Alberta Provincial Highway No. 734, commonly referred to as Highway 734, is a highway in western

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, Canada that travels through the forested foothills of the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in ...

. 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 The Red Deer River is a river in Alberta and a small portion of Saskatchewan, Canada. It is a major tributary of the South Saskatchewan River and is part of the larger Saskatchewan-Nelson system that empties into Hudson Bay. 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 Pembina River may refer to: *Pembina River (Alberta), a river in central Alberta, Canada *Pembina River (Manitoba – North Dakota) The Pembina River is a tributary of the Red River of the North, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. Nationa ...

. Forestry Trunk Road was a north-south resource road that ran from the

Crowsnest Highway The Crowsnest Highway is an east-west highway in British Columbia and Alberta, Canada. It stretches across the southern portions of both provinces, from Hope, British Columbia to Medicine Hat, Alberta, providing the shortest highway connection b ...

( Highway 3) in

southern Alberta Southern Alberta is a region located in the Canadian province of Alberta. In 2004, the region's population was approximately 272,017.Highway 43 in

northern Alberta Northern Alberta is a geographic region located in the Canadian province of Alberta. An informally defined cultural region, the boundaries of Northern Alberta are not fixed. Under some schemes, the region encompasses everything north of the cent ...

. 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 Cremona (, also ; ; lmo, label= Cremunés, Cremùna; egl, Carmona) is a city and ''comune'' in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po river in the middle of the ''Pianura Padana'' ( Po Valley). It is the capital of th ...

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

The southern remaining segment of Forestry Trunk Road begins north of the Crowsnest Highway (Highway 3) as a continuation of the southernmost segment of Highway 40. Over its length, the gravel road provides access to numerous public campgrounds, crosses the

Oldman River The Oldman River is a river in southern Alberta, Canada. It flows roughly west to east from the Rocky Mountains, through the communities of Fort Macleod, Lethbridge, and on to Grassy Lake, where it joins the Bow River to form the South Saskatche ...

, and intersects with Highway 532. It also passes near the

Bob Creek Wildland Provincial Park Bob Creek Wildland Provincial Park is a wildland provincial park located in the Ranchland Municipal District, in southern Alberta, Canada. It was established on 12 May 1999 and is in area. The park is located approximately west of Claresholm a ...

, 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 later at an intersection with Highway 579. Highway 40 continues as the central remaining segment of Forestry Trunk Road for to a point prior to the Red Deer River. The road then continues for 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 Nordegg is a hamlet in west-central Alberta, Canada within Clearwater County. It is located in the North Saskatchewan River valley in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies, just east of the intersection of the David Thompson Highway and the Hig ...

. This stretch also crosses the Red Deer,

James James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

Clearwater Clearwater or Clear Water may refer to: Places Canada * Clear Water Academy, a private Catholic school located in Calgary, Alberta * Clearwater (provincial electoral district), a former provincial electoral district in Alberta * Clearwater, Briti ...

Ram Ram, ram, or RAM may refer to: Animals * A male sheep * Ram cichlid, a freshwater tropical fish People * Ram (given name) * Ram (surname) * Ram (director) (Ramsubramaniam), an Indian Tamil film director * RAM (musician) (born 1974), Dutch * ...

North Saskatchewan The North Saskatchewan River is a glacier-fed river that flows from the Canadian Rockies continental divide east to central Saskatchewan, where it joins with the South Saskatchewan River to make up the Saskatchewan River. Its water flows eventua ...

, Blackstone, Brazeau, and Pembina rivers.

Major intersections

Starting from the south end of Highway 40:

References

{{Alberta Provincial Highways, Hwy=yes, 2ndHwy=yes 734