The Crowfoot ferry is closed for the season: Alberta's crossings list says it works only from 1 May to noon on 30 September, and 511 Alberta has shown it as Closed For Season since 2 October 2026. When it returns, it shuttles between 7 a.m. and midnight whenever traffic is waiting, and the province lists no fare.
Operating rule from the Government of Alberta ferry page (7 a.m. to midnight daily, 1 May to noon on 30 September) and 511 Alberta status Closed For Season, updated 2 October 2026; no separate 2027 notice published; checked 26 October 2026 Government of Alberta – Alberta ferry schedules, Table 2. Crowfoot Ferry information · 2026-10-26
Of the six ferries in Alberta's highway network, Crowfoot keeps the shortest calendar. The province runs it from 1 May until noon on 30 September, while the Klondyke and the two Peace River ferries keep going into mid-November. Anyone driving Range Road 201 in October therefore meets a crossing that has already closed for the year.
The season is short, but the days are long: 7 a.m. until midnight, every day of the week, on demand. A single operator handles the deck, built in 1992, which carries nine mid-size cars and 45 people per trip.
A crossing has stood here a long time. Wikipedia dates the first Crowfoot ferry to 1927 and says the 2013 Alberta floods damaged it so badly that it stayed out of the water for four years during the rebuild; the Alberta Motor Association gives the same four-year figure. Both describe it as the only provincial ferry on First Nations land: it lies within the Siksika 146 reserve, some 100 km away from Calgary.
Nothing to pay and no booking to make. The Government of Alberta counts Crowfoot among its highway ferries, and its listing carries no fare; the Alberta Motor Association calls all six provincial ferries free to use. That is the motoring association's wording rather than a line from the province, but no official source mentions a charge.
| Car, pickup or RV with everyone aboard | Free |
| On foot or by bicycle | Free |
No fare appears on the Government of Alberta ferry page or on 511 Alberta (read 26 October 2026); the Alberta Motor Association's guide to the six provincial ferries describes them as free to use AMA Insider – Alberta's ferries · 2026-10-23
Crowfoot carries Range Road 201 over the Bow River, linking Wheatland County on the Trans-Canada side with Vulcan County to the south. The provincial ferry table gives the crossing as 150 metres, longer than the 105 metres of the two Red Deer River ferries and far shorter than the stretches of the Peace crossed in the north.
The hull is a twin of the Bleriot ferry near Drumheller: both measure 27.6 by 10.36 metres and both are rated for 62,500 kg, yet Crowfoot is cleared for nine mid-size cars against Bleriot's thirteen. Bleriot dates from 1997, Crowfoot from 1992.
This is the side you reach from the Trans-Canada. The province pins the crossing to Range Road 201, roughly 5 km south of the point where Highway 56 meets the Trans-Canada, and 511 Alberta adds that it lies west of Bassano.
Between October and the end of April the cable ferry is out of service, so a route that relies on Range Road 201 to cross the Bow will not work in those months.
On the far side, Range Road 201 continues into Vulcan County. Both ramps sit on reserve land of the Siksika Nation, according to Wikipedia and the Alberta Motor Association; treat the roads around the crossing as you would any community's streets.
No timetable is posted at either ramp. In season, pull up and the operator brings the deck across to you.
From noon on 30 September to 1 May the road ends at the river. Satellite navigation may still offer the crossing; ignore it outside the season.
The provincial road-information service shows each ferry's status. On 26 October 2026 Crowfoot read Closed For Season, last changed on 2 October.
Once open, the ferry runs until midnight, an hour later than the Bleriot ferry's summer close and on a par with Finnegan's early-season hours.
Volker Stevin Highways Ltd., the contractor, answers on 1-888-877-6237; Alberta's own ferry office is on 780-415-1030, weekdays 8:15 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
The 2026 shutdown went as planned. 511 Alberta flagged the crossing Closed For Season on 2 October; on 26 October the same list still showed Klondyke, Shaftesbury, Finnegan and Bleriot in service, each on its own autumn timetable, while La Crete was suspended for repairs. For a crossing that runs into November, the Shaftesbury ferry over the Peace operates until mid-November.
Crowfoot has no winter substitute: no ice road, no tramway. The province does not publish a detour, so out of season plan a route across the Bow by bridge before leaving Highway 1.
No. Its season ends at midday on 30 September; 511 Alberta has listed it as Closed For Season since 2 October 2026.
Alberta's published rule is 1 May. The province has not issued a separate 2027 notice, so confirm on 511 Alberta at the end of April.
Daily between 7 a.m. and midnight, crossing whenever traffic is waiting. Nothing is timetabled.
Loads up to 62,500 kg are allowed, with room for nine mid-size cars. If your load is oversized, phone Volker Stevin Highways on 1-888-877-6237 first.
The province locates the ferry on Range Road 201, about 5 km south of the Highway 1 and Highway 56 crossroads; 511 Alberta places it west of Bassano.
According to Wikipedia and the Alberta Motor Association, the June 2013 floods badly damaged the crossing, and it took four years to rebuild before service resumed.
No. Bleriot keeps going until the end of October, a month after Crowfoot's noon close on 30 September.