A popluar and economical way for a group to travel to camp is to drive to Prince Rupert, board and board an Alaska Marine Highway Ferry for Ketchikan. From Ketchikan you can take an Inter-Island Ferry to Hollis where we will pick you up or you can drive to camp.

In this post I will try to cover the basics about the drive to Prince Rupert.

HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE? This is probably the most popular question we receive. We just completed the trip & we left Lewiston, Idaho at 8:30 PM Monday Evening & pulled in here to Prince Rupert at 8:45 pm Tuesday. The trip odometer reads 1230 miles in 24 hours. My wife & I were traveling with our 3 children & 3 dogs. We did most of the eating on the road but we did have stops for the dogs & fuel. There was road construction in half a dozen places but the longest wait was about 1/2 an hour. There was a spot between Pentiction & Summerland where the road was scheduled to be closed till 5am but they let us through after a minimal wait.

WHAT ROUTE TO TAKE? First you need to consider the hours of operation for the border crossings. The first trip up we arrived ten minutes after midnight at a crossing that closed at midnight. NOT ALL CROSSINGS ARE OPEN 24/7. We had to backtrack 120 miles to a different crossing. Coming from the east side we cross at Osoyoos and it is open 24/7. Check the Canadian Border Services Directory and click on map. From the map you can click on the name & it will give you hours of operation & other information. If you’re coming from the east side of Washington or Idaho & get directions from Google Maps it will route you to Crowsnest Hwy/ Hwy 3 out of Osoyoos to Princeton then North on Hwy 5A to Merrit, then Hwy 8 to Spences Bridge and up 97 to Cache Creek. I do not recommend this route. It has proven much faster for me to go North from Osoyoos on 97 past Peachland, turn left on 97C to Merrit, North on 5 almost to Kamaloops and then turn left & take Hwy 1 to Cache Creek.

From Cache Creek all routes converge. Take 97 North to Prince George, turn left on 16 and take it out to Prince Rupert.

CURRENCY As I write this the exchange rate is $1 US dollar to $1.02 Canadian. We did not bother getting Canadian cash before leaving. When using a debit or credit card they usually charge a nominal exchange rate fee. Most businesses will accept US currency but will not give you the exchange rate. When the rate was quite different they would give you a small rate but not the current fair market value rate. When paying with US cash use as close to correct change as possible. They will give you Canadian currency as change. Use up all your coin change as well because when you get back to the states the banks (ours anyway) will not buy the coins back from you, just the paper currency.

BORDER CROSSING Be sure you read the post on who is inadmissible to Canada During the interview at the crossing I’ve found that joking with the officer usually does not help. They must think you are trying to hide something. Actually in the past 16 crossings they only have done an extensive search twice. (be sure and take that stray ammunition out of your jockey box) The questions vary but do you have any tobacco, firearms or fruit seem to make the list every time.

Below find some pictures from the road on our recent trip up.

Loaded Down

Blue Sky

Road Construction

Getting Close

Made It!!