As a flatlander (from Winterpeg) who likes heading west every summer to see the mountains, next summer I was thinking of maybe riding out to Edmonton and heading south thru the foothills, on as much good gravel as possible, camping along the way. Would like to start near Hinton or Edson and cut my way all the way down to Waterton at the border. I've got a KLR sidecar rig: http://advrider.com/forums/showpost.php?p=19281665&postcount=1 Got a buddy of mine that'll likely buy a dualsport too that may join me. Must be some pretty awesome scenery in them thar hills Must be some good threads with RRinfo/pics?
Thanks Jason. We did Hwy 40 thru Kananaskis last year - spectacular! Highwood pass was especially cool... we stuck to pavement... the gravel road down to Coleman looks pretty tempting. What's that like?
Can ride a Gold Wing down that gravel road 940. Nice ride all the way. Gets really twisty at the south end just before Coleman.
Had the opportunity to travel on secondary highway 520 from Claresholm to Highway 22 this fall. Nice views on the west end and you get to ride through the ranch lands in the foothills. About 10 kms of the road west of Claresholm is paved. As I was riding through this area I noticed a side road called Skyline Road, which I didn't take due to commitments later in the day. Checking Google maps when I got home, I should have taken it. Its hows up as Township Road 111A &112A, off SH520. As others have mentioned camping along the road, using the meadows or other opening in the forest is a very common practice. Not sure who is using the Forest Services campsites when there are many free sites along the way. I driven the FTR a couple of times, I'm amazed by the diversity of the scenery from Edson south to Coleman. grump
If I may, be careful with Google Maps and even Google Earth. There are inaccuracies such as roads that do not exist or do not connect. Backroads Map Books are really good.
GP640, very good point on checking other sources for road information rather than relying solely on Google sources. Skyline Road does show up in the Backroad publications and there was big blue road direction sign ( I think it was blue) identifying the start and end of the loop. Not sure if it is a MD of Ranchlands sign or was some other gov't agency signage. grump
Living in MB, it might be a bit difficult to find & buy the backroad map book here, but I've got a buddy in Edmonchuck that can pick one up for me... wouldn't do the trip without it. Great tips/advice guys... keep 'em coming! Mucho appreciated. One question I'm almost reluctant to throw out there... any of you have any trouble with bears while camping in the foothills (understood taking proper steps to keep food stored away from the tent).
I know the statistics are good, in that bear encounters are rare, but I'm always a bit worried (to the point I don't sleep well) if I camp in the Rockies away from a public campground. Saw a big cinnamon bear ambling along beside the road just south of Jasper on 1A in late July... the thing didn't even blink when we rode on by.
order the Backroad mapbooks on line at http://www.backroadmapbooks.com/main/index.html Almost like looking through the Sears wish book, grump
A really nice option would be to continue south from Coleman down the Flathead Valley. You can ride to the border but the crossing is closed and you have to head over to Yahk to cross. Amazng country and worth the trip IMO. South to Libby MT and across Logan's Pass from the southwest (Glacier NP is the USA side of Waterton Glacier International Park) to Waterton.
This is the local playground for people out of Calgary...lots of forest roads and nice backcountry. The Forest Trunk Road as its called. It was pretty dusty on a Sunday with all the RV traffic coming out of the boonies after we went in a ways, the traffic thinned out. The scenery got better too. The photos are from north of Cochrane to the hwy 11 , a very nice gravel road.
Yeah, nice to be able to get to high ground within cell phone range to call in. Don't get me going about cell phone coverage... I'm with Rogers, and their coverage away from TC-1 is pathetic. Consistently my buddy Reg gets coverage in some pretty remote areas, and I get NO SIGNAL! Still looking for the Rockies Backroad Mapbook - even MEC here in Wpg didn't have it!
http://www.graveltravel.ca/index.ph...e&id=74:forestry-trunk-road&catid=1&Itemid=19 This gets me going! Anyone got more pics... and/or suggestions of where to camp along the route?
Keeping an eye on this thread... I turn 40 next year and the wife has authorized (maybe I just dreamed that part) a fly+ride or a week-long ride, depending on how the bank accounts look. So, either South to ride a bike home, or taking the KLR to the Mountains or a loop of Superior.