Thursday 15 January 2015

Crowfoot Ferry

This trip was a bit of a disappointment. This makes four of seven Alberta ferries I have been to.

Courtesy Google Maps. The shaded area is Siksika Nation land.
The Crowfoot Ferry crosses the Bow River and is accessed by a narrow gravel road about three miles south of the junction of Highways 1 and 56, on Range Road 201. The ferry was also closed when I got there. Some time in the past few years it was beached as a precaution against the rising flood waters of the Bow River. I read somewhere that it is supposed to be back in service in 2015 but I can't confirm that. I tried calling the government office responsible out of curiosity however no one answered my call. 

I stopped here on September 20, 2014. The road is one lane wide with one almost hairpin curve where it crosses railroad tracks. The ferry is on Siksika Nation land and I am a little surprised that it is not in service simply because it provides convenient access from the highway and I think it would be a good tourist attraction. If you walk along the riverbank you can see evidence of flood damage. It is eerily quiet here. I would have liked to get some photos from the other side of the river with some up close photos of the ferry however it is a long way around to get there, as in about forty miles and a lot of gravel road on a motorcycle. I don’t mind riding on short distances on gravel on a motorcycle but this was more than what I was willing to do at the time. I will revisit at a later date if it reopens.

Seriously closed.

Visible flood damage.

Of course the ferry would have to be on the opposite shore.
This leaves me with the Klondyke, La Crete, and Shaftebury Ferries to cross off my list in 2015 in Alberta.

1 comment:

  1. I'm pretty sure it's still closed, based on a trip there this weekend, the same barriers are in place... There was one pickup with boat trailer at the bottom, I suppose it would now make a good boat launch...

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