Anyone with Alberta highway knowledge?

[fluffy]

I'm tasked with moving a vehicle from Fort McMurray to Phoenix next month, so it sounds like a good chance for a road trip with someone else paying for the gas. Most of what we want to spend time looking at starts once we hit southern Utah so the plan is to put in a couple of long days to start. I've been told that getting off the main route at Lac La Biche and heading due south on the Veterans Memorial Highway that goes down through Taber and Brooks can shave an hour or two off the trip compared to the traditional route through Edmonton, Calgary and Lethbridge. Can anyone confirm or dispute this?

[xjeepguy]

Done the Brooks to Ft Mac on 36 and also on 56 through Camrose , Stettler etc.. If you have decent weather and aren't in a blizzard 36 is a good choice . Either IMO are better then going through Edm etc..

[xjeepguy]

Oh ya , if you go near Camrose , Tripolis Tasty Choice restaurant by the 7/11 , best freakin pizza / Donairs around ;)

[fluffy]

It's not going to happen until the last week of April so I'm hoping weather won't be an issue. Other than it being too hot at the other end of course.

[Bsuds]

try Google maps and you can move the route around to see the differences in travel time.

[xjeepguy]

You'll be fine then , thats a great road trip with nice weather . When I've been that way , ya can't help drool at the farms full of old classic cars laying there sunning themselves.

[fluffy]

I plugged Ft. McMurray and Coutts, the border crossing into Yahoo maps and the route in question came up.

[fluffy]

If you have decent weather and aren't in a blizzard 36 is a good choice .

Yes, 36 is the one I've been eyeballing. Starts in Lac La Biche and heads pretty much due south, joining Highway 4 about 30 or 40 kms shy of the border.

[DeepEnd]

We have driven across Coutts from Calgary and its a super highway compared to anything in Canada. We swung over to Boise and Sun Valley then down through Twin Falls to go south to California and Arizona. First night out was Boise, second night out was Reno, third was Phoenix then LA.

Brooks would get you to Taber and then to Milk River/Coutts and you're home free.

Watch out for snow anywhere. We went third week of May and hit pocket snowstorms in Idaho and Utah and Nevada.

Drive safe and have a great time!

[Relentless]

I've been told that getting off the main route at Lac La Biche and heading due south on the Veterans Memorial Highway that goes down through Taber and Brooks can shave an hour or two off the trip compared to the traditional route through Edmonton, Calgary and Lethbridge. Can anyone confirm or dispute this?

Seeing as how I lived in Alberta for many years and have travelled most of the highways, I can tell you this..
Going around Edmonton is not bad at all, it takes 15 minutes to scoot around Edmonton, and you do so at 60-80 kms/hr.
The number 2 highway south is 3 lanes each way and you travel at 110 kms/hr, it turns into 2 lanes each way south of Edmonton, but you can cover your route to the States border faster, just by staying on the #2 Highway.
I'd be willing to bet that you will spend at least 2 hrs longer driving south on the #36 because you are going to be behind every farmer from every community, and is single lane each way.
Edmonton to the US border usually took me 5 hrs 45 minutes on the #2.
Personally, I would recommend going south on highway 2 from Edmonton, via highway 28 south of Fort Mac, but that's me!

[Relentless]

https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=Fort+McMu ... CAcQ_AUoAg

Google maps route

[damuffin65]

My husband drives from Coaldale to FMM frequently and he takes 36 from Taber to Lac La Biche then over to 881 as opposed to Hwy 63. I go to Sherwood Park frequently and I take 23/24 which by-passes Calgary and comes right into Sherwood Park.

On occasion he has come down Hwy 2 from Edmonton to Fort McLeod, then 3 to Lethbridge - travel time was within 15 minutes to 1/2 an hour.

I prefer the scenic hwy over the QE-indy route and since the time is close to the same for me it is way less stressful.

[rustled]

Whatcha gonna see in Utah/Arizona? [insert jealous smiley here]

[damuffin65]

I neglected to mention that it takes my Hubby 10 hrs +/- 5-10 minutes from the Shell in Gregoire (FMM) to Hwy 3 in Taber that is with 2 very quick fuel/pee stops. You can take Hwy 36 south to Hwy 4 which gets then takes you to the Coutts border crossing - did a mapquest search and it is 289 from Taber to Great Falls Montana

[fluffy]

Whatcha gonna see in Utah/Arizona? [insert jealous smiley here]

Looking to push fairly hard until we get to the canyon lands / Navajo Nation areas of southern Utah and northern Arizona where we'll pull back on the throttle and dawdle from there. Arches National Park, Monument Valley, Painted Desert, hit a trading post or three, maybe overnight in Sedona. And some shopping in the Phoenix area. We have a place to stay in Mesa which is home to one mother of a huge swap meet (Yankee for "flea market"). If time permits we'll do an over-nighter to Las Vegas. We've only got a ten day window to fill so we're deliberately leaving plans loose, we have a list of things that would be nice to do, but only a short list of "for sure we gotta do this".