Anyone with Alberta highway knowledge?

[rustled]

Cool.

We tent that area; forest campgrounds are the least expensive ($0-$6-$10 range). Lots of daylight after supper at this time of year, so plenty of time to set up camp. In towns, camp cabins are an affordable alternative if it's raining or if you just need a real bed. (We stayed in one at Moab a few years ago because there was a foot of mud washing through; figured it was best to be up off the ground for that.) Just watch the altitude if you're tenting; hot days, cold nights on the high desert plateaus, even mid-July.

Because we're flexible, too (we have to be; weather) people are always telling us where to go. Like Jerome! Guy unloading the Budweiser truck in Sedona told us to go there. If you like winding roads, and you can afford the time, consider going from Sedona to Phoenix via Prescott Valley; Jerome's a tiny old mining community way up there, clinging to the side of the mountain. (Montezuma Castle, just south of Sedona, is one of the most easily accessed cliff dwellings. If you want to see that, you could drop down from Sedona on 179, then head back up the 260 toward Cottonwood and on to Jerome...)

There's so much to see in southern Utah/Arizona/Four Corners, I think I'd leave Vegas for a fly-in, fly-out some other time...

Enjoy your trip. Sorry to derail...

Alberta highways. Lots of long straight stretches for passing, so we've never found we've been held up on the secondaries.

[V-Rated]

Sounds like an awesome opportunity and adventure/experience gifted your way! Enjoy and will want to hear about the trip!
V!

[ddiiaanne]

Highway 36 is a pretty much a straight stretch of road from Brooks to Lac La Biche. Less traffic and is the fastest route from that southern area.

From Lac La Biche, it's 3.5 hrs to Fort McMurray.

[fluffy]

I've had that thought confirmed by a few Alberta residents, that for a trip from McMurray to the border Hwy 36 will result in a net savings in time spent driving even though the speed limits are lower.