatchewan called "even tire wear"- you try to hit the patches on the road so they would wear your tire evenly.

He said "you're an idiot" and went back to his book. 2 minutes later he looked up again, and said "You need more on the right tires."

[TSXCman]

Thank for the thread.

I am driving from London to Calgary in the next couple weeks, needed a good route, now i have one. and its pretty quick to get to chicago so I'm wondering what other times is it smart to get to the US border other than "after 8pm" if there are any

[bigtmac19]

Originally Posted by 4X4

Agreed. I'm glad I did it, but I'm happy never to do it again. It is some pretty beautiful scenery in Northern Ontario and into Manitoba. Seeing the canadian shield popping up through the ground and the different, more deciduous forests is really neat after growing up in Alberta.
Only problem is that it goes on and on and on and on and on and on. And then there's Saskatchewan. Holy hell, for all the times I heard people say that you can tie your steering wheel straight and put a brick on the gas pedal and fall asleep, I never believed. Until I drove through there. It's true. Straight and flat. For hours. It's almost exciting when you hit Moose Jaw and there's a curve in the road and a dip into the river valley.
And Sask's roads. Hilarious. About 2 km in from the Manitoba border, the roads suddenly become single, divided and pot hole ridden. Then you hit the Alberta border and you're back on the swanky highways.

I agree with this as well, did it once when we moved out to Calgary, and it was great to see that much of the country, but that trek through Northern Ontario was ridiculously long, it certainly was beautiful though. I'm glad I did it, but happily flew home and back anytime after that. When we eventually moved back, I flew and my then husband drove the car back.

[SeeGeeWhy]

I drove from Calgary to Winnipeg this summer and most of HWY1 through Saskatchewan is now twinned. There's a stretch getting closer to Manitoba that goes down to single lane, non-twinned.

And I noticed that the overal quality of the roads have improved a lot from the last few times I've been through in the past few years.

[Bunk]

I'd go the american route, through Detroit, Chicago and Minneapolis. It might be slightly longer, but the Canadian route is the most BORING drive in the history of man. Trust me, I've done it.

[troutman]

Northern Ontario is huge - it takes forever to drive around Lake Superior, and you could run out of gas if you are not careful. Not much to see.

Trips I have done (UWO to Calgary):

London - Buffalo - Cleveland - Cincy - Louisville - St Louis - KC - Denver - Salt Lake - Yellowstone - CGY

London - Detroit - Mackinaw - Fargo - Winnipeg - CGY

CGY - Winnipeg - Fargo - Minneapolis - Chicago - Detroit - London

[TSXCman]

Originally Posted by troutman

Northern Ontario is huge - it takes forever to drive around Lake Superior, and you could run out of gas if you are not careful. Not much to see.

Trips I have done (UWO to Calgary):

London - Buffalo - Cleveland - Cincy - Louisville - St Louis - KC - Denver - Salt Lake - Yellowstone - CGY

London - Detroit - Mackinaw - Fargo - Winnipeg - CGY

CGY - Winnipeg - Fargo - Minneapolis - Chicago - Detroit - London

And your most prefered route is?

I am driving from UWO to Calgary next week with another buddy and a uhaul

[zukes]

Originally Posted by Frank the Tank

I hate it when I have to eat my words. HE STILL SUCKS!!!

That's strange to hear someone from London say that. He was easily my favourite player on the Knights during the Memorial Cup team.

[troutman]

Originally Posted by TSXCman

And your most prefered route is?

I am driving from UWO to Calgary next week with another buddy and a uhaul

How much time do you have? If you are in a hurry, the 2nd route is probably the fastest. You could even go west from Fargo to Montana, and turn north there.