The Bleriot ferry's 2026 season ends with the autumn hours to 30 October, when the province's ferry page closes the crossing for the winter; 511 Alberta still showed it in service on 26 October. It returns in mid-spring, opening at 8 a.m. daily. Crossing the Red Deer River here is free.
Hours of operation from the Government of Alberta's ferry page (8 a.m. to 11 p.m. from mid-spring to the September long weekend, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. to 30 October) and 511 Alberta (8 a.m. to 9 p.m. to 31 October); status In Service on 511 Alberta on 26 October 2026; no 2027 opening date published; checked 26 October 2026 Government of Alberta – Alberta ferry schedules, Table 1. Bleriot Ferry information · 2026-10-26
A ferry has crossed the Red Deer River at this point since 1913. Travel Drumheller records that it was built by André Bleriot and commissioned that year, and that besides carrying traffic it became a social hub for the Drumheller Valley. Wikipedia adds that it was first known as the Munson Ferry and describes Bleriot as a brother of the aviator Louis Blériot; that family link is not stated by the provincial sources, so treat it as a story rather than a record.
The boat in use today is not the original. Alberta Transportation's specification sheet gives a cable ferry built in 1997: 27.6 metres long and 10.36 metres wide, run by a single crew member, carrying up to 13 mid-size cars and 45 passengers. Like the five other ferries on Alberta's highway network, it is free.
The seasonal rhythm has shifted over the years. An archived provincial page from 2015 shows service from late April, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. in spring and autumn and to 11 p.m. in summer, ending on 23 October. By 2019 the ferry opened at 7 a.m. and ran until 30 October. In 2026 the province gives 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. from mid-spring to the September long weekend, then 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. until 30 October.
Travel Alberta, the province's tourism agency, states plainly that the Bleriot ferry is free. It is part of the provincial highway network, like the other five ferries Alberta runs, and none of them has a fare box.
| Car, truck or RV with occupants | Free |
| Foot passenger or cyclist | Free |
Travel Alberta's Bleriot Ferry listing, read 9 October 2026; no fare appears on the provincial ferry page or on 511 Alberta (checked 26 October 2026) Travel Alberta – Bleriot Ferry · 2026-10-09
The ferry carries Highway 838, the North Dinosaur Trail, across the Red Deer River near Drumheller, linking Kneehill County on the west bank with Starland County on the east. Alberta Transportation lists the crossing as 105 metres, the shortest on the provincial list, level with the Finnegan ferry, which crosses the same river on Highway 862. Travel Alberta puts the trip at about seven minutes, so a ferry pulling away as you arrive is not a long wait.
Downstream, the Red Deer runs on through the badlands and, near the Saskatchewan border, joins the South Saskatchewan River, the river that the free Lemsford ferry crosses in Saskatchewan.
Coming from Drumheller along the North Dinosaur Trail, you reach the river on the Kneehill County side. Travel Drumheller recommends the crossing as a detour that ties together the roads to Horsethief Canyon and the Orkney viewpoint, both on this stretch of the valley.
There is no ticket booth and no timetable: drive down to the ramp and wait for the ferry to come back across.
The east bank is in Starland County. 511 Alberta locates the ferry 10 km west of Munson, the hamlet that gave the crossing its first name.
After the last day of the season Highway 838 has no river crossing here, so check the status before driving out along the trail late in October.
Alberta's 511 road service flags whether the Bleriot ferry is working. It still read In Service on 26 October 2026, a few days before the autumn close.
Autumn hours end much earlier than summer's 11 p.m. Until the season closes, aim to cross before 7 p.m., the earlier of the two closing times the province publishes.
One crew member runs a deck for 13 mid-size cars and 45 passengers, with a 62,500 kg limit, the same rating as Crowfoot and Finnegan.
Emcon Services Inc. holds the contract and answers on 1-800-390-2242; the local contact listed by the province is Carson Elliot at 403-823-1788.
Alberta's ferries do not all close together. On 26 October 2026, 511 Alberta listed Crowfoot as closed for the season and La Crete as suspended for repairs, while Bleriot, Finnegan, Klondyke and the Shaftesbury crossing of the Peace were still in service; Shaftesbury and Klondyke keep going until mid-November. Farther south, on the Bow River, the Crowfoot ferry keeps the shortest season of the six, closing at noon on 30 September.
The Red Deer has a second provincial ferry. Finnegan, on Highway 862, crosses the same river over the same 105 metres with the same 62,500 kg rating, but keeps its own hours, so the two are not interchangeable on a late-season trip.
No. The province's ferry page ends the autumn season on 30 October, and the crossing then stays shut until mid-spring. On 26 October 2026, 511 Alberta still showed it in service for its final days.
Alberta's ferry page says 7 p.m. from the September long weekend to 30 October; the 511 Alberta entry says 9 p.m. until 31 October. Until this is cleared up, plan to cross before 7 p.m. or call 403-823-1788.
Nothing. Travel Alberta lists the Bleriot ferry as free, and the provincial ferry page shows no fare.
Travel Drumheller and Travel Alberta credit André Bleriot with building the ferry in 1913. Wikipedia calls him a brother of the pioneer aviator Louis Blériot; Alberta's official pages do not mention the relationship.
The deck takes vehicles up to a combined 62,500 kg and has space for 13 mid-size cars at a time. For an unusually heavy or long load, call the contractor on 1-800-390-2242 before setting off.
Take the North Dinosaur Trail, Highway 838, out of Drumheller. The ferry links the Kneehill County and Starland County sections of that road, and the trail also leads to Horsethief Canyon and the Orkney viewpoint.