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by Jim Kinnear

In February 1963, Greg Clark, a well-known Toronto columnist, had this to say about camping:

"This month’s hunting and fishing magazines are on the newsstands, and all of them devote dozens of pages to what they call camping.

"The word camping has come to have an entirely new meaning in recent years. It means having a trailer or a hitch-on outboard boat, into which you pack a patent tent, a gas stove, a TV, a portable icebox, and on top of that all the comforts of home. Thus equipped, you go camping to one of the countless campsites that both government and private enterprise are establishing all over the country.

"There you are allotted for a small sum, a space for your car and trailer or boat. Water is laid on; and often electricity, into which you plug your TV and other camping appliances. All around you, cheek by jowl, are scores or hundreds of other campers, and you have a lovely time, a camp meeting, so to speak, without the hymns.

"What camping used to mean was a canoe trip, and the canoe laden with just what you could carry on portages. The only places you camped where anybody else had ever camped before were perhaps the first couple of over-night stops at portages. But you kept on until you found a place where nobody had ever camped before, and from which you devoutly hoped you would see nobody, not even a mile away for a whole week."

Clark was correct, of course, but he apparently failed to recognize that the trend away from tent camping, whether from a canoe, an automobile or a tow-behind vehicle, was here to stay. Since the first trailers hit the market in the late ’20s (this was interrupted by the war, and got underway again as fortunes again started to improve), RVs have become larger, more powerful and more available. The ever-present trend towards more leisure and less hardship has certainly played its part, and has even led to some ridiculous extremes.

RVers today can be categorized into two main groups. There are those who are usually going from point A to point B, are in a hurry, have eyes only for the road and are anxious to get to their next trailer park.

Then there are those who travel leisurely, who seek secondary routes, who are somewhat more adventurous, who don’t mind boondocking or dry camping, and who don’t mind "sleeping out under the stars." These people would probably agree with Robert Louis Stevenson, who has oft been quoted as saying,

"I travel not to go anywhere.
But to go.
I travel for travel’s sake."

How often do you hear a novice say how boring it was travelling across the prairies and how anxious they were to get to the mountains? These people miss a lot and are probably quite unaware that the Trans-Canada Highway is not the only road across the country, and that the lesser routes have a number of advantages.

For those of you who are travelling for travel’s sake, here are a few of these routes between the borders of Ontario and BC.

As you enter Manitoba from the east on the Trans-Canada, you have three choices, all of them south of the Trans Canada Hwy. These proceed through Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, and eventually through the Rockies, via the Crow’s Nest Pass. They are:

1. From the Winnipeg by-pass, Hwy 2 proceeds through Souris, becoming Hwy 13 in Saskatchewan and continuing through Carlyle, Weyburn, Assiniboia, Shaunavon, Govenlock and into Alberta where it becomes Hwy 501 and eventually via Lethbridge and the Crow’s Nest Pass into BC on Alberta/BC Hwy 3. This is now known as the Red Coat Trail.
2. From Morris on the Red River, Hwy 23 will take you through Roland, Somerset and Ninette and shortly afterwards links up with Hwy 2 above, just west of Souris.
3. Manitoba Hwy 3 heads south from Roland (on Hwy 23 above), and thence westwards through Killarney, Waskada, etc., just a few miles north of the US border, and becomes SK 18 proceeding through Estevan, Rock Glen, Wood Mountain, Val Marie and Frontier before joining up with Hwy 13 above, and thence past Govenlock and into Alberta.

Essentially, these three variations all lead through the southern parts of the three Prairie provinces and to the Crow’s Nest Pass. The Trans Canada Hwy travels through Calgary, Banff and Rogers Pass. If, as they say, "getting there is half the fun," then next time you’re planning a trip west (or east), consider one of these routes and take the time to smell the roses. For some people accustomed to large cities, the area may appear to be dilapidated and run-down, but there are nevertheless thriving agricultural communities. The farms vary in size from large to very large. There are a few stop signs en route as well as some right and left turns, and although the roads are well marked, you will need a map before you start out. These are readily obtainable from each provincial tourist agency.

Other traffic on these roads is almost completely non-existent and the only trucks you are likely to meet are usually farm trucks. You might be held up for a few minutes by one of those tremendous farm tractors hauling a piece of equipment to the next field and taking up the entire two lanes of road. But instead of chafing at the bit because of the short delay, try to look at it as one of those things you won’t see in the east, nor on the Pacific Coast, and know that it won’t be very long before he turns off the road and into his field.







From the Ontario border, and about 70 km into Manitoba, you can turn south on Hwy 12, through Steinbach, an interesting Mennonite town with museums; thence west on Hwy 52 and south on 59 until you turn west again on Hwy 23, which will take you across the bridge over the Red River at Morris. (See No. 2 above) About 40 km farther on at Roland, you can elect to continue west through Manitoba on Hwy 23, or go south through Winkler and west on Hwy 3. Roland has a few trailer spots on the south side of the arena. We have been the only occupants the several times we have stopped there. A man usually comes around to collect a few dollars. If it’s too early to stop at Roland, then about 50 km further at Somerset, there’s a neat campground adjoining the baseball field. These were Centennial projects and both have electricity and water.

The distance across Manitoba on Hwy 23 is 530 km; it’s about 35 km longer if you travel across on Hwy 3 where you will find similar parks at Winkler and Morden, while near Darlingford there is a Highways Department maintained "Wayside Park." This is an off-road overnight stopping place.

The Red Coat Trail approximates the route taken by the Royal North West Mounted Police in 1874 in order to establish a presence in the southern part of what is now Alberta. Whiskey and guns were being brought into the area from the south in ever-increasing quantities and were being traded for furs, with the natives being the victims. This story has been told in many places and in many ways, and there is a museum near Lethbridge on the site of what was known as Fort Whoop-up. The Mounties’ eventual destination, Fort MacLeod, is also now a museum. Both merit a visit.

Hwy 13 across Saskatchewan passes through, or close by, some interesting towns, and continues into Alberta on Hwy 501 skirting well south of the Cypress Hills Some maps show Govenlock, though it is now a ghost town where most of the buildings have been demolished. When the C.P.R. pulled up their tracks through the area, this town had no further reason for being, and slowly died, although the community hall remains and is occasionally used.

This corner of the world is extremely dry, and the land borders on being a desert. It’s typical ranch country, and a few quite large ranches exist in the area. A few forms of cacti are much in evidence. Cattle and horses wander at large as well as small herds of pronghorn antelope, but be wary — there are very few fences to keep them off the road. There are a few Texas gates built across the road in places where a fence crosses to mark a boundary, and groups of animals may gather at these spots. There is no habitation of any kind for about 20 km, just the wide-open prairie, where in many spots it is possible to pull off the road to further enjoy 360 degrees of sky and the prairie as it probably was 150 years ago.

The Red Coat Trail soon crosses Hwy 41, before turning north to Manyberries and continuing west on Hwy 61 through Foremost, Lethbridge, Fort MacLeod, Pincher Creek, and the Crow’s Nest Pass area.






On Hwy 61 there are campgrounds at Foremost, Raymond, Stirling and Magrath as well as slightly off this highway at Warner, Milk River and Cardston should you choose to avoid the Lethbridge area. Both routes will end up in the Crows Nest Pass (where there are a few campgrounds in Bellevue and Blairmore) and thence into BC. The pass is about 250 metres lower than the Kicking Horse on the Trans-Canada, and the scenery is only slightly less grand than the latter.

BC’s route No. 3 continues westward through Sparwood, Fernie, Elko, Jaffray, Cranbrook and Yahk to Creston. Most of these towns have one or more campgrounds. At Creston, you can elect to turn north on 3A and take the free ferry at Kootenay Bay across Kootenay Lake to Nelson, another delightful place to stop; or over the Kootenay Pass from Creston to Salmo. This is a somewhat shorter way, no ferries, but a much steeper climb to the pass at 1774 metres. There is a shelter at the summit of this pass.

From Salmo, No. 3 continues through Trail, Rossland, and Grand Forks to Osoyoos, and onwards to the BC coast.