I lived in Red Deer for 5 years recently, and I cycled thousands of kilometres in the Calgary area, in the Edmonton area, in the Red Deer area, in the Rocky Mountains, and along the Rocky Mountains ...... but never actually cycled from Calgary to Edmonton.

You could use Hwy 2. I've cycled on parts of Hwy 2. It's busy, but there's a wide shoulder. If it is raining heavily, however, you probably want to avoid Hwy 2 because of the splash from the semis ... it's like being washed over by a wall of water every time they go by.

I was planning an Edmonton to Red Deer trip once and thought about meandering through some of the side roads ... something like 814 from Edmonton to Wetaskiwin, and then 13 over to 771. Then 771 down to 12 (Bentley) ... I've ridden that road, it's quite nice. And then Bentley into Red Deer. I've ridden that too, several different ways. The Hwy 20 route is good, but it has quite a steep hill before Sylvan Lake. 12 to just past Gull Lake and then RR283 down to TWP 394 and over to Blackfalds is less hilly but can have more traffic if you're cycling on a summer weekend.

South of Red Deer you can follow the road out of Red Deer to Penhold and then to Innisfail. It can be a bit tricky getting out of Red Deer and onto that road. From Innisfail you'll have to be on Hwy 2 to Bowden, but after that you can get onto the 2A all the way down to Airdrie. And from there, take one of any number of side roads into Calgary.

Sorry ... this is actually backwards, but if you look at a map, you can turn it around and figure it out.

There are lots of paved roads through Alberta so what I've given you there is one option. You could use Hwy 22 (the Cowboy Trail), I've ridden quite a length of that several times. And if you're touring, that would be the route I'd choose for that.

Hwy 766 would get you a good way up there. I've ridden quite a bit of that highway too. You would turn right at Hwy 53 into Rimbey, and then you might take either 771 or 792 up to 13 and then you could probably meander into Edmonton on 795 and 60.


Get a map from a local tourist information place or AAA and see what options you've got ... there are lots.