Yellowhead Highway Overview
The Trans-Canada Highway’s northern route in the west is also known as the Yellowhead Route, for its path through the Yellowhead Pass through the Rockies (between Jasper in Alberta and Tête Jaune Cache–-and nearby Valemount–in British Columbia. From there, it continues to the Rugged Pacific Coast at Prince Rupert.
The route begins in Manitoba, with the official “Mile 0” in the capital city of Winnipeg, though it diverges from the main #1 Trans-Canada route just west of Portage la Prairie, about an hour (85 km) to the west of the provincial capital. From there, the route moves in a northwest direction through Neepawa and Minnedosa, past Riding Mountain National Park, and into Saskatchewan.
In Saskatchewan, it passes through the oil town of Yorkton, across the wide open wheat fields of Saskatchewan to Saskatoon (where you can join the Yellowhead via Highway 11 from Regina), westwards through North Battleford, and then through the border town of Lloydminster (half the town is in Alberta, and half in Saskatchewan).
In Alberta, the Yellowhead Highway, the highway passes through farming towns of Vermillion and Vegreville, before hitting the provincial capital of Edmonton. Edmonton is als a connecting point from Calgary via Highway 2, officially named the Queen Elizabeth II highway. There is still a rich farming belt west of Edmonton including Spruce Grove (which is the starting point of the Alaska Highway, to defend Alaska during World War II) and Wabamun (known for its recreational lake) before the province shows it rugged northern forests. Then the highway passes through Edson and Hinton before entering Jasper National Park and the town of Jasper. You can also reach the Yellowhead for Banff and Lake Louise on the main #1 Trans-Canada route via Highway 93, the Icefields Parkway.
In British Columbia, you pass by majestic Mount Robson before passing through Tête Jaune Cache, which is a connecting point with Highway 5 south to Kamloops on the main #1 Trans-Canada, which passes through Valemount, Clearwater and Barriere to Kamloops. The Yellowhead proceeds west thorough BC’s rugged northern Rockies,and the towns of McBride, Prince George, Vanderhoof, Fraser Lake, Burns Lake, Houston and Smithers. The road then does an arc through Hazelton to Terrace, before its final sprint to the coast to Skeena and Prince Rupert.
History of the Yellowhead Route in BC
In the ’60s and early ’70s, Highway 16 was extended east from Prince George to McBride, right to the Alberta border. The province also reconstructed of Highway 5 from Kamloops to Tete Jaune Cache. These projects build and paved 704 kilometres of road for a total cost of about $97 million.
In 1964, 728 kilometres of Highway 16 was rebuilt & paved between Prince George and Prince Rupert.
After an extensive 10-year reconstruction program, paving was completed on the 409-kilometre John Hart Highway between Prince George and Dawson Creek in 1976. A new road and a bridge over the Peace River were also built to connect Chetwynd and Hudson’s Hope, and the road from Hudson’s Hope to Fort St. John was rebuilt and paved.
More Trans-Canada Highway History
Trans-Canada Highway Itinerary Map
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