David Thompson Country

David Thompson discovered the Athabasca Pass through the Continental Divide.

The trail begins at Stettler, located 72 km (45 mi), east of Hwy 2. Head west along Hwy 12 and 11 to Red Deer, where you can visit Waskasoo Park and the Red Deer & District Museum. Continue west to Sylvan Lake, western CanadaÕs largest outdoor water park. Stop in Rocky Mountain House, which has a history dating back to the late 1700s and the 1800s, when four fur-trading posts were built. Further west along Hwy 11 is Nordegg, a once-booming coal town that was abandoned when the mines closed in 1955. The road skirts Abraham Lake, one of AlbertaÕs largest reservoirs. Further southwest the highway emerges into the Kootenay Plains Natural area, where David Thompson met and traded goods with the Kootenay Indians in 1800. Continue to Saskatchewan River Crossing, just inside the northern boundary of Banff National Park. Hwy 11 ends here, but you can chose to travel north to Jasper and then on to Edmonton, or south to Banff, then to Calgary. Distances: Stettler to Red Deer 105 km (65 mi). Red Deer to Sylvan Lake 18 km (11 mi). Sylvan Lake to Rocky Mountain House 66 km (44 mi). Rocky Mountain House to Saskatchewan River Crossing 175 km (108 mi).