By Eva Kurilova
With its incredible scenery and diverse geography, Canada offers up plenty of awe-inspiring roadside views. So buckle up and plan your next cruisin’ road trip adventure to take advantage of all there is to see. [Image credit: iStock.com/eugenesergeev]
The Algonquin Corridor section of Ontario’s Highway 60 cuts through the famous and beloved Algonquin Park. As the highway traverses through the park, it treats drivers and passengers to an array of scenery including rivers, lakes, bogs, forests and cliffs. Be ready to stop for pictures at visitor centres and trailheads.
The section of the Trans-Canada Highway connecting the Alberta town of Canmore and the BC city of Kamloops offers 520 km of stunning mountain wilderness. You’ll pass through Banff, Yoho and Glacier National Parks along the way, and little can prepare you for the towering peaks, glistening glaciers and sea of green coniferous trees.
If you’re interested in scenic driving routes in Canada that offer natural beauty and the chance to pass though small picturesque towns, then you want to travel the St. Lawrence Route on Quebec’s Highway 362. The 50 kms from Baie-Saint-Paul to La Malbaie captures a small but unforgettable stretch of Canada.
The much longer, 300 km Cabot Trail on Cape Breton’s northern end also passes through small, charming towns, but the focus tends to be on the vistas it offers of the Atlantic and the Gulf of St. Lawrence. You’ll experience steep elevation changes as you go from dense foliage to the tops of rocky seawalls.
The two-hour drive between Parksville and Tofino cuts straight across Vancouver Island and takes you through mountain ranges, past lakes and under the towering trunks of the island’s ancient trees. Highway 4 is a wonderful testament to the beauty of Vancouver Island as a whole.
Back to the coast, for this one, with the Fundy Coastal Drive in New Brunswick. Covering a total of 460 km, the Fundy Coastal Drive allows you to experience all the wonders of the Bay of Fundy, such as the highest tides in the entire world. You might also have a chance to spot whales off the coast!
Running alongside the Continental Divide, the Icefields Parkway in Alberta takes you through some of the tallest mountains in the Rockies. This 232 km adventure through rough and barren wilderness, home to cougars and grizzlies, passes by unbelievably blue lakes and giant glaciers that feed the water systems of the continent.
Explore the areas that the Vikings once did as they explored the New World long ago by driving Newfoundland and Labrador’s themed Viking Trail. Extending for over 400 km along the west coast of Newfoundland, the Viking Trail hugs the coast, through rugged mountains and into wooded valleys. It also passes through two UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
The Sea to Sky Highway is a 150 km section of B.C.’s Highway 99 North that takes you from Vancouver’s Horseshoe Bay past the town of Whistler. Arguably the most scenic driving route in Canada, this highway truly allows you to see from sea to sky, including mountains, inlets, waterfalls and fjords. Once you take in these sights, you won’t forget them for the rest of your life.
If you have the chance to go on a road trip along one of these routes, then don’t wait. Any one of these drives will provide you with endless awe-inspiring moments as you round each new bend.
