Road trip from Vancouver to Calgary in Jan

Vancouver, Canada
1 post
Road trip from Vancouver to Calgary in Jan
Save

I have plans to go by road from Vancouver to Calgary in the first week of Jan'11. How would be the road conditions during that time?

Is it too risky to go by road during Winter?

Jasper, Canada
Destination Expert
for Jasper, Jasper National Park, Canadian Rockies
Level Contributor
26,797 posts
125 reviews
187 helpful votes
1. Re: Road trip from Vancouver to Calgary in Jan
Save

Welcome to TripAdvisor!

Here is a similar recent thread on this very topic: http://www.tripadvisor.ca/ShowTopic-g659487-i11598-k4080781-Drive_to_Banff_from_Whistler_in_early_March-Canadian_Rockies_Alberta.html

Cranbrook, Canada
Level Contributor
1,924 posts
8 reviews
11 helpful votes
2. Re: Road trip from Vancouver to Calgary in Jan
Save

The short answer is "don't do it." Fly to Calgary instead. I live in the southeast corner of BC (4-1/2 hrs from Calgary, 11 hrs from Vanc) and will not drive to Vanc from Thanksgiving (early Oct) to Easter (March-April). One look at the webcams on the Drive BC site (http://www.drivebc.ca/map.jsp?mapId=0&scale=5000000&showAll=true&x=336&y=315) will explain why!

Vancouver, Canada
Level Contributor
5,620 posts
71 reviews
67 helpful votes
3. Re: Road trip from Vancouver to Calgary in Jan
Save

Forget looking at weather reports from vancouver...3 hours out of vancouver through the pass experienced truckers with chains are jack knifing... dangerous.

Vancouver
Level Contributor
4,739 posts
24 reviews
51 helpful votes
4. Re: Road trip from Vancouver to Calgary in Jan
Save

yes...dont do it.

ive grown up in the coast mountains so i know what winter driving is. ive done that route so many times in my car that had 4 good winter tires and each time was an experience:

you get to experience wonderful avalanches close up, which usually result in 3-6 hour delays while you sit in your car.

you get to experience driving in 1 foot of snow, or driving on black ice.

you get to experience driving for long stretches at 30 km/h, while the semi trucks are going 90 km/h

you get to experience the road sand (actually its almost more like gravel) that, when being passed by that semi truck driving 90 km/hr, leaves the paint on your car totally pitted.

you get to experience how a 7.5 hour road trip turns into a 15 hour trip.

you get to experience what highway collisions look like.

generally there are 5 sections of road on this trip that you have to be aware of....

- hope to the old toll booth area (summit of coquihalla pass)...this is the long climb where lots of accidents happen as the weather changes very quickly and you will soon encounter heavy snow conditions.

- kamloops to salmon arm is generally ok to drive but can have black ice.

- salmon arm to revelstoke can be tricky closer you get to revelstoke. between three valley gap area to revelstoke can be difficult.

- revelstoke to golden...lots of snow, going through rogers pass. spent many an hour sitting in my car on more than one occassion in this section waiting for the avalanches to be cleared.

- golden to lake louise has lots of black ice and the twistiest roads. plus its at the end of your day of driving so its dark and youre tired...in my mind this is the worst section.

did i already suggest dont do it?

Jasper, Canada
Destination Expert
for Jasper, Jasper National Park, Canadian Rockies
Level Contributor
26,797 posts
125 reviews
187 helpful votes
5. Re: Road trip from Vancouver to Calgary in Jan
Save

I think CDL was probably talking in general terms about winter driving, about a 7.5 hour drive turning into 15 hours, but I wanted to clarify that Vancouver to Calgary is about a 12 hour drive (according to mapquest.com and maps.google.com ) - in summer conditions. Don't forget that in January, there is only about 7 hours of daylight.

Vancouver, Canada
Level Contributor
5,620 posts
71 reviews
67 helpful votes
6. Re: Road trip from Vancouver to Calgary in Jan
Save

I drove a toyota sienna van with snow tires to sun peaks resort from vancouver 3 years ago with a fam of 4... never again.. as the last poster said... I planned on a 5 hour road trip and it was more like 9 or 10 hours. Saw about 3 cars off the road waiting for help.

Vancouver
Level Contributor
4,739 posts
24 reviews
51 helpful votes
7. Re: Road trip from Vancouver to Calgary in Jan
Save

ya in summer ive done the drive many times in 7.5-8.0 hrs, while in winter anywhere from 8 hrs to 18 hrs. many people have posted (not on here) about doing it in 5 hrs but i dont see how that is even remotely possible unless you have wings. but its no where near 12 hours in summer unless youre doing 60-70km/h all the way and stop at every scenic vista along the way.

and agreed that the reduced amount of daylight is a huge factor as its dark and youre tired by the time you hit the section between revelstoke-golden-lake louise, which is the worst part of the drive.

8. Re: Road trip from Vancouver to Calgary in Jan

-:- Message from Tripadvisor staff -:-

Tripadvisor staff removed this post at the original author's request.

To review the Tripadvisor Forums Posting Guidelines, please follow this link: http://www.tripadvisor.com/pages/forums_posting_guidelines.html

We remove posts that do not follow our posting guidelines, and we reserve the right to remove any post for any reason.

Removed on: 3:21 am, October 18, 2019
Vancouver, Canada
Level Contributor
5,620 posts
71 reviews
67 helpful votes
9. Re: Road trip from Vancouver to Calgary in Jan
Save

van to calgary in7.5 rofl. fasten that seatbelt? isnt 13 hours the norm?

10. Re: Road trip from Vancouver to Calgary in Jan

-:- Message from Tripadvisor staff -:-

This post has been removed at the author's request. The author may repost if desired.

Posts on the Tripadvisor forums may be edited for a short period of time. Once the edit period has expired, authors may update their posts by removing and reposting them.

To read more about editing your posts, please follow this link: http://www.tripadvisor.com/help/how_to_edit_your_posts

Removed on: 2:57 am, December 12, 2010
Get answers to your questions about Vancouver
CA$CAD
United States
© 2021 TripAdvisor LLC All rights reserved.

This is the version of our website addressed to speakers of English in the United States. If you are a resident of another country or region, please select the appropriate version of Tripadvisor for your country or region in the drop-down menu.