Alberta Highway 734

Forestry Trunk Road
Highway 734
Route information
Maintained by Alberta Transportation
Forestry Trunk Road (southern segment)
Length	99 km (62 mi)
South end	Hwy 40 north of Coleman
Major intersections	Hwy 532
North end	Hwy 40 / Hwy 541 west of Longview
Forestry Trunk Road (central segment)
Length	27 km (17 mi)
South end	Hwy 40 / Hwy 579 west of Water Valley
North end	Hwy 734
Highway 734
Length	268 km (167 mi)
South end	Forestry Trunk Road
Major intersections	Hwy 584 Hwy 591 Hwy 752 Hwy 11
North end	Hwy 40 south of Coalspur
Forestry Trunk Road (northern segment)
Length	168 km (104 mi)
South end	Hwy 40 at Muskeg River
North end	Hwy 43 west of Debolt
Location
Country	Canada
Province	Alberta
Specialized and rural municipalities	Crowsnest Pass, M.D. of Ranchland No. 26, Kananaskis I.D., Bighorn No. 8 M.D., Clearwater County, Yellowhead County, Greenview No. 16 M.D.
Highway system
Alberta Provincial Highway Network Provincial highways in Alberta Former
← Hwy 733 → Hwy 735

Alberta Provincial Highway No. 734, commonly referred to as Highway 734, is a highway in western Alberta, Canada that travels through the forested foothills of the Rocky Mountains. It used to be part of Forestry Trunk Road and is still colloquially referred to as such.

It is preceded by the remaining central segment of Forestry Trunk Road, Highway 734 begins south of the Red Deer River to the southwest of Sundre, and is succeeded by Highway 40, which also used to be part of Forestry Trunk Road. The highway ends north of the Pembina River.

Forestry Trunk Road was a north-south resource road that ran from the Crowsnest Highway (Highway 3) in southern Alberta to Highway 43 in northern Alberta. Over time, some segments of the road have been designated as parts of Highway 40 or Highway 734, while the northernmost segment between Highway 40 and Highway 43 is no longer named Forestry Trunk Road.

Two segments of Forestry Trunk Road remain – a southern segment from the Municipality of Crowsnest Pass to Highway 541 to the southwest of Longview, and a short central segment from Highway 579 west of Cremona to south of the Red Deer River. The southern segment is preceded and succeeded by the first and second segments of Highway 40 respectively, while the central segment is preceded by the third segment of Highway 40 and succeeded by Highway 734.

Route description

Highway 734 through the Foothills, southbound, north of Nordegg

View from Highway 734 after crossing Corkscrew Mountain in May 2017

The southern remaining segment of Forestry Trunk Road begins 3.8 km (2.4 mi) north of the Crowsnest Highway (Highway 3) as a continuation of the southernmost segment of Highway 40. Over its 99 km (62 mi) length, the gravel road provides access to numerous public campgrounds, crosses the Oldman River, and intersects with Highway 532. It also passes near the Bob Creek Wildland Provincial Park, Livingstone Falls, and the Don Getty Wildland Provincial Park before ending at its intersection with Highway 541 and the second segment of Highway 40, which was part of Forestry Trunk Road before being designated a provincial highway.

Another former segment of Forestry Trunk Road, now the third segment of Highway 40, begins at Highway 1A to the west of Cochrane and ends 46 km (29 mi) later at an intersection with Highway 579. Highway 40 continues as the central remaining segment of Forestry Trunk Road for 27 km (17 mi) to a point 8 km (5.0 mi) prior to the Red Deer River. The road then continues for 268 km (167 mi) as Highway 734 to north of the Pembina River, north of the Elk River Indian reserve, where it becomes the fourth segment of Highway 40.

Over its course, the central segment of Forestry Trunk Road combined with Highway 734 provides access to Ram Falls Provincial Park and numerous campgrounds, and intersects Highway 579, Highway 584, Highway 591, Highway 752, and Highway 11 (David Thompson Highway) west of Nordegg. This stretch also crosses the Red Deer, James, Clearwater, Ram, North Saskatchewan, Blackstone, Brazeau, and Pembina rivers.

Major intersections

Starting from the south end of Highway 40:

Rural/specialized municipality	Location	km	mi	Destinations	Notes
Crowsnest Pass	Coleman	0	0.0	Hwy 3 (Crowsnest Highway) – Lethbridge, Fort Macleod, Fernie, Cranbrook	As Hwy 40
↑ / ↓	​	3.8	2.4	Municipal boundary —
M. D. of Ranchland No. 66	​	33	21	Township Road 104A – Bob Creek Wildland Provincial Park	Former Hwy 517
Kananaskis I.D. (Kananaskis Country)	​	72	45	Hwy 532 east – Chain Lakes Provincial Park
	​	105	65	Hwy 541 east – Longview Hwy 40 north – Kananaskis Village
150 km (93 mi) gap
Rocky View County	​	254	158	Hwy 1A (Bow Valley Trail) – Canmore, Cochrane, Calgary	South end of Hwy 40 concurrency
M.D. of Bighorn No. 8	Waiparous	271	168	Hummingbird Lane
	​	300	190	Hwy 579 east – Water Valley, Cremona	North end of Hwy 40 concurrency
↑ / ↓	​	326	203	Municipal boundary — Hwy 734 south end
Clearwater County	​	378	235	Hwy 584 east – Sundre
	​	399	248	Hwy 591 east – Caroline
	​	425	264	Hwy 752 north – Rocky Mountain House
	Nordegg	515	320	Hwy 11 – Saskatchewan River Crossing, Rocky Mountain House, Red Deer
Yellowhead County	Elk River I.R. 233	583	362	Lodgepole-Lovett Forestry Road
	​	593	368	Crosses Lovett River — Hwy 734 north end • Hwy 40 south end
	Coalspur	626	389	Hwy 47 north – Robb, Edson Hwy 40 north – Cadomin, Hinton
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Closed/former       Concurrency terminus       Route transition