511 Alberta's latest word on the La Crete ferry, posted 15 October 2026, is In Service, running 24 hours a day. The province's season ends in mid-November, with no exact date announced; after that the Peace River at Tompkins Landing has no crossing until Mackenzie County opens its winter ice bridge, which last year happened on 12 December.
alberta.ca and 511 Alberta, checked 23 October 2026: 24 hours a day from mid-spring until mid-November; 2026 end date not announced. Government of Alberta – Alberta ferry schedules · 2026-10-23
Far up in north-western Alberta, the Peace River separates the farming settlements around La Crete from the Mackenzie Highway on its west side. Highway 697 bridges that gap at Tompkins Landing, but only by boat: the La Crete ferry crosses 680 metres of river, the longest crossing in Alberta's provincial ferry tables, between the County of Northern Lights on the west bank and Mackenzie County on the east.
It is also the province's heaviest-duty ferry. The alberta.ca table lists a load capacity of 95,000 kg, space for 14 mid-size cars and 60 passengers, and a crew of two. Every other provincial ferry is cable-guided or tug-pushed and rated at 62,500 kg or less; this one, built in 1987, is the only self-propelled vessel in the list.
And it is the only one that never closes for the night. Crowfoot, Bleriot and Finnegan in the south shut by midnight or earlier, Shaftesbury and Klondyke run until 11:30 p.m.; La Crete works 24 hours a day for its whole season, spring to November.
Neither alberta.ca nor 511 Alberta lists a fare for this or any of the province's six ferries, and no ticket is sold at either ramp. The clearest written hint comes from the bridge debate: a toll bridge here would be, in the Canada Infrastructure Bank's words, Alberta's first potential user-pay transportation project. We treat the ferry as free on that basis; if you want it confirmed in writing, ask the contractor.
| Car, truck or farm vehicle | Free |
| Foot passenger | Free |
No fare published by Alberta, checked 23 October 2026 Canada Infrastructure Bank – Highway 697 Toll Bridge · 2026-10-23
Upstream, the same river carries Highway 740 south of Grimshaw on the much smaller Shaftesbury ferry, a tug-pushed barge with the same contractor's phone number on the provincial list. Down in the Badlands, the Bleriot ferry on the Red Deer River is a short cable crossing with a much earlier finish: its provincial season runs only to 30 October.
From the Mackenzie Highway (Highway 35) near Paddle Prairie, Highway 697 heads north-east to the river; 511 Alberta locates the ferry on that stretch. The west ramp lies in the County of Northern Lights. Nothing is booked in advance: you drive down and wait for the boat.
The east bank, Tompkins Landing, belongs to Mackenzie County and is the side to aim for from La Crete and Buffalo Head Prairie. It is also where the county's winter ice bridge is announced as the Tompkins Crossing, so look for that name on road signs and county notices once the boat is out of the water.
The provincial page lists hours; the live In Service or closed status is on 511 Alberta's ferry list.
No date is fixed in advance. Plan any trip after the second week of November as if the ferry may already be gone.
Mackenzie County runs and announces the Tompkins Crossing ice bridge. It opened on 12 December 2025 for light traffic only, at 5 tonnes.
In 2020 the province said peak-period waits at this crossing could reach three hours.
With no ferry and no ice, La Crete is reached by road via High Level, per Wikipedia's account of local routes: north on 35, east on 58, then back south.
Call LaPrairie Group, the contractor, toll-free at 1-800-828-3908. The province also lists a local contact at 780-926-2241.
Even with a ferry in summer and an ice road in winter, this crossing is shut for part of every year. In its 2020 consultation on financing a Highway 697 bridge, the Government of Alberta said seasonal crossings here are closed 30% of the year and can mean waits of up to three hours at peak times. The bridge was costed at $200 million, was not in the 2020–23 capital plan, and was proposed as a toll bridge; the Canada Infrastructure Bank signed a memorandum with Alberta Transportation to review it. The province's engagement page still lists the results as under review.
The current vessel replaced an older ferry that, according to the Spirit of the Peace Museums, had been built in 1951 for Dunvegan and moved to Tompkins Landing after the Dunvegan bridge opened, serving here from 1961 to 1987.
511 Alberta showed it In Service on its update of 15 October 2026. The province's season runs until mid-November without a fixed date, so check 511 Alberta on the day.
Yes, around the clock for the whole season. No other Alberta ferry offers overnight service.
On Mackenzie County's Tompkins Crossing ice bridge, once it opens. In the 2025–26 season it opened on 12 December 2025 at 2 p.m., limited to 5 tonnes and light traffic. Between the end of ferry season and the ice bridge there is no crossing here.
It carries 14 mid-size cars and 60 passengers with a crew of two, up to 95,000 kg in total. The provincial table gives its length as 33.4 m and the year built as 1987.
No fare is published, and the bridge proposal was described as Alberta's first potential user-pay transport project. The crossing is used without a ticket; the contractor can confirm.
No. Alberta consulted on a $200 million toll bridge in August 2020; the engagement page still says results are under review.
The east bank, Tompkins Landing, in Mackenzie County. The west ramp, in the County of Northern Lights, leads towards Paddle Prairie and Highway 35.