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I want to take a hitch-hiking trip through and around Canada, starting in Alaska. I want to travel through all the provinces and territories. Obviously it will happen in the summertime.
Would it feasable to do this by traveling via the Alaska highway, the Klondike highway, and the Dempster, to the trans-canadian, west to east, without backtracking? Is that a relatively straightforward idea?
You'll miss a good chunk of the best parts of BC (Vancouver Island, Vancouver, Sea to Sky Highway, the Okanagan Valley, the Kootenays) by travelling that route. BC is by far the most diverse province in terms of ecosystems, geography, and climate zones, so it would be shame to completely bypass that diversity.
Yeah, the idea is to go down, from the yukon, through BC on east to Quebec..
Maybe eliminate the dempsey: Alaska, to Klondike, to trans-canadian? I am just trying to do it the most straightforward way, west to east, with no backtracking.
The Trans-Canada is one highway, but it's not thee highway... if you understand what I mean. It's not necessarily the most scenic - there are some other highways that parallel the Trans-Canada that you could consider, at least for parts of your journey.
There are a variety of different routes you could take west-east through BC. And keep in mind, BC is larger than the states of California, Oregon, and Washington combined - most of it's mountainous, so the driving is slower and you have a LOT of space to cover.
I'm thinking, on your way down from Alaska, take the Cariboo Highway south from Prince George and then head to Lilloett so you can take Hwy 99 "aka: the Sea to Sky Highway" south to Whistler, take a ferry over to Vancouver Island and spend a few days in and around Tofino.
From Tofino drive down the island to Victoria, spend a night or two, then ferry back over to Vancouver and spend a few nights (2-3 ideally).
Then from Vancouver head east via the Trans Canada for 2 hours until you get to the town of Hope, where you can take Hwy 3 "the Crowsnest" east until you get to the Okanagan Valley (Osoyoos). This is Canada's only desert. Spend a night (or more if you like touring wineries). Then head north from Osoyoos along Hwy 97 and spend a few nights in and around the Okanagan Valley (Kelowna, Penticton, etc) and head north to Salmon Arm/Sicamous. It's there where you hook back up with Hwy 1 (Trans-Canada), where you can head east toward the BC Rockies... to Revelstoke, Golden and then cross into Alberta and visit Lake Louise and Banff and spend a few nights there. Then drive north along the Icefields Parkway (one of the world's most beautiful drives) and spend a night or two in Jasper. Then drive east to Edmonton. Where you go next after Edmonton is entirely up to you.
That would be how I'd do it. Otherwise? Otherwise you miss the best parts of BC and the most dramatic scenery the country has to offer.
There are two Trans-Canada routes in northern Ontario, and the southern route (Highway 17) is the more scenic of the two and hugs Lake Superior in many stretches. Once the 17 reaches the outskirts of Ottawa, it becomes a freeway route (Highway 417) and is less scenic.
The Trans-Canada is then an unscenic freeway for most of its length from the western outskirts of Ottawa and most the way across Quebec to Rivière-du-Loup (routes 417-40-25-20). This is a distance of almost 700 km or more.
More scenic routes in this area would follow the shores of the Ottawa and St. Lawrence (St-Laurent) rivers more closely, either via Quebec route 148 or the old Ontario highway 17 east of Ottawa that is now county road 17 between Rockland and Hawkesbury for the Ottawa River, and Quebec routes 138 (north shore) or 132 (south shore) for the St. Lawrence.
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