Anyone familiar with Crowsnest Highway in British Columbia?

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Raybo
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Anyone familiar with Crowsnest Highway in British Columbia?

Post by Raybo »

I am thinking about biking from Bellingham, WA to Missoula, MT in August (see this thread for related details). The route I am considering runs from Bellingham, WA up into Canada and then along the Crowsnest Highway (Highway 3) from Hope through Manning Park and then on to Osoyoos, before crossing back into the US. You can see my suggested route here: http://mycycletour.com/displayroute.php?RouteNumber=865

Has anyone ridden a bicycle or driven a car along this road? I will be going west to east. If so, any thoughts on traffic, road width, or shoulders? I would start this ride August 1st.
No matter how long the hill, if you keep pedaling you'll eventually get up to the top.
obgraham
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Re: Anyone familiar with Crowsnest Highway in British Columbia?

Post by obgraham »

Lots of loooong grades along that highway.

You were warned!

My recollection is that the shoulders and surfaces are plenty wide.
Helodriver
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Re: Anyone familiar with Crowsnest Highway in British Columbia?

Post by Helodriver »

Over the years I have worked on several fires on both sides of the border near Manning park. Beautiful country. I never really drove with bicycling in mind so I can't say with 100% certainty that they were always wide but I remember lots of chain up areas and slow truck and passing lanes. As obograham pointed out I also remember long grades.

I love the difficulty meter on the route page pegged at 10.

Good luck!
Random Poster
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Re: Anyone familiar with Crowsnest Highway in British Columbia?

Post by Random Poster »

Raybo wrote:I am thinking about biking from Bellingham, WA to Missoula, MT in August (see this thread for related details). The route I am considering runs from Bellingham, WA up into Canada and then along the Crowsnest Highway (Highway 3) from Hope through Manning Park and then on to Osoyoos, before crossing back into the US. You can see my suggested route here: http://mycycletour.com/displayroute.php?RouteNumber=865

Has anyone ridden a bicycle or driven a car along this road? I will be going west to east. If so, any thoughts on traffic, road width, or shoulders? I would start this ride August 1st.
I've not driven on the part of Hwy 3 that you plan to be on; however, I'd be prepared for a lot of RV traffic.

Also, note that it gets blazing hot in that part of Canada during the summer.
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stratton
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Re: Anyone familiar with Crowsnest Highway in British Columbia?

Post by stratton »

Random Poster wrote:
Raybo wrote:I am thinking about biking from Bellingham, WA to Missoula, MT in August (see this thread for related details). The route I am considering runs from Bellingham, WA up into Canada and then along the Crowsnest Highway (Highway 3) from Hope through Manning Park and then on to Osoyoos, before crossing back into the US. You can see my suggested route here: http://mycycletour.com/displayroute.php?RouteNumber=865

Has anyone ridden a bicycle or driven a car along this road? I will be going west to east. If so, any thoughts on traffic, road width, or shoulders? I would start this ride August 1st.
I've not driven on the part of Hwy 3 that you plan to be on; however, I'd be prepared for a lot of RV traffic.

Also, note that it gets blazing hot in that part of Canada during the summer.
Can Raybo go up hill faster than an RV towing a car?!

Those are about the slowest thing I've been trapped behind on the Oregon coast and TCH in Western Ontario.

Raybo: Suggest Chuckanut Drive in Bellingham as a "warm up" for your trip. Very scenic. Starts around the Fairhaven part of Bellingham by the ferry terminal for the North end.
...and then Buffy staked Edward. The end.
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Raybo
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Re: Anyone familiar with Crowsnest Highway in British Columbia?

Post by Raybo »

stratton wrote:
Can Raybo go up hill faster than an RV towing a car?!

Those are about the slowest thing I've been trapped behind on the Oregon coast and TCH in Western Ontario.

Raybo: Suggest Chuckanut Drive in Bellingham as a "warm up" for your trip. Very scenic. Starts around the Fairhaven part of Bellingham by the ferry terminal for the North end.
If there is some shoulder, then RVs create traffic clogs that are better for bicyclists than heavy fast moving traffic. It is easy to hear RVs coming up hills and to simply pull off the road and wait for the RV and its entourage to pass by. There usually isn't much traffic for a while after the RV clump passes.

Regarding Chuckanut Drive: I've ridden it on a bike trip I did a few years ago from Bellingham down to Portland. It was a nice ride, though narrow in some parts.
No matter how long the hill, if you keep pedaling you'll eventually get up to the top.
leonard
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Re: Anyone familiar with Crowsnest Highway in British Columbia?

Post by leonard »

I road over the stretch from Vancouver coming back in to the US at Nighthawk on my motorcycle. It's nice country and scenic - but not as scenic as I'd hoped. I mistakenly thought it would be similar to the road over the North Cascades highway in Washington (hwy 20). But, it really didn't have quite the scenery of the North Cascades. It was really more green mountains with trees, less in the way of jagged peak, snowcapped w/ glaciers.
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