Moving from Quebec to the west coast and driving from Quebec City to Vancouver from the 22nd to the 28th. We don’t have a huge amount of time for stops, and we definitely want to hit up the Royal Tyrrell museum in Drumheller.
What would you folks suggest as must-see stops along the way? Campsites, lunch stops, places we could spend fifteen minutes or an hour along the way? We’ll be visiting a few friends in Winnipeg and either Calgary or Edmonton; there’s only about an 80km difference between hitting Ottawa (which my daughter has never seen) vs Abitibi (which neither of us has visited). My current thought is to drive hard at the beginning to get through Ontario and the prairies, and take it a bit slower through the west since there’s so much natural beauty to see.
Thanks in advance for ideas!
Try to find more scenic rest areas along the way if you can. Taking a 5 minute detour to hit a picnic area for lunch with a nice view and space to burn off some energy is nice on longer trips and will help make it feel more like an adventure.
Great idea, thanks!
The Royal Tyrell is a great stop, I remember going there when I was about that age to visit my great grandmother. The Alberta badlands in general are neat, worth stoping by some hoodoos or other similar formations if you get the chance.
As far as other stuff goes:
The Fraser River and Hell’s Gate in particular is worth a stop, when you get to BC. (Also a good menory from that trip.)
And while (as an Ontarian) I fully understand the desire to drive though the province as fast as possible, there are lots of great scenic spots in the western half of the province, along Huron and Superior. (As you get into the Sudbury>Thunder Bay stretch, in particular.) There are also some beautiful spots more in my neck of the woods (Thunder Bay>Manitoba border stretch) but by and large those are further from the highway and more of a trek to visit. :P
Ooh, thanks! I’ve only ever been through NW Ontario on a bus (and a brief Westjet milk run stop in Thunder Bay). Any particular areas you’d recommend, maybe for a night of camping within a day’s drive of Winnipeg?
Are you going through Toronto or taking the 417 around it? If you’re going through TO, hit the Science Centre. It may be your last chance to see it before Ford destroys it - he wants to tear it down and build a smaller version on the waterfront. And there’s also the Big Apple which is a fun little pie-shop with a giant apple-painted water-tower in Colbourne. But that route would only make sense if you’re going through the USA until like Manitoba or Saskatchewan (in that case: Milennium Park in Chicago, London Children’s Museum in Fake London, and Pinery Provincial Park for the best freshwater beach in Canada).
If you’re taking the 417 and going North through Ontario, I strongly recommend Science North in Sudbury, which is an amazing science museum your kid will love. There’s also the Big Nickel there which is a nickel mine converted into a museum of mining, if you’ve ever wanted to go down into a mine.
For camping near Sudbury, I recommend Killarney Provincial Park. It’s an amazing landscape like nowhere else I’ve ever been, since it’s so rocky - all the foliage like pine trees and wild blueberry bushes are growing out of cracks in rock. Nothing like sliding down giant rocks into the water for a swim. In the Ottawa Valley, Bon Echo park is similarly beautiful rocky landscape. Both these sites were the subject of various paintings by the Group of Seven. Bon Echo is an excellent “my first time in a canoe” camping trip because there’s a very short canoe-across-the-lake then hike up to the top of Bon Echo Rock for a nice little bite-sized adventure to an amazing view. But both of these provincial parks may already be fully booked up.
Most of these are afternoon activities, not little “20 minute stops”. Honestly, I’d think hard about changing your plans to buy yourself more time if it’s at all possible. I mean, when are you ever going to be back in Sudbury if you’re moving to Vancouver? You might see Toronto again one day, or Montreal, or Ottawa. But you ain’t ever going back to Sudbury, and it’s worth a day or two.
Thanks for this! We’re definitely giving Toronto a miss, going down there would add a good 10 hours to the drive (we’re going through Canada, not the states). We’re on the fence about going through Ottawa or crossing the border up near Royn/Temiskaming which would take us way north of Sudbury. My childhood friend who lives in Ottawa just got back to me that he’ll be out of town when where there, and I do know some people in Royn. But you do make a good point about enjoying the Canadian Shield while we can. We can’t draw the trip out too much because the Mrs is flying with the baby and I don’t want to leave her single parenting for too long. But we have left a couple days for sightseeing; Vancouver actually isn’t our final destination, but I have family there so we’ll stop in and spend a day with them.
If you do go up by Témiskaming, you might check out Parc National d’Opémican, which is an old lumber site with historic buildings. It’s just outside of the town. There isn’t a huge amount there, but it’s all brand new and makes a decent place to stop, take in the lake, and get out to move around a bit.
Neat, thanks!
Ah, right, I hadn’t even thought about going that way around - that’s way north of the parts of Ontario I know. But it makes sense - that’s also part of the Trans Canada, and it’s probably closer to as-the-crow-flies.
Yeah, it’s only about 80km shorter than going through Ottawa, so it’s pretty close either way, but I guess we’d be less likely to hit traffic up north than in the Capital :)
That museum is great, and Drumheller itself can be fun to stop at and look around. Make sure you grab food before the museum as it can take awhile (you can also pre-order tickets/slots which can help with the line).
If you’re going up to Edmonton, there’s plenty of stuff at West-Ed Mall. My kids loved the water-park+slides and the Lego store. There’s also an amusement park with rides
Yes, I was thinking of that, I went a couple times back in high school. It’ll mostly depend on if we hit Edmonton or Calgary, but I’m sure the kiddo would love it.
Up to Edmonton is the long way round. I’d stick to the southern routes.
Either way, going through Winnipeg, it’s worthwhile to hit the Manitoba Museum (natural history) and historic sites of the Red River settlement (The Forks, Riel House) but the favourite with the kids will likely be the Assiniboine Park Zoo.
In Alberta, Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump is another site that your kids will cover in school, so it’s worth taking in.
Banff and Jasper are options, but the old far southern route through the Crowsnest pass offers other interesting sites, including the Frank Slide. Given the current fire, I can see avoiding that and Osoyoos, but otherwise the chance to see real desert in Canada, including rattlesnakes and scorpions in the Nk’Mip interpretation centre, is something kids find fascinating.
Awesome, thank you so much!
I’ve done the drive from Calgary to Toronto a number of times, one place I try to stop at every time is Kakabeka Falls, just outside of Thunder Bay. It’s a beautiful waterfall with nice facilities right off the highway and it tends not to be super busy. Conveniently placed right around where I usually am ready for a chance to walk around without needing to hike for 20 minutes to get to actually see the falls.
It’s been a very long time since I was there, but there’s also the Saskatchewan Science Centre in Regina. I remember enjoying it as a kid, but that was almost 25 years ago, so it may have declined. Science centre are usually a great place to visit though, so it’s probably a safe bet
This is exactly the sort of suggestion I’m looking for, thanks! I’ll put it on the itinerary!
The Canadian War Museum in Ottawa is impressive and would likely interest both you and your son
Daughter actually, but thanks for the suggestion!
As someone who’s spent most of their life in Toronto, I’m grateful to have learned a lot of really cool things in other parts of our country from reading this thread - thanks all ☺️
There’s always fun stuff in Banff and Jasper. Maybe a stop on the glacier?
That’s going to be a hard sell on this sort of timeline. The distance between Banff and Jasper alone is about 4-5 hours on the icefield (accounting for all the stops you will want to make). It’s the wrong way too, for someone heading to Vancouver, and a big drive around.
What I would do, personally, is stick to the program through the mountains. Maybe do the Tyrell museum and stay in Calgary that night. There’s lots to do in Calgary, might I suggest Winsports Downhill Karting (which you can also do in the evening). Then if you stay on the west side of Calgary, you can get away in the morning with good time. Maybe book a shuttle to Lake Louise/Moraine for that morning (do it now), because you cant drive up there anymore. Do that and try to get to Kelowna for that evening. Then it’s just a straight shot to Vancouver the next day.
Thanks! I didn’t realise you couldn’t drive up to lake Louise or Moirane lake any more… It’s been decades since I’ve been there and was hoping to make the stop. Thanks!
Well you can technically drive to Lake Louise still, but best of luck. If (if) you win the lottery, you get to pay to park (and it’s not cheap).
Hah!
The Aquarium on Vancouver’s Stanley Park is very kid-friendly and because it’s inside Stanley Park it’s two birds in one stone.
Thanks!
Reptile Gardens near Brandon, MB. Lots of cool creatures there, and only a 1-2 hour stop, so you don’t have to take a whole day to do like a zoo.
Nice, thanks!
I did the same distance, your time line is really tight, if you can extemd it I would. It took me 6 days travelling just at or below speed limit due to a trailer. First night i did campsite but I found setup and take down took so long that the rest of the stops I just slept in the van when tired rather than doing specific night stops. it will be lots of stops with a child. Some highway areas have nothing to stop at and so you will need to plan for these zones. Saskatchewan is boring as hell so hopefully you have car games etc for entertainment. Thunderbay has a Terry Fox historic site, which was a nice rest.
Thanks for this, I’ll see what I can do about the timeline. Thankfully my daughter travels really well, and yeah, we have games, an dramatised audio version of the chronicles of narnia, a Switch and phones with movies. It’ll definitely be a stretch but I think she’ll be ok. :)
Hopefully I didn’t come across as too negative, I enjoyed the trip, beautiful scenery in Thunderbay, Alberta and BC. Hwy 3 through BC is gorgeous, but slower than Highway 1. Fernie, a small town between BC and Alberta was super friendly people.
If you’re taking the Trans Canada up over Algonquin park, there’s the site of Canada’s first nuclear reaction, there’s a turnoff that overlooks the site with an informational plaque. I’ve stopped there a few times on the way to visit family and friends in North Bay.
Drinking myself to sleep every night.
It sounds like you’re going through a tough time, friend, my condolences - and a virtual hug. Humans generally find it very therapeutic to talk about what’s on their mind with someone they trust, so consider trying that. If you don’t have such people in your life (I don’t usually, so there’s no judgement there), perhaps find a relevant or mental health-related community where you can open up a bit (perhaps using a different account, if you prefer. May the drinks be optional versus necessary soon <3
Thanks for reaching out citizen. I do not have a drinking problem nor do I dislike children. The condition I do apparently suffer from though is having a sense of humour that only appeals to a very select few.
I don’t think I’ve ever been addressed as “citizen” before - that’s pretty funny :). I don’t necessarily think your sense of humour is that niche, but to translate well in this space (versus in real life, where you have facial expressions and prosody to indicate to others you’re joking), some consideration for Poe’s Law might help bring the laughs
