Yellowhead Highway Jasper to Prince George: Jasper to McBride

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Jasper

   Jasper is a mountain town of about four thousand people in the heart of the Canadian Rockies, and it feels like it was built on a wild animal path. Elk wander across lawns and down the main street, deer graze in gardens and signs warn of bears. The Athabasca River runs past the town below ridges of grey limestone, and the Jasper Park Lodge, a grand old resort on Beauvert Lake, sits among spruce just beyond. In July 2024 a major wildfire swept into town and destroyed a large number of buildings, and the community has been rebuilding since, so it is worth checking current conditions and services before planning a stay.

   Read the complete Jasper write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Jasper is where the day begins. Next is Mount Robson.

2. 2. Mount Robson

   Mount Robson is the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies, at 3,954 metres, and the way it appears from the Yellowhead Highway is something you remember. The mountain rises about three thousand metres above the valley floor in a series of huge, banded cliffs and glaciers, and it is often wrapped in cloud, which makes the moment when it clears all the more dramatic. The Yellowhead Highway, Highway 16, runs right beneath it, and a visitor centre and viewpoint give an unobstructed look on a clear day.

   Read the complete Mount Robson write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Mount Robson comes up about 194 km into the recorded legs. Next is McBride.

3. 3. McBride

   McBride sits in the Robson Valley, a broad, quiet trench between the Rocky Mountains and the Cariboo Mountains, with the Fraser River flowing through it on its way north before turning west and south. The village has a population of just a few hundred, and the feel of a place where everybody knows everybody. The valley is unusual because it holds an inland temperate rainforest, one of the few in the world, where western redcedar and hemlock grow in the damp, cool conditions created by mountains on both sides.

   Read the complete McBride write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   The route ends here after 376 km.