Driving on the Old Smith Highway, near Slave Lake Alberta

This blog is a cut from a longer potential log (and ultimately a section of a travel book). It is about an interesting road in northern Alberta, near Slave Lake, that my son and I visited on a day-long road trip from Edmonton Alberta. It is part of the loop at the top of the map below.

Intersection Hwys 44/2A to Slave Lake, via Old Smith Highway, and Highway 2/2A

As noted above, Hwy 2 has an alternative route to Slave Lake, which is called Hwy 2A, up to the town of Smith. From there on the road signs call it the Old Smith Highway, though Google Maps show it as a series of township and range roads.
The section from the intersection of 2/2A to Smith is paved, after that it is mostly gravel.
The Old Smith Highway is pretty easy to follow, basically just follow the route without turning off anywhere, until you get close to the town (small city?) of Slave Lake. There are frequent road signs along the way, as well as kilometre markings, letting you know how far you are from Slave Lake.
There are many turnoffs to minor roads which lead to acreage developments or farms, but as noted, it is pretty easy to follow the main road.
The road is used by logging trucks and oilfield trucks, though on the day that we were there, it wasn’t too busy. There is also a fair bit of infrastructure related these activities, along the road. Plus, there is plenty of need for graders and snowplows.
There is also local traffic, as there are various residences along the way, including those in the towns of Smith and Hondo. I should note that it is also a school bus route, though that was not an issue in July, obviously.
However, it was very dusty during our visit, so the relatively light traffic did throw up a lot of dust. An examination of the car later showed that this dust is a sort of tan brown colour. I suspect if it was a fairly rainy summer, the route could become quite slick.
The town of Smith as a pleasant appearing old place. It had a fairly historic look. It seemed as if the local people made a practice of maintaining this somewhat rustic look, including some false front type artifacts that were on the main road, as one drove in.
There were two river crossings along the route. One was of the Athabasca River, not far from Smith. Another was of the Lesser Slave River, as one approached Slave Lake. The bridge across the Athabasca River was fairly big, but it was a one-way only bridge where vehicles on one side of the bridge had to give the right of way to those on the other side, if the others arrived there first. Since traffic was light, that wasn’t a problem.

The Lesser Slave River flows out of the Lesser Slave Lake and into the Athabasca River. It is a fair-sized river, though not that long, as it does join up with the Athabasca River within about 70 km.
The route is somewhat hilly and twisty, as it follows the contours of the Lesser Slave River. That makes for an interesting driving experience.
Along the way, there as a mother bird crossing the road, who was being followed by 4 (possibly 5) little ones. We weren’t sure of the species. The bird was not very big and was rather plain, so perhaps a small female grouse?
As we neared Slave Lake, it turned out that the road into town was closed off, by the Sawridge Native Band, according to a sign. So, we took the alternative route, which went through an industrial area, then a few miles on Highway 2 into town.
Once in town, we searched for a spot to eat our picnic lunch, since it was mid-afternoon and we were getting hungry. With a bit of touring about, we located a Lion’s Club park (Schurter Park), not far from the center of town. It was a nice facility, with trails, a playground, administrative facilities and a rink.
We found a spot with picnic tables under some shady trees and had our break. There was a family of crows hanging about, no doubt hoping for some food. A young crow was following the mother crow around, as if she was showing it the ropes. I have seen that behaviour before with magpies, so I guess it is a corvid thing. While doing so, it vocalized a lot, with the usual “caw, caw” of crows.
As I noted above, the park held a playground, with lots of young kids on monkey bars and such, and parents supervising and observing. One young kid kept on incessantly repeating a rhyming phrase to his mother as he played (I can’t recall the exact phrase). It reminded me of the crow and its mother. Crows and magpies and people have a lot in common, I have often thought.
This was the turn-around point of the day-trip. We decided to begin the return journey by retracing our route along the Old Smith Highway, switching drivers, so that each of us would get a crack at driving it.
A return trip along the same path always seems shorter than the outbound trip. That is true whether driving, hiking or cycling. Much of that is probably just a psychological phenomenon, but there are also some benefits from experience. For example, one knows what a reasonably attainable maximum speed can be. One also knows about any potentially hazardous areas to be avoided or at least dealt with cautiously.
From a psychological point of view, some research has discovered that having new experiences seems to make time go slower. So, the first time on a trail is bound to seem to take longer for that reason as well.
Naturally, the sights on the return journey were similar to those on the outbound trip. However there were a few things worth mentioning.
At one point, a big logging truck came by, while also taking a bend in the road, raising an enormous cloud of dust. It was temporarily like being caught in a sudden thick fog, such that you couldn’t see more that 10 or 20 feet ahead of your vehicle. That was quickly followed by another big truck. Fortunately, the “fog” lifted after 15 or 20 seconds, so we weathered that ‘storm’.
There was a big tree hanging over the road, which seemed like it might come down at any time and block the road. I hadn’t noticed it during the earlier trip. I suppose someone will get around to cutting it down soon.
As we got into the town of Smith, an older fellow walking two dogs was crossing the road. We stopped for him, to let them pass, but one of the dogs wanted to play. It looked like a younger dog, a Rottweiler, I believe. They have a bit of a reputation, but this one seemed like a big playful goof, with its tongue hanging out and a kind of smile on its face. As its owner tried to coax it across the road, it kept returning to the car to make the owner chase it (which he did, but at a much slower pace than the puppy). That was great fun for the puppy, but not so much for the older man or for the older dog that he was also walking (it looked like some type of Collie to me). Finally, the puppy gave in and allowed itself to be taken across the road, and to let us and the car carry on. But everyone got a good laugh out of the goofy puppy’s game, including the owner, who smiled and shrugged, then went on his way with the two dogs by his side.
When we first met up with the man and his dogs, we had stopped very near the railway tracks. Scott quickly moved ahead, once he could do so without hitting the man or his dogs. There was no train in view at the time, but a short time later we did meet up with a train, as we carried on up the road. So, it’s always good to be careful around train tracks.
We stopped to get some fuel at the gas station in Smith. It had a rather antique set of gas pumps, which took a while to figure out. In this case the employee did seem to be a temporary foreign worker, based on his accent. But he was reasonably patient with us, as we figured out these anachronistic gas pumps.
One thing the cashiers at the gas stations had in common – they tried hard to push lottery tickets on us. I suppose that is now a thing everywhere. Personally, I only bet on horses and hockey.
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If you made it this far, you might want to read about some other back-roads trips in Alberta:

A Selection of Back-Road Trips Around Southwest Alberta

There are two main aspects to a road trip: the journey and the destination. Sometimes the trip is all about the journey, sometimes it’s all about the destination. Usually it is a little of both.

This collection of back-roads journeys feature a little bit of both of these aspects. Some accounts are more about the ‘journey’, such as a road trip on scenic Highway 22. Others are more about the ‘destination’, such as the show-jumping at Spruce Meadows. I hope you will enjoy reading some of these accounts and maybe give them a spin for yourself.

Southwest 1 – A Road Trip on Scenic Highway 22

Southwest 2 – The Equestrian Competitions at Spruce Meadows (Calgary)

Southwest 3 – The Bar U Ranch, south of Long View

Southwest 4 – Kananaskis Country

Southwest 5 – Blackfoot Crossing

Southwest 6 – Back-roads, from the Prairies to the Foothills: Brazeau Dam Trip

Southwest 7 – A Back-roads Trip to Hinton and the Forestry Trunk Roads

The reader may wonder “what about the Ice-fields Parkway?” or “where is a visit to Banff?” I would answer, that these famous destinations are covered very nicely by other books. This account is meant to focus on some less travelled areas, thus the “back-roads” descriptor.

I should note that the other three quadrants of Alberta also have a lot of interesting back-roads journeys, but those are material for some other books which will be published in due time.

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Amazon U.K: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0DCMJP47G

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Amazon India: https://www.amazon.in/dp/B0DCMJP47G

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A Selection of Back-Road Trips Around Southeast Alberta

There are two main aspects to a road trip: the journey and the destination. Sometimes the trip is all about the journey, sometimes it’s all about the destination. Usually it is a little of both.

This collection of back-roads journeys feature a little bit of both of these aspects. Some accounts are more about the ‘journey’, such as Drumheller, via the Backroads of Central Alberta. Others are more about the ‘destination’, such as the Viking Ribstones. The collection even includes a train trip, on the historic Alberta Prairie Railroad, which strictly speaking isn't a back-road trip but rather a back rail-road trip. I hope you will enjoy reading some of these accounts and maybe give them a spin for yourself.

Southeast 1 – Stettler Train Trip – Living History on the Alberta Prairie Railway

Southeast 2 – Viking Rib Stones – Indigenous Heritage and Tradition

Southeast 3 – Drumheller, via the Backroads of Central Alberta

Southeast 4 – Cypress Hills – An Island on the Prairie that Escaped the Ice Age

Southeast 5 – On the Road with Bronco Billy, A Trucking Journal – Southern Alberta Section

Southeast 6 – A Back-road Trip to Bittern Lake and Lake Miquelon Provincial Park

Southeast 7 – A Back-roads Trip to Rochon Sands, Buffalo Lake Provincial Park

The reader may wonder “what about the Tyrell Dinosaur Fossil Museum?” or “where is a visit to the Calgary Stampede?” I would answer, that these famous destinations are covered very nicely by other books. This account is meant to focus on some less travelled areas, thus the “back-roads” descriptor.

I should note that Southwest and Northern Alberta also have a lot of interesting back-roads journeys, but that is material for some other books. The southwest collection is available now on Amazon, the northern excursions will be published in due course.

Just $1.99 on Amazon, or free if you have Kindle Unlimited. It is also periodically on free promotion.

Amazon U.S.: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DCWCCTKC

Amazon U.K: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0DCWCCTKC

Amazon CA: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0DCWCCTKC

Amazon Germany: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0DCWCCTKC

Amazon France: https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B0DCWCCTKC

Amazon Spain: https://www.amazon.es/dp/B0DCWCCTKC

Amazon Italy: https://www.amazon.it/dp/B0DCWCCTKC

Amazon Netherlands: https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B0DCWCCTKC

Amazon Brazil: https://www.amazon.com.br/dp/B0DCWCCTKC

Amazon Mexico: https://www.amazon.com.mx/dp/B0DCWCCTKC

Amazon Japan: https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B0DCWCCTKC

Amazon India: https://www.amazon.in/dp/B0DCWCCTKC

Amazon Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0DCWCCTKC