I'm no expert on the Canadian Rockies however I have ridden and driven through them a couple of times. A suggestion of a loop is: Starting from Calgary take Hwy 1 (The Trans-Canada Highway) through Banff to Lake Louise and then take Hwy 93 (The Icefields Parkway ) to Jasper, followed by Hwys 16, 5, 97, and 99 to Lillooet. Continue on Hwy 99 to Vancouver, then through Vancouver towards Abbotsford via Hwy 1 and take Hwy 3 (just past Hope) to Creston. You can continue on Hwy 3 all the way back to Medicine Hat and return back across the Canadian Prairies, or drop down and cross the border into Montana at a couple of places and make your way back home. You could also run this loop in reverse.

Do not miss the Icefield Parkway or Hwy 99. Try to avoid staying in Banff, Lake Louise and Jasper unless you don't mind remortgaging your house to pay for accommodations. Riding across the Canadian Prairies may bore you to death.

Haynes

 

A lot of people say they want to go to Banff, but if the picture you have in your head is of the giant hotel on the green lake, that is the Fairmont Chateau in Lake Louise.

Emerald Lake and any of the glacier lakes are amazing to see as well. I recommend spending at least one night in Fairmont Hot Springs at the resort. After a long day of riding, soaking in the hot springs is sooooooooo nice. Revelstoke is another nice place to stay, it's a ski resort town and is pretty laid back.

I agree that Hwy 3 is a good route too. It's very quiet and goes through some beautiful areas.

I do not recommend going to any of these touristy places around Labor Day. Canadian Labor Day is the same time as ours. It will be absolutely packed. I know this because I rode up there last year on Labor Day. 😂

https://www.fjrowners.com/threads/canadian-rockies.160068/

 

I'd be taking Hwy2 instead of the Trans Canada..... While on Hwy 3..... do a loop in the Kootenays... you get to say Creston, go north on 3A, catch the ferry across to Balfour, north again to Kaslo, west on 31A to Hwy. 6, either go south on 6 or up to Nakusp, back down to Farquier (ferry), take 6 west to Kelowna..... take 33 down to Rock Creek where you meet up again with 3, but the stretch of 3 from Rock Creek to Castelgar is quite good. IMHO, the Canadian Rockies are more majestic, or seem so because the roads are closer to them than south of the border.

 

I was just there last week and did all the roads you just mentioned. The road from Kaslo to New Denver was very pretty with gentle sweepers. My favourite road this year. Nakusp to Farquier was fast and straight. The #6 to Vernon was meh, but you have to do it to complete the loop. Agree that the Crowsnest Hwy (#3) to Castelgar is great, just not in August with all the holiday traffic.

 

Well if you're coming from Minneapolis( im originally from there) I would take 94 to Glendive MT and take 200 and work your way over to Glacier. Go through from the east side(no reservation needed from the east) and work your way over to BonnersFerry ID to Hwy 95 and on to Creston as Rayzerman states and follow his directions. I prefer 200 rather than 2. A bit more hilly and less towns and it doesn't follow the train tracks like 2 does. All those areas are a zoo especially Lake Louise. Last time we were around that area the parking was closed at Louise(jammed packed with tour buses). Were heading up that way around the 25 but Im kinda wondering why. Creston is a great little town, Be sure to stop in to the Golden flour bakery for something to eat. Great breakfast and baked goods.

It's pretty boring across the Canadian Plains. Much worse than North Dakota

 

And as I find when I'm anywhere out there or in the PNW, you realize you can't see it all in two weeks. So, make notes for the next return trip.......

 

Thanks all! Food for thought about how to get west first. Maybe I'll just take a 2-lane across the Dakotas to keep it at least mildly interesting. Ages ago, a friend of mine and I went to visit people out in Montana - just across the river from the western edge of Glacier National Park, and we took highway 12 all the way across (in a little Renault LeCar) instead of interstate. It was a fascinating look at .... desolation and small towns.

So yeah - maybe getting to Montana and then getting creatively up north from there is the way to go.

 

Last time I took 12 outa Forsyth Mt. The grasshoppers were unreal, the bike & my legs & helmet were full of muck. Good thing theres no curves or I would have slid off the road from all the guts. I really liked the desolation tho but Id hate to break down out there. The sage brush out there has a great smell I wish I could bring back home. Once I got to Round Up Mt. the bugs thinned out. Coming back I didnt like 12 through S.D. to rough & to many semis. I got off & took another road. The road coming down from Bismark to 12 was really nice ride tho.

 

The yellow GOO! lol

 

I have done all of these roads many times and strongly concur with what Haines and RayZ said. Pretty much anything west of Calgary is worth doing at least once.
I would emphatically suggest for the uniqueness, the scenery, the variety and the sereneness a few notable routes - most already mentioned:

• Forget the Transcanada through the prairies - take hwy #2 and Blackfoot drive. Take it west to Glacier Nat'l Park then head north into Alberta.
• Do the Banff/Jasper parkway (and while up there, go see Mt Robson).

-If you make it that far north and have time to continue, come back down to Kamloops then Cache Creek then up to Lilooet and continue to the Duffy Lake Road, Whistler and down to Vancouver.
- Continue back into the USA and turn East again to go through the North Cascades, Marblemount, Winthrop.

That route is long. If it's too long for one go, ask to park your bike at someone's house (you can use mine), fly home then return in a few weeks.

If you need a little more compact route, I'd still suggest Hwy #2 and then north through Glacier Park. Instead of doing all of the Banff/Jasper pkwy, spend a couple hours on it, double back and rejoin Trans Canada westward and turn south when you run out of time or tread. I'd suggest going as far as Sicamous then south to Vernon. From there you can choose between #6 through Cherryville or 97 if you want to be closer to people. Either way, take any of those routes down to #3 before turning back East. I think Washington , Idaho and Montana all are worth visiting on any road.YOu can choose to stay Canada-side and then keep going East until you do hit #1 and make up a lot of time returning home.

 

There is also that little FJR Rally in Oregon starting Sept. 4th. That may be a change of pace for you if it aligns with your schedule.

 

I've got 8 days, so I don't think I'll be making it to Oregon this time around. Hmm.. also, I'm leaving on the 6th so I'm missing it in any case. Thanks for the suggestion, though!

 

From Winnipeg West till about Calgary is about the same as ND/SD/KS/NE. Just the markings on the roads are different and Canada generally has lower speed limits than the U.S. too.

 

This is true.

The speed limit on the Trans-Canada Highway west of Winnipeg is mostly 110 km/h (68 mph) however police are few and they seem to tolerate speeds of up to 125 km/h (78 mph). There are also very few places where you have to slow down. Still, it is mind-numbingly boring.

You could take the TCH from Winnipeg to Medicine Hat (650 miles) and knock that off quickly, then take Highway 3 to Creston and then head north towards Kaslo etc, as others have suggested.

Haynes

 

I agree the Icefields Parkway between Jasper and Banff is not to be missed - just did that last month. Not much of a technical ride and lots of RV traffic, but the scenery is top notch. Lake Louise was a madhouse, but you can ignore the "parking lot full" signs when you get there - they'll steer you to an RV lot that has plenty of room for bikes.

Not sure how far west you are planning to go, but the Stewart/Hyder area is very cool, and the Stewart/Cassiar Highway was great for riding and wildlife encounters (bear, fox mostly, also saw one moose). I also recommend, if you are doing the Alaska Highway, taking a side trip down to Atlin, BC. It's about an hour off the AlCan, but just a beautiful town on the largest natural lake in BC, with snow-capped mountains all around.

Regarding speeds since that was mentioned, I regularly rode at pretty high speeds (for me) while in BC and Yukon (regularly cruising at 140+kph) and even came across a few cops coming the other way while going well in excess of the speed limit and did not get pulled over or even get a flash from them. YMMV of course and it's important to remember that they have the authority to impound your bike if they see fit and your speeds are high enough. My philosophy is generally to not be the fastest vehicle on the road. Find some sucker in a hurry and shadow them from 1km back, which is easy to do out there with all the long, straight stretches.

 

Hi Charles. I live near Calgary, 70 Mins from Banff, and Banff is very nice, but it's basically your doorway to the Rockies. There's a couple of rides you can do. 1. You can go south from Calgary on Hwy 22 to a town called Longview (where the best beef jerky in the universe is made), and from there you turn west. This eventually turns north and takes you through Kananaskis Country to the Trans Canada Highway that will bring you (east) back to Calgary. That section is pretty darn nice. Round trip from Calgary is about 400kms. 2. Another ride we do is what we call the Golden Triangle. From Calgary we go west on the Trans Canada Highway to Golden, BC, Then south on HWY 95 to a town called Radium, and then North on HWY 93 which brings you back to the Trans Canada Highway, and then east back to Calgary. This is about 700kms. Always a good chance of seeing bears along this stretch. Lastly, you can go straight west from Calgary on the Trans Canada Highway and go north on Highway 93 to the Columbia Icefields. This is the largest glacial ice field in North America. The color of the river and the height of the mountains you will pass by will knock your socks off. From Calgary, this is about a 750 roundtrip km ride. Just an FYI, the Trans Canada Highway is the same as the same as highway No 1 if you're looking at a map. Hope this helps. email me at austmike@telus.net if I can be of further assisyance. Mike

 

Thanks for the guidance, everyone! I'm pulling out an atlas and adding highlights to the maps this weekend.

 

UPDATE: I'm almost home now. I'll make a detailed post later, but I basically took 3 across the bottom of Alberta/BC, then scootched up through Kamloops to Jasper (WOW 3 was great and the ride up to Kamloops/Jasper was very pretty despite the occasional rainshower), then down through Icefalls Pkwy, and then 93 down to Missoula, MT and now headed east to Minneapolis. Losing my wallet in Kalispell, MT kind of slowed me down for a bit but I'm coping. Attached is the route I planned (and then took) from Castlegar to Valemount - one of my longer days. Nice wiggly lines, right?