5 of the Coolest Canadian Road Trips, Eh?

Photo Daniel Byrne

Canada has more than a million kilometres of roads to navigate. To says it’s a big country would be a massive understatement, and the driving adventures to be had are also on a very substantial scale.

Let’s mountie up and take a look at five moose-drive road trips in the northern nation.

Dempster Highway

Photo Daniel Byrne

We begin with perhaps the coolest of all Canadian routes – the Dempster Highway. Leading from Dawson in the Yukon almost 300 miles further north into the Arctic Circle the road is best known for its starring role in TV’s Ice Road Truckers. “This is a place where you’ll round a bend and be smacked in the face with a mountainous big-sky vista of limitless proportion, a white-coated wonderland looking like a Hollywood set imagined up by the likes of Tim Burton,” says Detour’s Gavin Conway. Discover more.

Sea to Sky Highway

Photo Tom Winckels / Unsplash

Linking the Pacific Ocean at Vancouver with the Rockies resort of Whistler the Sea to Sky Highway is a stunning 100-mile drive. Passing fjords and waterfalls as it ascends the route is “Nothing short of magic,” says Nik Berg. “Through its 100 miles of gradual climbing, its flowing curves, sensational vistas and a couple of fabulous pit stops it turned a drive in a dreary Hyundai hire car into one of my most memorable experiences.” Discover more.

Cabot Trail

Photo Brandon Sehl / Unsplash

Almost 4,000 miles away on the Atlantic coast of Canada sits Cape Breton Island and its bewitching Cabot Trail. In just 300 miles you’ll encounter an ever-changing topography, taking in beautiful sandy beaches, forest, “Mountain passes that twist crazily like strands of spaghetti flung at a wall and a culture that takes in Mi’kmaq native Canadian, French and Scottish influences.” Discover more.

Icefields Parkway

Photo Floris Seigers / Unsplash

Another well-travelled winter sports route is the Icefields Parkway running 145 miles between Lake Louise and Jasper. This road through the Rockies is a humbling experience reckons Kaya Lemaire. “The expansive quality to the Canadian Rockies pitches most aspects of this human experience into minute, ant-like insignificance. Even standing tall in the presence of these ancient, rocky giants you still feel…pretty small.” Discover more.

Lake Superior Circle

Photo Shutterstock

The world’s largest freshwater is part of the natural border between Canada and the USA, so a 1,300-mile long lap will take you through three US states as well as Ontario. Beyond the breathtaking scenery there’s the opportunity to stargaze into dark skies, seek out shipwrecks and other treasures on a road trip that will certainly become a precious memory. Discover more.

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