Road trip to Calgary.

[WarDog]

Thinking about a road trip from Vancouver to Calgary to visit a few of Calgary's Saltwater sights. Never driven it before, how long does the drive take?

[sirruckus]

dry weather at night -9 hours depending how you drive

where you might encounter snow, and go during the day with lots of traffic..... 12 plus hours

not including any stops of course

[mike31154]

Might want to plan on making it a two day trip. Once you leave the coast, you've got some passes to surmount & there's snow up there. Make sure you have winter tires and chains. There's a possibility that a friendly officer could have you turn back if they stop you & you're not so equipped. Even if they don't, for your own safety, have winters mounted, even if you do carry chains.

http://images.drivebc.ca/bchighwayca...l/www/101.html

With good road conditions it usually takes me 6 hours minimum to get from Vernon to either Kimberley or Vancouver. That's about half the distance you're going and you're going to see some nasty weather on some lonely roads. And you're losing an hour on the way east crossing a time zone.

[Magickiwi]

I've never even owned tire chains and I've never had a single issue with getting over the Croq. Truth told I've never even owned snow tires either and I ain't exactly a city boy. But S. Alberta doesn't get the crazy snow that places like Hope and Vernon get...

[mike31154]

Not sure what the current laws are for winter driving in Alberta, they vary across the country & places like Yukon & Nunavut actually don't care. On the other hand Quebec has legislation requiring all vehicles licensed there to switch to winter tires.

In any case, it's your neck & any passengers riding with you. A couple of years ago I ended up in the ditch even with winter tires south of Golden. It was snowing on Rogers Pass, as I came down into Golden it turned into torrential rain & an hour south of Golden the wet rainy road turned into a sheet of ice. I didn't have the vehicle in 4x4 & the ice caught me off guard on a straight stretch of road. Lucky there was no traffic, although shortly after I ended up in the ditch on the opposite side of the road, a semi came over a rise from the other direction. Stopped & said he'd like to help out but couldn't. A few minutes later a dude named Dave saved me a big towing bill by yanking me out of the ditch.

http://www.th.gov.bc.ca/SeasonalDriv...er_chains.html

[Myanth]

Porbably looking at more than 9 hours - I'd say 11 -12 is what it usually takes me, and that's running speed limit + a bit. Calgary has lots of good salt water, but make sure you get a frag pack from Coral Master. Greg's stuff is incredible.

[WarDog]

Thanks for all the great info... maybe I will wait until next summer!

[mike31154]

Fly. Get you there in no time. Don't need winter tires. Rent a car when you get there. Cost will probably be not that far off the price of fuel & hours of driving the round trip.