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| The Loop, Going-to-the-Sun Road, Glacier National Park, Montana |
In July 2018 we drove from our driveway in Germantown, Maryland to the Canadian Rockies and back, which took sixteen days and about 6,280 miles. The truck was Storm Trooper, our 2012 Ford F-150 SVT Raptor. First generation, desert-racing-inspired, 411 horsepower from a 6.2-litre V8, and an aftermarket mid-perch front suspension that gave it a stance out of all proportion to anything we actually asked of it.
We wrote the trip up in three parts, and this page is the index to all three. It also carries the things that only make sense at whole-route scale: total distances, the border crossings, where the fuel gaps are and how the sixteen days actually divided up. If you are working out whether this drive is feasible for you, start here and then follow the parts in order.
USA–Canada Overland 2018 — Series Summary
Sixteen days, roughly 6,280 miles, fourteen US states and three Canadian provinces, driven as one loop from Germantown, Maryland to Jasper, Alberta and back. This page gathers all three parts of the series in order, adds the whole-route context that no single part covers, and sets out what the drive actually asks of you: border logistics, fuel gaps, mountain-pass timing and how long each stage really takes.
| What's Covered | |
| ▸ | Part 1: Germantown to Wall, South Dakota — two long days, nine states, the Appalachians to the edge of the West |
| ▸ | Part 2: Badlands, Yellowstone and Glacier — six days through the Black Hills, Devils Tower, Wyoming and Montana |
| ▸ | Part 3: Chief Mountain to Jasper and the Long Way Home — the Canadian Rockies and the eastbound prairie run |
| ▸ | Route, Terrain and Context by Leg — highways, geology and elevation for all nine stages |
| ▸ | Planning This Drive Yourself — timing, border crossings, fuel gaps and what we would change |
| ▸ | What This Loop Set Up — how a 2018 Raptor trip became the template for a 27-country, four-continent expedition |
The route ran west from Germantown across the Appalachians on I-70 and I-68, over the Midwest on I-74 and I-80, then north on I-29 to join I-90 through South Dakota. From Wall it crossed the Badlands and Black Hills. Wyoming brought Devils Tower and the Big Horn Mountains, then Yellowstone from Cody, then north through Montana to Glacier National Park. We crossed into Alberta at Chief Mountain, dipped briefly into British Columbia through the Crowsnest corridor, and spent five days between Canmore, Banff, Lake Louise and Jasper. Then east through Edmonton and Saskatoon, back into the United States at North Portal, and home across North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Fourteen US states, three Canadian provinces, one truck (route map).
Date: July 2018
Start and finish: Germantown, Maryland
Turnaround: Jasper, Alberta
Distance: approximately 6,280 miles (plotted route)
Duration: 16 days
Coverage: 14 US states, 3 Canadian provinces
Vehicle: Storm Trooper, a 2012 Ford Raptor
Route at a Glance
- Germantown, Maryland — the start, and eventually the finish
- New Concord, Ohio — John and Annie Glenn Museum
- Walcott, Iowa — Iowa 80 Truckstop
- Honey Creek, Iowa — Scenic Overlook Tower in the Loess Hills
- Wall, South Dakota — Wall Drug and the end of the first push
- Badlands National Park and the Black Hills — Mount Rushmore
- Devils Tower, Wyoming — then the Big Horn Mountains
- Yellowstone National Park — entered from Cody
- Glacier National Park — Going-to-the-Sun Road over Logan Pass
- Chief Mountain — the border into Alberta
- Banff and Lake Louise — based in Canmore
- Icefields Parkway — Columbia Icefield and Athabasca Glacier
- Jasper, Alberta — the turnaround
- North Portal — back into the United States and east to Maryland
Part 1: Germantown to Wall, South Dakota
Two days, roughly 1,626 miles, nine states. This part is the least scenic and the most necessary: it is the section that gets the East Coast behind you. We ran I-70 and I-68 across the Appalachians, then picked up I-74 at Indianapolis. From there it was I-80 over the Mississippi into Iowa, north at Omaha on I-29, and finally I-90 into South Dakota.
The stops that earned their place were small ones. The John and Annie Glenn Museum sits in the astronaut’s boyhood home in New Concord, Ohio, and is worth the exit. The Iowa 80 Truckstop at Walcott has not closed once since 1964. It has since acquired a barber, a dentist, a movie theatre and a trucking museum, which makes it less a fuel stop than a small municipality with diesel. Above Honey Creek, Iowa, the Scenic Overlook Tower — also signed as Loveland Overlook — stands in the Loess Hills off I-880 and gives the first properly wide view of the trip.
Wall Drug at the end of it is exactly as advertised, which is to say free ice water and a great deal of signage about free ice water.
Read Part 1: Maryland to Wall, South Dakota →
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| Saint Mary Lake, Going-to-the-Sun Road, Glacier National Park |
Part 2: Badlands, Yellowstone and Glacier
Six days and about 1,387 miles, and the part where the driving stops being a transfer and becomes the point. From Wall the route drops into Badlands National Park through the Pinnacles entrance, crosses the Black Hills for Mount Rushmore, then runs west into Wyoming for Devils Tower.
After Sheridan the road climbs the Big Horn Mountains on the Bighorn Scenic Byway, a part of US-14, with Shell Falls on the way up. Yellowstone follows, entered from Cody through the East Entrance, with Mud Caldron, Dragon’s Mouth Spring, Norris Geyser Basin and Old Faithful strung along the loop roads. North of the park, Earthquake Lake still records the 1959 Hebgen Lake earthquake in stark form.
The leg finishes on Going-to-the-Sun Road, which crosses the Continental Divide at Logan Pass at 6,646 feet, the highest point on the road. Lake McDonald, The Loop and the Wild Goose Island overlook above Saint Mary Lake are all on it, and none of them can be rushed.
Read Part 2: South Dakota, Wyoming and Montana →
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| Crowfoot Glacier, Icefields Pkwy, Alberta, Canada |
Part 3: Chief Mountain to Jasper and the Long Way Home
We crossed into Alberta at Chief Mountain, a seasonal crossing that closes outside summer, and based ourselves in Canmore. Banff, Vermilion Lakes and Lake Louise filled the first days; the Icefields Parkway filled the best of them.
The Parkway runs 232 kilometres between Lake Louise and Jasper. There is one seasonal fuel stop at Saskatchewan River Crossing and effectively no cell service, so it rewards a full tank and punishes improvisation. Bow Lake, Crowfoot Glacier, the Weeping Wall and Panther Falls come in sequence, and the Columbia Icefield sits near the north end, where an Ice Explorer takes you onto the Athabasca Glacier itself.
Jasper was the turnaround. From there the drive home ran east through Edmonton and Saskatoon, back into the United States at North Portal, then across North Dakota and the Midwest. Roughly 2,587 miles in three days. That is the kind of arithmetic that only looks reasonable before you attempt it.
Read Part 3: Banff, Jasper and the Icefields Parkway →
Route, Terrain and Context by Leg
The loop divides into nine stages, each with its own road surface, geology and general character. This is the summary version — useful for working out which sections you want to linger on and which you can treat as transit.
| Route Leg | Major Highways | Terrain & Geology | Cultural Context | Typical Elevation | Traveller’s Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maryland to the Midwest Plains | I-70, I-68, I-79, I-74, I-80 | Appalachian ridges flattening into glacial plains and broad river basins | Old National Road country, farm heartland, roadside Americana | 300–1,600 ft | Easy miles and long horizons while the continent warms up |
| Great Plains to the Badlands | I-29, I-90 | Eroded sedimentary formations, striped buttes, stark badland topography | Lakota lands, frontier myth, Wall Drug Americana | 2,000–3,000 ft | The first raw, exposed, genuinely ancient scenery |
| Badlands to the Big Horn Mountains | US-14, US-16 | Laramide uplift rising abruptly out of flat plains | Indigenous hunting grounds and early frontier crossings | up to 9,000+ ft | Fast elevation gain, cooler air, real mountain driving |
| Big Horns to Yellowstone | US-14, park roads | Volcanic plateau, geysers, caldera lakes, geothermal basins | Supervolcano country, sacred native lands, the first national park | 7,000–8,000 ft | Sulfur in the air, steam vents, wildlife on the verge |
| Yellowstone to Glacier | I-90, US-2 | Rocky Mountain front, alpine valleys, glacial lakes | Frontier routes and Great Northern Railway legacy | 3,000–6,600 ft | Scale increases until the peaks feel close enough to touch |
| Going-to-the-Sun Road | Going-to-the-Sun Road | Glacial U-valleys, hanging glaciers, sheer cliffs | Blackfeet homeland, crown of the continent | Logan Pass 6,646 ft | Narrow, dramatic and impossible to hurry |
| Glacier to Banff and Jasper | Chief Mountain, AB-93 Icefields Parkway | Icefields, cirques, turquoise lakes, enormous peaks | Mountaineering lore and First Nations territory | peaks over 10,000 ft | One of the most scenic highways anywhere |
| Alberta to North Dakota | Provincial highways, US routes | Prairie, lakes and forest belt | The agricultural backbone of the continent | 800–1,500 ft | A gentle descent back into open country |
| Midwest to Maryland | I-94, I-90, I-80, I-70 | Rolling hills folding back into Appalachian terrain | Familiar roads that read differently on the way home | 500–2,000 ft | Quiet decompression after three weeks of big country |
Maryland to the Midwest Plains
- Major Highways
- I-70, I-68, I-79, I-74, I-80
- Terrain & Geology
- Appalachian ridges flattening into glacial plains and broad river basins
- Cultural Context
- Old National Road country, farm heartland, roadside Americana
- Typical Elevation
- 300–1,600 ft
- Traveller’s Notes
- Easy miles and long horizons while the continent warms up
Great Plains to the Badlands
- Major Highways
- I-29, I-90
- Terrain & Geology
- Eroded sedimentary formations, striped buttes, stark badland topography
- Cultural Context
- Lakota lands, frontier myth, Wall Drug Americana
- Typical Elevation
- 2,000–3,000 ft
- Traveller’s Notes
- The first raw, exposed, genuinely ancient scenery
Badlands to the Big Horn Mountains
- Major Highways
- US-14, US-16
- Terrain & Geology
- Laramide uplift rising abruptly out of flat plains
- Cultural Context
- Indigenous hunting grounds and early frontier crossings
- Typical Elevation
- up to 9,000+ ft
- Traveller’s Notes
- Fast elevation gain, cooler air, real mountain driving
Big Horns to Yellowstone
- Major Highways
- US-14, park roads
- Terrain & Geology
- Volcanic plateau, geysers, caldera lakes, geothermal basins
- Cultural Context
- Supervolcano country, sacred native lands, the first national park
- Typical Elevation
- 7,000–8,000 ft
- Traveller’s Notes
- Sulfur in the air, steam vents, wildlife on the verge
Yellowstone to Glacier
- Major Highways
- I-90, US-2
- Terrain & Geology
- Rocky Mountain front, alpine valleys, glacial lakes
- Cultural Context
- Frontier routes and Great Northern Railway legacy
- Typical Elevation
- 3,000–6,600 ft
- Traveller’s Notes
- Scale increases until the peaks feel close enough to touch
Going-to-the-Sun Road
- Major Highways
- Going-to-the-Sun Road
- Terrain & Geology
- Glacial U-valleys, hanging glaciers, sheer cliffs
- Cultural Context
- Blackfeet homeland, crown of the continent
- Typical Elevation
- Logan Pass 6,646 ft
- Traveller’s Notes
- Narrow, dramatic and impossible to hurry
Glacier to Banff and Jasper
- Major Highways
- Chief Mountain, AB-93 Icefields Parkway
- Terrain & Geology
- Icefields, cirques, turquoise lakes, enormous peaks
- Cultural Context
- Mountaineering lore and First Nations territory
- Typical Elevation
- peaks over 10,000 ft
- Traveller’s Notes
- One of the most scenic highways anywhere
Alberta to North Dakota
- Major Highways
- Provincial highways, US routes
- Terrain & Geology
- Prairie, lakes and forest belt
- Cultural Context
- The agricultural backbone of the continent
- Typical Elevation
- 800–1,500 ft
- Traveller’s Notes
- A gentle descent back into open country
Midwest to Maryland
- Major Highways
- I-94, I-90, I-80, I-70
- Terrain & Geology
- Rolling hills folding back into Appalachian terrain
- Cultural Context
- Familiar roads that read differently on the way home
- Typical Elevation
- 500–2,000 ft
- Traveller’s Notes
- Quiet decompression after three weeks of big country
Planning This Drive Yourself
Sixteen days is enough for this loop but not generous. Ours divided as two days out to Wall, six through the American parks, five in the Canadian Rockies and three to drive home. If you have more time, the extra days belong in the Rockies; if you have fewer, cut the eastbound run by flying one leg rather than by rushing the parks.
July works because the mountain roads are open. Going-to-the-Sun Road generally clears in late June and closes in October, and Chief Mountain is a summer-only crossing — outside the season you cross at Piegan/Carway instead, which adds distance. The Icefields Parkway is open year-round, but its only fuel stop shuts in winter, which turns a scenic drive into a range calculation.
Carry passports for the border, and expect questions in both directions. Fuel discipline matters more than it looks. The Icefields Parkway, the Big Horn crossing and the prairie between Saskatoon and the border are all long enough that arriving on a quarter tank is a decision rather than an accident. Cell coverage disappears in the parks, so download offline maps before you need them.
Park passes are separate on each side of the border. The American parks take an America the Beautiful pass; Banff and Jasper need a Parks Canada pass, and you need one even to stop at a viewpoint.
What This Loop Set Up
Storm Trooper was not built for this. A first-generation Raptor is a desert truck with long-travel suspension and a thirst to match, and sixteen days of interstate is not what the engineers had in mind. It did the job anyway.
Six years later we did it again in a Toyota Tundra we call Shehzadi, starting with a 9,000-mile loop around the United States and Mexico. That one did not stop there. It became the opening leg of a Silk Road expedition across 27 countries and four continents: the Caucasus, the Maghreb, the whole of Europe, Central Asia, Tibet, and a three-month circumnavigation of India. The odometer passed 42,748 miles somewhere around the Bay of Bengal. Enough to lap the equator about 1.7 times, in a vehicle that was bought to drive to the shops.
The Raptor loop is where the method came from: drive the whole thing, stop properly, write it down in parts.
Next Stop
Start with Part 1 and read forward, or open the full route map and plot your own version. We are also on YouTube and Facebook if you want the same roads with fewer paragraphs.
