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Celebrate the distinct culture, amazing scenery and brilliant yellow sunflower fields.

Saskatchewan
The sky’s the limit, with creative literary giants and rodeo greats.

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Renowned for its diverse culture, open range, and Rocky Mountain Playground.

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Majestic mountains, mighty rivers, and coastal rainforests entice and invite.

Welcome to the Yellowhead Highway Corridor

By Terri Mason

Photo: Travel Manitoba

2007 heralds the 60th anniversary of the Yellowhead Highway Association. The association promotes the historical road that winds through the lore and legend of the Canadian West. It is steeped in the haunting songs and tales of the brash and fearless voyageurs, the robust, adventurous fur trade, the dreams of pioneer settlers and the fevered pitch of the Cariboo gold rush.

Originally, it was the secret trail to the fur cache of its namesake, the golden locked, Iroquois Métis guide known as “Tête Jaune.” Tête Jaune, (literally translated as “Yellow Head”) was the nickname of Pierre Bostonais, who guided for both of Canada’s greatest business rivals, the North West Company and the Hudson Bay Company, the dominant fur traders of the world. In 1825, Tête Jaune led the Hudson Bay Company’s chief trader, James McMillan, through the pass that still bears his nickname – Yellowhead.

His blazed path proved to be an easier route to British Columbia, and its popularity was such that by the 1830s, Yellowhead Trail was virtually a highway. Red River carts rumbled along it in 1841, miners slogged its length for the Cariboo Gold Rush in 1856, the 1862 Overlanders followed it to Kamloops and Prince George and eager settlers followed it to file on their new homesteads in the West. Never falling out of use, the heyday of the boom-and-bust railway followed, culminating in the push for the development of a roadway. The Trans Canada Yellowhead Highway Association was formed and over the years, the members had persuaded the four provincial governments and the federal government to build the Trans Canada Yellowhead Highway Corridor. Their dream was realized 37 years ago in 1970 when the Trans Canada Yellowhead Highway was officially opened.

Photo: Travel British Columbia

Famed as the “Park to Park Highway,” the Yellowhead traverses five national parks, ninety provincial parks and three national historic sites. Come explore the highway that takes you on a journey of unparalleled beauty and history through some of the most spectacular country in Western Canada. Cross the ‘breadbasket of the world’ beginning at Winnipeg, Manitoba, heading west along one of Canada’s oldest trails to Jasper, and beyond to Prince Rupert and the west coast park reserve of Gwaii Haanas, the Haida Heritage Site of the mystical Queen Charlotte Islands.

The gentle mountain grades of the southern route carry you to Hope, the lush Fraser Valley and the lively port of Vancouver. Visit renowned sites and listen as Native elders recount legends. Join in the ethnic dances at local celebrations. Breathe in the tangy scent of an ancient forest and reel in that fish that once only existed in your mind. No amount of reading can ever match the experience. Taste the adventure – come travel the Trans Canada Yellowhead Highway Corridor.

Photo: Travel Alberta

PhotoTourism Saskatchewan/Douglas E. Walker