Northern Woods and Water Route

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Northern Woods and Water Route
Route information
Length	2,400 km[1] (1,500 mi)
Component highways	Hwy 49, Hwy 49, Hwy 2A, Hwy 2, Hwy 55, Hwy 55, Hwy 9, PR 283, PTH 10, PTH 5, PTH 68, PTH 6
Major junctions
West end	Hwy 2 at Dawson Creek, BC
East end	PTH 101 at Winnipeg, MB
Location
Country	Canada
Provinces	British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba
Highway system

The Northern Woods and Water Route is a 2,400-kilometre (1,500 mi) route through northern British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba in Western Canada. As early as the 1950s, community groups came together to establish a northern travel route; this was proposed as the Northern Yellowhead Transportation Route. The Northern Woods and Water Route Association was established in 1974, and encouraged promotion of the route with the promise of an increase in tourist travel.^[2] The route was designated in 1974 and is well signed throughout its component highways. The route starts at Dawson Creek as the Spirit River Highway and ends at the Perimeter of Winnipeg, Manitoba, after running through the northern regions of the western provinces.^[3] From west to east, the Northern Woods and Water Route (NWWR) incorporates portions of British Columbia Highway 49; Alberta Highways 49, 2A, 2, & 55; Saskatchewan Highways 55 & 9; Manitoba Provincial Road 283 and Trunk Highways 10, 5, 68 & 6. The halfway point of the NWWR is approximately at Goodsoil, Saskatchewan.^[4]

Fur traders and early settlers utilised the rivers and Red River cart roads such as Long Trail until the early 20th century when the railroad and bush planes supplemented travel to this northern boreal transition area. Corduroy roads provided a means for early land vehicles to cross over muskeg and swamp. Horse drawn ploughs filled low areas, settlers hauled gravel and cleared bush for the road ways surveyed along high elevations following lake and river shore lines. Municipalities would grade and gravel roads providing transportation between trading centres. The all-weather road arrived alongside of the NWWR association's impetus for a travel and tourism corridor along the northern area of the western provinces. Traffic volume along the route is a major factor to determine highway classification, surface type, and construction upgrades.