Im traveling from glacier np (US)to banff in july. i want to do a quick pass thru visit of waterton np before heading north toward banff. i'm thinking highway 22 toward banff after waterton,then get off at longview and take 40(closed in winter)up to 1then over to banff. does anyone have any feedback on route 40? is it beautiful and worth the time? how long should i expect it to take? i've travelled many high mountain roads so that doesnt worry me but is it the prettiest route on my way there?

>>>>>>does anyone have any feedback on route 40? is it beautiful and worth the time?<<<<<<

Yes. The Highwood Pass is one of my favourite views in the Canadian Rockies. It’s a good, paved road, and should pose no problems.

For others who may read this post, the Highwood Pass is closed until June 15th.

Shortly after you go over the Highwood Pass, you reach Upper and Lower Kananaskis Lakes. Just north of Kananaskis Lakes you have a choice. You can continue north on paved Hwy #40 till it reaches Hwy #1 where you turn west to Banff. If you do that, you’ll be traveling with the mountains just to the west of you.

Your other option is to turn northwest onto the unpaved Smith-Dorrien Road that takes you up into the mountains, past Spray Lake, and then down into the town of Canmore. At Canmore you would turn west onto Hwy #1 and proceed to Banff.

>>>>>>how long should i expect it to take?<<<<<<

If you drove north on Hwy 22, then turned left onto Route #541 at Longview (which would veer north and become Hwy #40 before the Highwood Pass), and finally turned left onto the TransCanada Highway (Hwy #1), the drive from Waterton to Banff would take roughly 5 hours, not counting stops.

If you drove the Smith-Dorrien Road, I think the driving time would be similar. You’d have to drive a bit more slowly on the unpaved Smith-Dorrien Road. On the other hand the Smith-Dorrien Road would shave some distance off the trip.

Here is a map of the Cowboy Trail (Hwy #22). Click on the map till it enlarges, and then scroll down till you can see the more southerly part of the route.

http://www.thecowboytrail.com/map.jpg

Here is a map that shows Kananaskis Country (Kananaskis Lakes and the countryside north of there):

http://www.kananaskisvalley.com/mapbg.html

Finally, here is a map that shows Peter Lougheed Provincial Park and the Smith-Dorrien Road in still more detail:

http://www.cd.gov.ab.ca/enjoying_alb...fs/PLPPMap.pdf

At Longview it would be possible to continue north on Hwy #22 through Black Diamond, Turner Valley and Bragg Creek. Hwy #22 eventually would meet Hwy #1, and you would turn west to Banff. However, the limitation of that route is that you would not get the same view of the mountains as you travelled north from Bragg Creek, and you would miss the beautiful drive through the Highwood Pass.

From Waterton it would be possible to drive north to Calgary on the 4-lane, divided Hwy #2. Once you reached Calgary you could turn west onto Hwy #1 and continue to Banff. That would be the least attractive route. Hwy #2 would take you across the flat prairies rather than the rolling foothills of Hwy #22. You also would run into city traffic when you reached Calgary, and there's no need to put yourself through that.

Highway 40 is the highest paved road in Alberta and leads you through some of the most jagged peaks of the Canadian Rockies. I have driven that route several times myself, including last summer on my way to Waterton.

I think it is your best option. Highway 22 is within view of the first line of peaks in the Rockies, but it is out in the rolling flat areas.

Although traffic has increased on that road since I first drove it, it is still a good two lane highway.

The tricky part comes after you turn east toward Pincher Creek on Highway 3. Watch carefully for the turn south into Pincher Creek itself and on to Waterton.

OOPS. You will be coming the opposite way. After you drive north through Pincher Creek, you will turn west on Highway 3. After a few kilometers you will pass through the small town of Lundbreck. A short distance west of Lundbreck, Route 22 goes north.

If you want a quick view in Waterton, your best bet is to drive up to the Prince of Wales Hotel and look south along the lake. It is a very pretty sight. Cameron Falls are accessible from the Waterton town site as well.

Other than that, there is not much to see in Waterton itself. There are spur roads out to Cameron Lake and Red Rock Canyon. Cameron Lake is pretty and Red Rock Canyon gets its name from the formation of red argillite through which the creek flows.


The geologic formations in Waterton are some of the oldest rocks that have not been turned into metamorphic forms because of heat and pressure over geologic time. The rocks you see at Cameron Falls and in Red Rock Canyon are anywhere from 1.2 to 1.5 million years old and predate life with bones.

As you drive north toward the border, you will pass by Chief Mountain, which is something of an oddity because it is a chunk of rocks in the million year old class sitting on top of Cretacious rocks that are much, much younger.

The question of course is how did they get there? The answer to that question is the story of the formation of the Canadian Rockies.

Just an added note, if you want to drive an extra 10 minutes west on Hwy 3 (after the hwy22 turnoff) it is worth the time to have a look at the Frank Slide. There is an interpretive centre as well. Also, you could have a quick look at Lundbreck Falls that are right by the Hwy 22 turnoff from Hwy 3. I think it would be worth your time.

that settles it-i'll take the family via route 40. thank you all for taking the time to give some great detailed information-very useful and thanks bob for the geology lesson as well-interesting!