Canada's 10 best road trips

Canada's wild expanse of breathtakingly beautiful landscapes stretching across vast distances make it perfect for a road trip. Whether you're looking for a short scenic drive near you or a multi-day action-packed road trip, Canada has some of the best driving options in the world. Here's our top ten to get you started.

Please check the latest local travel restrictions before planning any trip and always follow government advice.

Dempster Highway, Northwest Territories

Start – Dawson City; End – Inuvik; Distance – 457 miles (736km)

This classic trip takes you far beyond the Arctic Circle through some of northern Canada's most pristine scenery; a worthy contender for Canada's most scenic and challenging drive. It's a meditative experience; for most of the time you're alone with the road, entirely self-reliant and aware of your own smallness compared to the vastness of the landscape.

It passes through dense boreal forest and bare tundra, and rises gently between snow-tipped mountains. In darker months, your drive may be illuminated by the eerie ribbons of the northern lights dancing overhead, but road conditions are best between June and September. It's an unpaved, partially potholed road with treacherous muddy sections.

Cabot Trail, Nova Scotia

Start and end – Sydney; Distance – 261 miles (420km)

This is the big one: the looping, diving, dipping roller-coaster of a road that snakes its way around the northern tip of Cape Breton, with epic views of rolling seas, mountain passes, thick forests and – if you're lucky – the chance to spot a moose, eagle or even a whale en route. Take your time: this is a maritime classic to relish.

Completed in 1932 to link Cape Breton's isolated coastal communities, people have been looping the loop for the last nine decades, and the trail remains as popular as ever. Traversing the edge of the Cape Breton Highlands National Park, it's home to some of the province's grandest scenery, richest wildlife and best hiking trails.

Icefields Parkway, Alberta

Start – Jasper; End – Lake Louise; Distance – 142 miles (230km)

There are amazing road trips, then there's the Icefields Parkway, a 142-mile-long ribbon of asphalt passing through some of Canada's most elemental and pristine landscapes en route. Giant mountains, mammoth moose, craning trees and gargantuan glaciers brood moodily from the sidelines.

You can also travel it with a challenging multi-day bike ride, giving you more time to contemplate stop offs at cerulean Peyto Lake, powerful Athabasca Falls and the hikeable Athabasca Glacier, a frozen tributary of the colossal Columbia Icefield.

Klondike Highway, Yukon

Start – Skagway; End – Dawson City; Distance – 439 miles (708km)

Follow the same basic route as the gold-crazed prospectors of 1898 to Bonanza Creek near Dawson City, only they didn't have a nice sealed highway and a car to drive. Nearly the whole trip is wonderful wilderness. These days it's an easy drive, but you'll still need to be prepared and to keep your eyes open and your wits about you – you never know what might pop out of the forest to cross the road.

Viking Trail, Newfoundland

Start – Deer Lake; End – L’Anse aux Meadows; Distance – 326 miles (526km)

This epic highway, named for the first Europeans to touch shore here, links Newfoundland's west coast to Southern Labrador, with Unesco World Heritage sites at Gros Morne National Park and L'Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site. Along the way you'll pass fog-clad coves, snowcapped mountains, stormy fjords and a windblown coast that is ruggedly dramatic even by Newfoundland standards. 

Dinosaur Trail and Hoodoo Drive, Drumheller

Start and end – Drumheller; Distance – 45 miles (73km)

The Dinosaur Trail is a 30 mile (48km) loop that runs northwest from the town and the stunning scenery is worth the drive – badlands and river views await at every turn. It takes you past Midland Provincial Park and the vast Horsethief Canyon and its picturesque views. Glide peacefully across the Red Deer River on the free, cable-operated Bleriot Ferry.

The 15 mile (25km) Hoodoo Drive starts about 11 miles (18km) southeast of Drumheller on Highway 10; it's usually done as an out-and-back, with Wayne as the turnaround point. Between Rosedale and Lehigh you'll find the best examples of hoodoos – weird, eroded, mushroom-like columns of sandstone rock – there's also an interpretive trail.

Lake Superior Coastline, Ontario

Start – Sudbury; End – Kenora; Distance – 913 miles (1470km)

Overlooked and underexplored by many travelers, Northwestern Ontario is the epitome of "getting away from it all". This is quintessential Canada, and after your road trip you'll wonder why so few people have taken this route before you. You'll find the expected expanse of forest and some wildlife along the way, but you'll also be surprised by the great food, the amazing hospitality, and the variety of activities available at stops en route.

There will be times on this route when you won't see another car for hours. And that's part of the appeal – enjoy the solitude while cruising alongside Lake Superior, keeping an eye out for moose.

The Laurentians, Quebec

Start and end – Montreal; Distance – 84 miles (139km)

The Laurentians (Les Laurentides in French) are Montréal’s playground. With gentle rolling mountains, crystal-blue lakes and meandering rivers bordered by towns and villages too cute for words, they're an irresistible draw.

This straightforward road trip will take you through more than a half dozen delightful towns and villages, from St-Jérôme, and busy St-Sauveur-des-Monts to Val-David (perhaps the best place to rest and chow down along the way), and Ville de Mont-Tremblant, the crème of your Laurentians gâteau. It will also introduce you to Québec province's oldest national park, Parc National du Mont-Tremblant, before returning to the city.

Grasslands Ecotour Scenic Drive, Southern Saskatchewan

Start and end – Grasslands National Park; Distance – 12 miles (20km), or 50 miles (80km) round-trip from Val-Marie

This drive follows a well-signposted course through the West Block, starting 9 miles (15km) east of Val Marie. Pick up a map and advice at the visitors center. There are seven points of interest and two short walks. Do the full 50 mile (80km) drive in a couple of hours or drive in to Frenchman Valley campground and back (21 miles/34km). A highlight is Top Dogtown where prairie dogs line the side of the gravel road. This is the only place in Canada where colonies of black-tailed prairie dogs still exist in their native habitat. There is also the possibility to spot buffalo, with the herd in the park now numbering over 400 – Plains Bison were re-introduced in 2005 after a 120-year absence.

Sea to Sky Highway, British Columbia

Start – Vancouver; End – Whistler; Distance – 254 miles (409km)

Otherwise known as Highway 99, this unforgettably spectacular cliffside roadway links a string of communities between West Vancouver and Lillooet and is the main route to Squamish and Whistler from Metro Vancouver. If you can take your eyes off the collage of mountains and sea, the winding road has several worthwhile stops, especially if you're in the market for hiking, climbing, mining history or – at the opposite end of the spectrum – imbibing small-batch alcoholic beverages.

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