Inside Passage vs. Yellowhead Hwy.
 

I would like your honest opinion: With time {3 weeks}to do only one route, would you take a day ferry from Port Hardy-Prince Rupert, for the acclaimed scenery, or would you drive the equally accaimed {by guidebooks} Yellowhead highway from Clearwater to Tete Jauna Cache? My husband and I plan on continuing on to Jasper, Banff, and Yoho parks either way. Thanks for sharing!

First of all what other opinion would we give but our honest one?<BR><BR>Although I have never taken the BC Ferry from Port Hardy to Prince Rupert I have not heard great things about it from a sightseeing perspective and you should realise that taking that route from Vancouver through to Tete Jaune Cache would take at least 3-4 extra days over driving from Vancouver to Jasper. I can't honestly, (see - said 'honestly'), imagine that the Coastal scenery is worth the extra days.<BR><BR>My suggestion would be to take the Fraser Canyon route, (Hywy #1) to Kamloops - great scenery - and then choose either the Hywy #1 route to Yoho and Banff or the #5 route North to Jasper. I believe the #1 route is frankly more scenic and dramatic but the #5 route is less crowded and has fewer steep grades and curves. If you can I would do the figure 8 route going via #5 to Jasper returning from Banff and Yoho on #1 to Salmon Arm then going on #97 through the Okanogan and #3 back to Vancouver. This is of course assuming that Vancouver or at least the West Coast is your starting point.

Gary, Thanks for the excellent advise.<BR>Re "honest opinion": Figure of speech - Guidebooks are great, but advise from knowledgable individuals carries more weight with me. <BR>I looked at my maps again, and the figure 8 route you suggest looks like the best, and is certainly much easier than going way out of our way to do the "Inside Passage".

I've driven that "Figure 8" and it is lovely; however, I've also done the ferry and just have to say that I wouldn't write it off that quickly. The ride itself is flat out gorgeous; utterly different from the inland scenery - orcas, rocky islands, eagles, all that. The drive up Vancouver Island isn't that inspiring, but at least it's quick. I haven't driven from PR to the Rockies so can't comment.

Laura: With three weeks, you could do both. Follow the Frazer River out of Vancouver. Stop at Fort Langley near Abbotsford. Following the Frazer River continue up toward Kamloops stopping at Hell's Gate. From there to Glacier National Park and then on to Banff. After Banff, to Jasper stopping at Lake Louise and do the Glacier walk along the way. From Jasper head to Prince George. From Prince George we took the hour trip down to Barkerville. May or may not want to do this, but we found it to be fun (had three young daughters with us). Catch the Yellowhead Highway west to Prince Rupert stopping at least at Fort St. James, Fort Frazer, Hazelton to visit the Kasan Indian Reservation with their beautiful long houses (excellent tour provided). At prince Rupert, eat at Smiley's down on the wharf (not fancy, but great seafood). Catch your ferry back to Vancouver and enjoy the scenery. Again, with three weeks (it's what we had at the time) it is easily doable. We did it in July, decided where we would stop as we made our way (never had diffculty finding places to stay) and had one of our best trips ever. We did arrange for a ferry berth and car passage in advance. There are many more things to see and do on this trip. I simply highlighted the obvious. Beautiful, beautiful country!

Thanks so much, guys, for all the invaluable advise. I have been furiously taking notes, and flipping through maps. I think that we'll fly into either Seattle or Vancouver, spend a few days near Olympic National Park, see Victoria, and perhaps the more scenic areas of Vancouver Island {Pacific Rim Pk, Tofino?}, then head over to the Rockies, and return, using the suggested routes as much as possible. {Or the same trip in reverse, haven't decided}. We still plan on doing the Inside Passage though, on a seperate trip - maybe continuing into Alaska ............!