By SHANNON KELLY
Trans Canada Highway, Alberta (Photo: Gord McKenna)
It’s time to think about planning your summer vacation, and if the open road is what you’re craving, Canada—with its stunning scenery and wide open natural beauty—has plenty of options. In fact, one of our best drives, the Banff-to-Jasper route (see Icefields Parkway) in the Rockies, was included in National Geographic’s Drives of a Lifetime book.
Start the slideshow of quintessential Canadian road trips »
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- Mountains, glaciers and brilliant blue lakes are the scenery along this <a title="http://www.icefieldsparkway.ca/" href="http://www.icefieldsparkway.ca/" target="_blank">232-km drive</a> through Banff and Jasper national parks in the <a title="http://www.where.ca/canadianrockies/" href="http://www.where.ca/canadianrockies/" target="_blank">Canadian Rockies</a>. Stop for off-road hikes or to explore the Columbia Icefield. Even though Parks Canada has been working hard to <a href="http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/ab/banff/plan/transport-transportation/routes/chap1/sec1.aspx">prevent accidents</a>, always be prepared to brake for elk, caribou, goats and sheep.
- Icefields Parkway (Photo: Martin de Witte)
- Icefields Parkway, Alberta
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- Icefields Parkway (Photo: Martin de Witte)
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- On Cape Breton Island, this <a title="http://www.cabottrail.travel/map.cfm" href="http://www.cabottrail.travel/map.cfm" target="_blank">300-km trail</a> hugs rocky cliff sides above the sea. You may even see the occasional whale from the route, whic winds through Acadian villages and the spectacular <a title="http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/ns/cbreton/index.aspx" href="http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/ns/cbreton/index.aspx" target="_blank">Cape Breton Highlands National Park</a>.
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- Cabot Trail, Nova Scotia
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- Photo: Chris Kasey
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- Moseying 124 km along lakes and rivers to the Pacific on Vancouver Island, the Pacific Rim Highway gets better and better, cutting through the <a title="http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/bc/pacificrim/index.aspx" href="http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/bc/pacificrim/index.aspx" target="_blank">Pacific Rim National Park Reserve</a> and ending up in what Canada's favourite beach and surf town, Tofino.<br /> <br /> <a title="http://www.where.ca/blog/slideshow/highlights-along-the-pacific-rim-highway/" href="http://www.where.ca/blog/slideshow/highlights-along-the-pacific-rim-highway/" target="_blank"><em>See the slideshow "Highlights Along the Pacific Rim Highway"</em></a>
- Pacific Rim National Park (Photo: Tourism British Columbia)
- Pacific Rim Highway, British Columbia
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- Pacific Rim National Park (Photo: Tourism British Columbia)
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- The ultimate northern wilderness drive, the 730-km <a title="http://travelyukon.com/press-releases/scenic-drives/dempster-highway" href="http://travelyukon.com/press-releases/scenic-drives/dempster-highway" target="_blank">Dempster Highway</a> starts at Dawson City and continues to Inuvik in the Northwest Territories, 2 degrees above the Arctic Circle. This is the great outdoors at its best, with no cell service and no company besides caribou and grizzlies. It is the only navigable road to the Arctic in winter—with a four-wheel-drive vehicle, emergency kit and plenty of spare tires, of course. And if you do brave it in winter, you can continue on the MacKenzie Ice Road to the Arctic Ocean.
- Dempster Highway in winter (Photo: Yukon Government)
- Dempster Highway, Yukon
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- Dempster Highway in winter (Photo: Yukon Government)
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- Exactly as it sounds, the Sea to Sky Highway starts at sea level in Vancouver and rises to 2,214 feet in Whistler, one of Canada's best ski resort towns and the site of much of the 2010 Winter Olympics events. The trip is relatively short, just 120-km along Highway 99, but it packs in coastal rainforest, beaches, provincial parks, mountains and waterfalls—and there are many opportunities for hiking and other outdoor activities, around <a title="http://www.tourismsquamish.com/things-do" href="http://www.tourismsquamish.com/things-do" target="_blank">Squamish</a> in particular.
- Garibaldi Provincial Park, off the Sea to Sky Highway (Photo: Peter M Graham)
- Sea to Sky Highway, British Columbia
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- Garibaldi Provincial Park, off the Sea to Sky Highway (Photo: Peter M Graham)
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- This 885-km route from Quebec City around the coast Gaspé Peninsula takes in charming small towns, sea views at every turn, and provides opportunities to stop for wildlife tours, exploring three national parks, cruises or whale watching. Sort your options at <a title="http://www.tourisme-gaspesie.com/en/planifier-circuits-touristiques.html" href="http://www.tourisme-gaspesie.com/en/planifier-circuits-touristiques.html" target="_blank">Gaspésie Tourism</a>.
- Tip of the Gaspé Peninsula and Percé Rock (Photo: Gilberto Rancourt)
- Gaspé Loop, Quebec
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- Tip of the Gaspé Peninsula and Percé Rock (Photo: Gilberto Rancourt)
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- Only accessible in winter, the ice road is a frozen river that leads from Inuvik, just above the Arctic Circle to Tuktoyaktuk, on the Beaufort Sea, part of the Arctic Ocean. If you don't have the gumption or gear to do the trip on your own, <a title="http://www.spectacularnwt.com/content/arctic-adventure-tours?cate=205" href="http://www.spectacularnwt.com/content/arctic-adventure-tours?cate=205" target="_blank">Arctic Adventure Tours</a> can take you there.<br />
- Photo: Northwest Territories Tourism
- MacKenzie Ice Road, Northwest Territories
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- Photo: Northwest Territories Tourism
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- This former gold-rush route cuts 713 km from Skagway (Alaska) to Dawson City, Yukon. One of the highlights is the blue-green Emerald Lake—in fact, the five- to six-hour drive from Skagway to the lake is the most scenic part of the route, and most road trippers are content to just do that 300-km leg. The truly ambitious can do the entire 1,435-km <a title="http://travelyukon.com/things-do/scenic-drives/klondike-kluane-loop" href="http://travelyukon.com/things-do/scenic-drives/klondike-kluane-loop" target="_blank">Klondike/Kluane Loop</a>, which hits Whitehorse, Dawson City and <a title="http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/yt/kluane/index.aspx" href="http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/yt/kluane/index.aspx" target="_blank">Kluane National Park</a>.
- Emerald Lake (Photo: Yukon Government)
- Klondike Highway, Yukon
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- Emerald Lake (Photo: Yukon Government)
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- The journey is the adventure on this <a href="http://www.novascotia.com/en/home/ourregions/scenic_travelways/lighthouse_route/default.aspx" target="_blank">sleepy route</a> that hugs Nova Scotia's southeastern shoreline. Twenty lighthouses are along the route, including the one at the province's most photographed site, Peggy's Cove. You'll also find beaches, coves clustered with photo-ready painted rowboats docked next to fishing shacks and lobster traps, and Lunenburg, home of the <a href="http://museum.gov.ns.ca/fma/en/home/default.aspx">Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic.</a><br /> <br /> <a title="http://www.where.ca/blog/getaway/3-halifax-day-trips/" href="http://www.where.ca/blog/getaway/3-halifax-day-trips/" target="_blank"><em>Read "3 Easy Day Trips from Halifax"</em></a>
- Peggy's Cove (Photo: Erin Patterson)
- The Lighthouse Route, Nova Scotia
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- Peggy’s Cove (Photo: Erin Patterson)
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- This driving tour starts in Vancouver skips, heads up BC's <a href="http://www.sunshinecoastcanada.com/">sunniest strip of coast</a> and over to Vancouver Island. It involves five ferry trips, and allows plenty of opportunities for biking, whale-watching and exploring beaches, coves and provincial parks—or just watching the boats go by at a seaside pub.
- Porpoise Bay near Sechelt (Photo: Peter M Graham)
- Sunshine Coast Loop, British Columbia
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- Porpoise Bay near Sechelt (Photo: Peter M Graham)
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- The Bay of Fundy is home to the world's highest tides, which have created <a title="http://www.thehopewellrocks.ca/" href="http://www.thehopewellrocks.ca/" target="_blank">unique rock formations</a>. Other highlights on this <a href="http://www.tourismnewbrunswick.ca/Learn/ScenicDrives.aspx">scenic drive</a> include beaches, coastal islands, whales (in season), dunes, <a title="http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/nb/fundy/index.aspx" href="http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/nb/fundy/index.aspx" target="_blank">Fundy National Park</a>, and Campobello Island, the onetime summer home of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
- FDR Cottage on Campobello Island (Photo: Rex Hammock)
- Fundy Coastal Drive, New Brunswick
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- FDR Cottage on Campobello Island (Photo: Rex Hammock)
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- Traversing all ten Canadian provinces from St. John's, Newfoundland, to Victoria, British Columbia, this <a title="http://transcanadahighway.com/" href="http://transcanadahighway.com/" target="_blank">mammoth route</a> (actually a series of highways), hits Canada's capital and all the major cities, the Rockies, national parks, Prairie lands and coastline. Hardy folks have done it by bike or bus, but even a more conventional trip by car will take you months to complete.
- Alberta's Kananaskis Country, Route 40 (Photo: Gord McKenna)
- Trans-Canada Highway
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- Alberta’s Kananaskis Country, Route 40 (Photo: Gord McKenna)
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