We are driving to BC on highway 84 or 15. Which mountain pass is the best one to use in mid April ? Thanks.
QUOTE(John WD Smith @ Apr 3 2013, 06:28 PM) [snapback]32969[/snapback] We are driving to BC on highway 84 or 15. Which mountain pass is the best one to use in mid April ? Thanks. I 15 will not bring you to B.C. It will take you to Lethbridge and on to Calgary in Alberta. If this is the route you are contemplating, then you could encounter a late winter storm. You would also have to head west from Calgary on Highway 1 also known as the Trans-Canada and again, the possibility of some wintery weather exists. The same possibility exists on I 84 that will take you to Portland and then you would take I 5 north to Vancouver in B.C. My suggestion is to use the I 84 / I 5 option mostly because you will be travelling in the US where fuel is a lot less expensive than in Canada. I am guessing that the chance of winter getting in you way would be less as you would be heading across high country farther south. Good luck and have a safe trip. Darrell
QUOTE(John WD Smith @ Apr 3 2013, 06:28 PM) [snapback]32969[/snapback] We are driving to BC on highway 84 or 15. Which mountain pass is the best one to use in mid April ? Thanks. Just where in BC is your destination? Are you headed to the coast or staying in the interior. You mention 84 and 15 for your route. As previous post mentioned neither route will get you to BC. If you take 15 to Alberta then nearest road to BC would be Crowsnest highway 3 through the Crowsnest Pass. Depending on where your destination is you may have to travel further north, but it might be easier to take another route further west through Oregon or Washington to get to BC and you might be able to avoid most of the high passes.
Glenn-- I forgot you are based in BC. In July I plan on taking BC-5 from Abbotsford to Jasper NP. Since I've never been up there I wanted to make sure that the route will be OK for my 40' rig. I have 10 days reserved at Jasper and another 2 weeks in Banff. Joel
QUOTE(docj @ Apr 7 2013, 05:42 PM) [snapback]33004[/snapback] Glenn-- I forgot you are based in BC. In July I plan on taking BC-5 from Abbotsford to Jasper NP. Since I've never been up there I wanted to make sure that the route will be OK for my 40' rig. I have 10 days reserved at Jasper and another 2 weeks in Banff. Joel That shouldn't be a problem. Highway 5 is a freeway to Kamloops and after that is a good 2 lane highway to Jasper (except for a couple of short sections in the Barrier/Little Fort area). After that the Icefields highway has a few curves, but it is one spectacular drive towards Banff.
Like everyone else who has responded to your question, I am assuming your references to highways 84 and 15 are US Interstates 84 and 15. As others have mentioned neither road will get you to BC. They have also mentioned that your best bet is taking I15 to I84 (near the UT/ID border) and take I84 west to I5 in OR. I5 north gets you to the WA/Canadian border just south of Vancouver, BC. None of these interstates have high mountain passes or cross any significant mountain ranges on this route. That said, it is still possible to have snowstorms this late in the season that will negatively effect roads even if they do not reach 5-6,000' in elevation.
