The Calgary and Edmonton Trail was a

land transport Land transport is the transport or movement of people, animals or goods from one location to another location on land. The two main forms of land transport can be considered to be rail transport and road transport. Systems Several systems of lan ...

route between Fort Edmonton and Fort Calgary in the

Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories (abbreviated ''NT'' or ''NWT''; french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest, formerly ''North-Western Territory'' and ''North-West Territories'' and namely shortened as ''Northwest Territory'') is a federal territory of Canada. ...

. Prior to European contact, there was already a route through the area that local Indigenous peoples used to travel from the Shortgrass Prairies in the south to the Aspen Parkland in the north and back. After a fur trade post was established at Fort Edmonton, these trails became part of the massive fur-trading transportation network that European companies used to export furs from the interior to the coasts and on to Europe. The northern portion of trail to Fort Edmonton was traveled by David Thompson in 1800. The more modern trail was

blazed Trail blazing or way marking is the practice of marking paths in outdoor recreational areas with signs or markings that follow each other at certain, though not necessarily exactly defined, distances and mark the direction of the trail. A blaz ...

by John McDougall in 1873 as far as Morley and extended to Calgary two years later. Development of the trail allowed mail service between Calgary and Edmonton in July 1883.

Name and namesakes

Alberta Highway 2 is now the main route from Edmonton to Calgary. Most of it bears the name "

Queen Elizabeth II Highway Alberta Provincial Highway No. 2, commonly referred to as Highway 2 or the Queen Elizabeth II Highway, is a major highway in Alberta that stretches from the Canada–United States border through Calgary and Edmonton to Grande Pra ...

", but some sections are named in honour of the old trail, as are other roads leading in the same direction. Heading south from Edmonton, the trail was called "Calgary Trail". Calgary Trail now refers to the southbound portion of Highway 2 within the boundaries of the city of Edmonton. Heading north from Calgary, the trail bore the name "

Edmonton Trail Edmonton Trail is a major north-south arterial road in the northeast quadrant of Calgary, Alberta. The road connects Downtown Calgary from Reconciliation Bridge (formerly called the Langevin Bridge) and the 5th Avenue Flyover at Memorial Drive wi ...

". That name now refers to a north–south feeder road in Calgary approximately 1 km west of the current Highway 2 and approximately 0.25 km east of Centre Street North. A segment of the old trail through the city of Airdrie is also called Edmonton Trail.

References

History of Alberta Historic trails and roads in Alberta District of Alberta Pre-Columbian trails and roads {{Alberta-stub

Name and namesakes

See also

References