Driving from Toronto to Calgary

[TSXCman]

I'm not in a super rush to get back, avoiding northern ontario is already saving some time.

some issues would be:
-traffic (hitting detroit at the appropriate time)
-security of uhaul (i hear of people gettin robbed in big cities overnight)
-spending 2 nights in decent towns
-then pretty much quality and safety of the given road.
-Speeding tickets (maybe staying in US more as to not be hit by demerits if i get one)

[troutman]

Originally Posted by TSXCman

I'm not in a super rush to get back, avoiding northern ontario is already saving some time.

some issues would be:
-traffic (hitting detroit at the appropriate time)
-security of uhaul (i hear of people gettin robbed in big cities overnight)
-spending 2 nights in decent towns
-then pretty much quality and safety of the given road.
-Speeding tickets (maybe staying in US more as to not be hit by demerits if i get one)

You could cross the border at Sarnia/Port Huron and avoid Detroit.

[Montana Moe]

Originally Posted by 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.

Hey, that's my hometown! What a hole, but I love it!

Originally Posted by 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.

You forgot casinos! Other than that, sounds like a perfect weekend...

[TSXCman]

Originally Posted by troutman

You could cross the border at Sarnia/Port Huron and avoid Detroit.

dear god your right...

I've always been under the impression that port huron led into Detroit, that makes it much nicer

[Kidder]

They have casinos in gas stations there. What a place to live.

One of the funniest moments of my life was driving south through Montana with my friends and one of them remarked how everything was miniature, like one of the worlds in Super Mario 3. Sure enough, the telephone wires were defintiely closer to the ground and the overpasses we're smaller than you see here. Then we passed a semi that was barely bigger than the SUV we were driving. I kid you not. Looked exactly like a semi-truck but like half size in scale. Truly bizarre and for some reason, absolutely hilarious.

[Scotian Lotion]

With driving through the US (Toronto to Calgary), are there any concerns with the border agents ripping your car apart?
By that I mean, will they give you a harder time because they see your car is packed full of crap and will assume you're hiding something?

I was planning on sticking to the All-Canada route, but after reading through some of this, I think I'll use the USA instead.
Doing this trip in two weeks.

Then I get to fly back to Toronto and do the drive back to Calgary all over again in May to drive my wife's car out.

Umm.. yay.

[Knut]

Originally Posted by Scotian Lotion

With driving through the US (Toronto to Calgary), are there any concerns with the border agents ripping your car apart?
By that I mean, will they give you a harder time because they see your car is packed full of crap and will assume you're hiding something?

I was planning on sticking to the All-Canada route, but after reading through some of this, I think I'll use the USA instead.
Doing this trip in two weeks.

Then I get to fly back to Toronto and do the drive back to Calgary all over again in May to drive my wife's car out.

Umm.. yay.

You may get your car torn apart. But if you are honest with your answers of when you will be crossing borders and provide your route information you should be fine.

In my experience crossing the border with a bunch of stuff in my truck it is coming into Canada where you get the hard time.

[red sky]

Originally Posted by Hesla

You may get your car torn apart. But if you are honest with your answers of when you will be crossing borders and provide your route information you should be fine.

In my experience crossing the border with a bunch of stuff in my truck it is coming into Canada where you get the hard time.

Yeah. Just make sure you bound both their legs and their arms and ensure that the duct tape is on extra tight. You should be good to go.

[valo403]

Originally Posted by Scotian Lotion

With driving through the US (Toronto to Calgary), are there any concerns with the border agents ripping your car apart?
By that I mean, will they give you a harder time because they see your car is packed full of crap and will assume you're hiding something?

I was planning on sticking to the All-Canada route, but after reading through some of this, I think I'll use the USA instead.
Doing this trip in two weeks.

Then I get to fly back to Toronto and do the drive back to Calgary all over again in May to drive my wife's car out.

Umm.. yay.

I didn't have an issue when I drove down with a truck load of things when moving to the US, but the fact I had paperwork proving I was moving may have helped. Honestly they could tear it apart if they decide they don't like your hat that day, they don't really need a reason.

[Knut]

^ even then the hour two delay is nothing compared to the extra 8 hour drive going through Canada.

[TSXCman]

I drove from london south, passed chicago, fargo, then jumped up when in Montana.

Faster way duet o fast, straight US highways. Spent about 8 hours at border crossings though (3 into the US, 5 into canada), both times had my entire university house belongings unloaded onto the muddy ground.

[Engine09]

I've done the cross-Canada drive maybe half a dozen times, Halifax to Victoria once, Montreal to Saskatoon another time, mostly Toronto to Calgary. If you have the time there is no other way to see the country, I love driving.

Like others have mentioned avoid the #1 through Northern Ontario. Can be brutal in the winter, almost met my end a few hours east of Lord Thunderin' Bay.

[grizz29]

The old saying goes "The only good things to ever come out of Thunder Bay are hookers and hockey players."

[J epworth]

Originally Posted by Scotian Lotion

With driving through the US (Toronto to Calgary), are there any concerns with the border agents ripping your car apart?
By that I mean, will they give you a harder time because they see your car is packed full of crap and will assume you're hiding something?

I was planning on sticking to the All-Canada route, but after reading through some of this, I think I'll use the USA instead.
Doing this trip in two weeks.

Then I get to fly back to Toronto and do the drive back to Calgary all over again in May to drive my wife's car out.

Umm.. yay.

Me and a Buddy did the USA drive 3 years ago from London to Calgary. Our car was packed to the brim with both of our stuff, and it was probably a 20 second conversation with the border officer at Port Huron, they were more just curious as to why we go through the States if we are finishing in Canada again, then what was in the car. Was pretty stress free for us.

We were at the border crossing by 6:30 in the morning, and the Sweet Grass border crossing in Montana at 12:30 in the morning, so we were able to avoid any wait times at the border.

I recommend going through South Dakota instead of North Dakota, then you can go past Mount Rushmore on the way home. Only time you would ever find yourself in the vicinity of it in your life, and it only adds 40 minutes to your entire trip if you do South Dakota instead of North Dakota.

[Northendzone]

Originally Posted by Hesla

.. then stay in Fargo or Minot. From there it is about 7 to 8 hrs to Calgary. About 32 hours total driving.

Are you sure about this?

Wpg to Fargo is about 2.5 hrs. Wpg to Calgary is about 11 hours. I think you would really have to have the pedal to metal to do Fargo to Calgary in 8 hrs.

[Knut]

Originally Posted by Northendzone

Are you sure about this?

Wpg to Fargo is about 2.5 hrs. Wpg to Calgary is about 11 hours. I think you would really have to have the pedal to metal to do Fargo to Calgary in 8 hrs.

You are right. It is longer. But you do not to go through Winnipeg. You angle up through minot and cross the border near Estvan, which is 8 hrs from Calgary.

[T@T]

I did the drive 7 times, the two times I took the US route it actually took longer, I tried to time it to get threw Chicago early morning and both times I got screwed by problems, once was a 20 car pile-up in Minneapolis and another was an apparently a shooting outside of Gary Indiana at a toll booth Chicago and even Minneapolis can be absolute nightmares to get threw if you hit them at the wrong time.

On paper the US route is faster and shorter but I said to myself.."never again" I actually liked the northern route drive better anyway,plan the Winnipeg to Sault st Marie drive at night (have a radar detector and animal whistles) and you can fly with very little traffic.

I did Toronto to Calgary in 37 hours by myself once

[Flames89]

If you haven't done the Canadian route before, you owe it to yourself to see our great country.
If you've done it once, then might as well switch it up with the US route to see new sites.
If you've done both, then might as well go US for speed.

[Mass_nerder]

I just did the drive from Calgary to Halifax, and passed through Toronto.
We went through Saskatchewan and into the States just south of Estevan until we met up with the highway...pretty much went directly east after that.
Through Minneapolis, Madison, Chicago, skirted around Detroit, and up into Ontario.
Took about 4 days from Calgary to Montreal, so you're probably looking at 3 long days, or 4 reasonable days of driving.

[FlamesAddiction]

Northern Ontario is a bitch to drive through. It's worse than the Rockies because the highway is so small and crappy.


I've done the trip through Canada numerous times and have taken the U.S. route once. We went into the States from Saskatchewan and entered Ontario at Sarnia. In total, I think we shaved about 6 hours off our trip (although we started in Prince George).