south edmonton ideas
Apr 28th, 2005, 03:01 PM
#1
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south edmonton ideas
we are staying in south edmonton travel lodge and need to get to luduc for rowing in masters.
any ideas for our partners to see while we row.
any thoughts of easy way to get to luduc.
Do we hire a car to get to Jasper or can we train and then get a car for trip from jasper to Calgary? Cost factor and ease of driving round end of july
any ideas for our partners to see while we row.
any thoughts of easy way to get to luduc.
Do we hire a car to get to Jasper or can we train and then get a car for trip from jasper to Calgary? Cost factor and ease of driving round end of july
Apr 28th, 2005, 03:39 PM
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Hello aussie3 -
Your best bet - because you need to travel across the wide open spaces of Alberta anyway - is to rent(hire) a car.
That way you could drive to Leduc for your competition, and then have the car available for your drive to Jasper.
Leduc is a quick ten minute drive (or less) from the Travelodge on the south side, all you have to do is get on Calgary Trail and drive straight south on highway 2 until you see the signs for Leduc access. Highway 2 is a six lane divided highway in the Edmonton area, which becomes a four lane divided highway a bit further south of the city.
The train to Jasper will take much longer than driving (as will the Greyhound bus). Another thing to consider, Edmonton is a big city (over one million people in the metro area), so you'll have many choices (cost, car type etc.) when it comes to car rental (hire). Jasper is a very small tourist town, and will have a limited number of vehicles available.
The drive from Edmonton to Jasper is very easy - it is four lane divided along rolling landscape until you get to the foothills and the east gate of Jasper Nat'l Park (two lane undivided in the park). But you won't mind - the scenery is so nice that it'll be a fun drive (45 minutes from the park gates to Jasper townsite).
The drive will be easy because the roads are in good condition (ahem!! unless they decide to resurface some part of the highway, in which case this means delays of a few minutes for equipment etc.).
To break up the four hour drive from Edmonton to Jasper, stop for coffee and a doughnut at Tim Horton's in Edson. This is a very Canadian thing to do
!! You can't miss it, as soon as you arrive in Edson you will see it, on the right hand side of the road.
One caution - try not to drive at dusk or dawn. For some reason we have had an explosion in the deer population in central Alberta, and they occasionally cross the highway. This is hazardous not only because it is difficult to avoid hitting them, you'll have damage to the car, and you get hurt yourselves. They seem to come out of the woods at dusk and dawn, that's why I mentioned those two times of day. Luckily, at the end of July the days in Edmonton and area are still very very long (15 to 16 hours from sunrise to sunset, plus extremely long twilight - it actually doesn't reach true darkness all night until the second week in August).
Your best bet - because you need to travel across the wide open spaces of Alberta anyway - is to rent(hire) a car.
That way you could drive to Leduc for your competition, and then have the car available for your drive to Jasper.
Leduc is a quick ten minute drive (or less) from the Travelodge on the south side, all you have to do is get on Calgary Trail and drive straight south on highway 2 until you see the signs for Leduc access. Highway 2 is a six lane divided highway in the Edmonton area, which becomes a four lane divided highway a bit further south of the city.
The train to Jasper will take much longer than driving (as will the Greyhound bus). Another thing to consider, Edmonton is a big city (over one million people in the metro area), so you'll have many choices (cost, car type etc.) when it comes to car rental (hire). Jasper is a very small tourist town, and will have a limited number of vehicles available.
The drive from Edmonton to Jasper is very easy - it is four lane divided along rolling landscape until you get to the foothills and the east gate of Jasper Nat'l Park (two lane undivided in the park). But you won't mind - the scenery is so nice that it'll be a fun drive (45 minutes from the park gates to Jasper townsite).
The drive will be easy because the roads are in good condition (ahem!! unless they decide to resurface some part of the highway, in which case this means delays of a few minutes for equipment etc.).
To break up the four hour drive from Edmonton to Jasper, stop for coffee and a doughnut at Tim Horton's in Edson. This is a very Canadian thing to do
!! You can't miss it, as soon as you arrive in Edson you will see it, on the right hand side of the road.One caution - try not to drive at dusk or dawn. For some reason we have had an explosion in the deer population in central Alberta, and they occasionally cross the highway. This is hazardous not only because it is difficult to avoid hitting them, you'll have damage to the car, and you get hurt yourselves. They seem to come out of the woods at dusk and dawn, that's why I mentioned those two times of day. Luckily, at the end of July the days in Edmonton and area are still very very long (15 to 16 hours from sunrise to sunset, plus extremely long twilight - it actually doesn't reach true darkness all night until the second week in August).
Apr 28th, 2005, 06:35 PM
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The most boring ride of my life was from Jasper to Edmonton on a bus, and I expect it would be just as boring going the other way.
I once took the train from Edmonton to Jasper, rented a car there, and drove to Calgary, but that was long ago, and seemed like a good idea at the time.
I just looked at a schedule: the train takes 5 hours and 10 minutes.
But if I was staying in Edmonton for a while, I'd rent a car there, use it around Edmonton, which is a big city but easy to get around, and then drive to Jasper (assuming I really wanted to go there -- see below)and then drive south to Banff and Calgary.
Now, about driving from Edmonton to Jasper.
Because of the way the mountains head north west, it's about as far to drive from Edmonton to Calgary to Banff as it is to drive from Edmonton to Jasper.
Pnce you get to Banff, you can drive up the Icefileds parkway towards Jasper if you want, or drive in other directions.
the advantage of driveing from edmonto to Calgary is that you see different kinds of communities, and can get off the road into the foothills, and cowboy country. I think this is a more interesting drive.
The advantage of driving from Edmonto to Jasper is that you actually get to jasper, quite a nice town. And I saw a wonderful photo of a wonderful golf course in Jasper the other day.
In July, think about renting a convertible. It would be a great way to take this trip.
BAK
BAK
I once took the train from Edmonton to Jasper, rented a car there, and drove to Calgary, but that was long ago, and seemed like a good idea at the time.
I just looked at a schedule: the train takes 5 hours and 10 minutes.
But if I was staying in Edmonton for a while, I'd rent a car there, use it around Edmonton, which is a big city but easy to get around, and then drive to Jasper (assuming I really wanted to go there -- see below)and then drive south to Banff and Calgary.
Now, about driving from Edmonton to Jasper.
Because of the way the mountains head north west, it's about as far to drive from Edmonton to Calgary to Banff as it is to drive from Edmonton to Jasper.
Pnce you get to Banff, you can drive up the Icefileds parkway towards Jasper if you want, or drive in other directions.
the advantage of driveing from edmonto to Calgary is that you see different kinds of communities, and can get off the road into the foothills, and cowboy country. I think this is a more interesting drive.
The advantage of driving from Edmonto to Jasper is that you actually get to jasper, quite a nice town. And I saw a wonderful photo of a wonderful golf course in Jasper the other day.
In July, think about renting a convertible. It would be a great way to take this trip.
BAK
BAK
Apr 28th, 2005, 08:26 PM
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Thanks for the info....What about this edmomton calgary, or edmonton jasper drive. Is it best to base two days jasper then the rest based round Lake louise or just stay in lake loise are yoho park etc and use this as base?
Apr 28th, 2005, 09:42 PM
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Ah - I disagree with BAK. [Don't you live in Toronto BAK, 3500 km away from Edmonton??]
Edmonton to Calgary has to be the most boring drive in Alberta, it takes three hours, plus it always has lots of traffic (which is what you'd expect with two cities of over a million people travelling back and forth for business etc.). Once you get to Calgary you have to drive through the city (although we never do it that way - we generally skirt around the city) to get to the Trans Canada highway going west, and then it is another hour to drive to the mountains.
Meanwhile, the drive from Edmonton to Jasper without stopping is only about three and a half hours total (as a matter of fact, from our house in the city's centre, it took 3 hours 20 minutes the last time that we drove it - just this past February - yes, even in winter!!). Only if you drive at a leisurely pace and stop for coffee along the way will it take you 4 hours.
The area around Edmonton is largely agricultural and gently rolling, but you do drive past two lakes (Wabumun and Chip), and some deep river valleys (Macleod and Pembina). And once you get two hours west of Edmonton, the topography changes to forested hills (boreal forest ), you'll drive over the highest point (elevation) on the Yellowhead Highway before you even get to the mountains, at Obed Summit 
!! There are even spots to stop for the viewpoints.
Once you drive through the Jasper National Park east gates (where by the way you'll have to pay a fee for your stay in the National Parks), you will be driving through the Athabasca River Valley, a wide valley between mountain ranges, and you will see a lot of wildlife. On recent trips we have seen not only the ubiquitous elk and mountain sheep, but wolves, coyotes and even a fox!! (We do this trip several times every year because we love the mountains, in fact, we have been in Jasper twice in the last six months).
If you have five days in the Rockies, use two days in the Jasper area (visit Maligne Lake, Maligne Canyon, Mount Edith Cavell and Angel Glacier, take the tramcar up to the top of The Whistlers etc.).
Use one whole day to drive the Icefield Parkway from Jasper, stop at the Columbia Icefields, then on to Lake Louise (or Banff - depending on where you'd prefer to have your home base).
Spend the rest of your time in the Lake Louise/Banff area (walk to the other end of Lake Louise, or even take the trail to Lake Agnes Teahouse, drive to Moraine Lake, take the gondola up to the top of Sulphur Mountain and walk the boardwalk for great views of the Bow River Valley).
Banff is a bigger and busier town than Jasper, it is usually crowded on summer days, but it does have better shopping than Jasper if that's the type of thing you'd like to do.
To get the best feel of the Canadian Rockies, visit both Jasper and Banff and be sure to drive the Icefield Parkway - the most scenic drive in all of Canada.
Edmonton to Calgary has to be the most boring drive in Alberta, it takes three hours, plus it always has lots of traffic (which is what you'd expect with two cities of over a million people travelling back and forth for business etc.). Once you get to Calgary you have to drive through the city (although we never do it that way - we generally skirt around the city) to get to the Trans Canada highway going west, and then it is another hour to drive to the mountains.
Meanwhile, the drive from Edmonton to Jasper without stopping is only about three and a half hours total (as a matter of fact, from our house in the city's centre, it took 3 hours 20 minutes the last time that we drove it - just this past February - yes, even in winter!!). Only if you drive at a leisurely pace and stop for coffee along the way will it take you 4 hours.
The area around Edmonton is largely agricultural and gently rolling, but you do drive past two lakes (Wabumun and Chip), and some deep river valleys (Macleod and Pembina). And once you get two hours west of Edmonton, the topography changes to forested hills (boreal forest
), you'll drive over the highest point (elevation) on the Yellowhead Highway before you even get to the mountains, at Obed Summit !! There are even spots to stop for the viewpoints.Once you drive through the Jasper National Park east gates (where by the way you'll have to pay a fee for your stay in the National Parks), you will be driving through the Athabasca River Valley, a wide valley between mountain ranges, and you will see a lot of wildlife. On recent trips we have seen not only the ubiquitous elk and mountain sheep, but wolves, coyotes and even a fox!! (We do this trip several times every year because we love the mountains, in fact, we have been in Jasper twice in the last six months).
If you have five days in the Rockies, use two days in the Jasper area (visit Maligne Lake, Maligne Canyon, Mount Edith Cavell and Angel Glacier, take the tramcar up to the top of The Whistlers etc.).
Use one whole day to drive the Icefield Parkway from Jasper, stop at the Columbia Icefields, then on to Lake Louise (or Banff - depending on where you'd prefer to have your home base).
Spend the rest of your time in the Lake Louise/Banff area (walk to the other end of Lake Louise, or even take the trail to Lake Agnes Teahouse, drive to Moraine Lake, take the gondola up to the top of Sulphur Mountain and walk the boardwalk for great views of the Bow River Valley).
Banff is a bigger and busier town than Jasper, it is usually crowded on summer days, but it does have better shopping than Jasper if that's the type of thing you'd like to do.
To get the best feel of the Canadian Rockies, visit both Jasper and Banff and be sure to drive the Icefield Parkway - the most scenic drive in all of Canada.
Apr 29th, 2005, 02:07 PM
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Hi aussie3
I am a native Edmontonian and I must agree with Borealis, the drive from Edmonton to Calgary has got to be the most boring stretch of highway around. I would recommend driving from Edmonton to Jasper, then to Banff from Jasper.
Have a great time!
I am a native Edmontonian and I must agree with Borealis, the drive from Edmonton to Calgary has got to be the most boring stretch of highway around. I would recommend driving from Edmonton to Jasper, then to Banff from Jasper.
Have a great time!
