Fort McMurray

Fort McMurray is the largest community in the Athabasca Oil Sands in Alberta. It lost its city status in 1995 when it merged with a large rural area to form the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo and its fortunes have risen and fallen in lockstep with the price of Alberta crude oil; its structures were decimated by a May 2016 wildfire.

Understand

Fort McMurray was established as a Hudson's Bay Company post by 1870; the Alberta and Great Waterways Railway arrived in 1915 complementing existing steamboat service. By 1966, this tiny town had 2000 people.

Since then, the fate of Fort McMurray has been closely tied to that of Canada's oil sands industry. Suncor, Syncrude, Albian Sands, CNRL, OptiNexen and Deer Creek operate oil sands camps north and southeast of town. When world oil prices were high, population rose (an estimated 88,000 people) while housing costs and average wages in "Fort McMoney" skyrocketed. When the price of oil cratered in 2015, many workers who had come from as far afield as Newfoundland quietly packed their bags for home.

In May 2016, the entire city population was evacuated due to wildfires which destroyed a substantial part of town. At least 2432 buildings in the city were destroyed and another 530 damaged, leaving a ghost town with 25,000 buildings still standing. A skeleton thousand-person workforce remained to provide emergency first response and repairs to primary infrastructure. Townsfolk began to return in June 2016, but the worst-hit areas remained closed.

As of 2018, a fifth of the destroyed houses had been rebuilt.

A spring flood caused by ice jams had 13,000 people, a fifth of the population, evacuated in 2020.

Districts

The least-damaged neighbourhoods include:

  • Downtown, or Lower Townsite, is the centre of action that takes place in the town. Fairly easy to navigate, the main thoroughfare is the ever so congested Franklin Avenue. Most of the city's services are here. You can expect to find the box-stores here, restaurants, clubs, shopping malls, and more.
  • Gregoire - A combination of trailer parks, condos, and retail. There are a few restaurants and stores in this neighbourhood, as well as a selection of both hotels and motels. This and Downtown are the only parts of Fort McMurray with hotels.
  • Thickwood, or Thickwood Heights is a large subdivision with approximately 20,000 people making it the second largest subdivision in FortMac. One can expect to find it very similar to Downtown. The main road is Thickwood Blvd.
  • Dickinsfield - Primarily residential with several services.

These areas have experienced a moderate amount of damage:

  • Wood Buffalo - Primarily residential with several services, a newer area of town.
  • Timberlea - The largest subdivision in FortMac with approximately 35,000 people. Most of the new construction in town takes place in this area. Mostly residential, however several supermarkets, restaurants and stores have opened. Includes many smaller "sub"-subdivisions such as Lakewood, Parsons Creek and Confederation Heights.

These areas appear to be extensively damaged or destroyed:

  • Beacon Hill - A primarily residential community, had some stores and an arena.
  • Waterways - The oldest part of FortMac. A primarily residential community, had some stores. Likely to be the last to rebuild, as this is flood plain.
  • Abasand Heights - Primarily residential with several services.

Google has posted a crisis map; areas in red indicate buildings completely destroyed.

Get in

Airport

Individual oil sands camps operate on-site airstrips which are often large enough to accommodate jet aircraft; these offer no public scheduled services. Oil companies typically charter flights, usually from Edmonton, to transport large groups of workers to the job site.

Airlines

By car

Highway 63 is the main road to Fort McMurray, about 450 km (280 mi) northeast of Edmonton, and can be accessed from the Edmonton Region via Highway 28. It is paralleled by Highway 881 for about 200 km (120 mi). Portions of the road remain one lane in each direction; Highway 63 north of Grassland has been twinned, but elsewhere, it remains one lane. While large, wide loads and truck traffic both use the highway, traffic counts are low except Thursday nights (southbound) and Sunday afternoons/evenings (northbound).

Highway 63 has become notorious for vehicle accidents, though fatalities have significantly dropped since twinning. Many people commute to the oil sands from communities south, adding to the strain. Most structures for the oil sands are built in Edmonton and trucked up north, which can take up the entire highway.

By train

Passenger rail service ended in 1986. While there's been some talk about upgrading the existing rail freight corridor, there's no real prospect of bringing back passenger trains.

By bus
  • Cold Shot, ☏ +1 587-557-7719, . Operates bus services primarily in Alberta with some service reaching British Columbia. (updated Feb 2021) Operates the following routes to Fort McMurray:
    • Between Fort McMurray and Edmonton including a stop in Athabasca. Travel time to Fort McMurray from Athabasca is 3.25 hours and from Edmonton is 5.25 hours. Operates several days per week.
    • Between Fort McMurray and Edmonton including a stop in Redwater. Travel time to Fort McMurray from Redwater is 4.25 hours, and from Edmonton is 5.25 hours. Operates several days per week.
  • Ebus, toll-free: +1 877-769-3287. Operates several routes in British Columbia and Alberta. (updated Mar 2022) Operates a route between Fort McMurray and Edmonton including a stop in Gibbons. Travel time to Fort McMurray from Edmonton is 4.5 hours. Operates three days per week.
  • Red Arrow, toll-free: +1-800-232-1958, . Operates premium service in Alberta featuring spacious seating (only three seats to a row) and workstation seats with electrical connections for business travelers and their computers. Sister brand Ebus serves most of the same destinations in standard motorcoaches for a lower fare. (updated May 2022) Operates a route between Fort McMurray and Edmonton including a stop in Gibbons. Travel time to Fort McMurray from Edmonton is 4.5hours. Operates daily.

Get around

Fort McMurray is a loose cluster of several dozen subdivisions, many having only one entry/exit. Most subdivisions are pedestrian friendly, however to travel from one part of town to the other end, a vehicle is definitely recommended.

Fort McMurray has an extensive public transit system, Wood Buffalo Transit, with 16 routes that reach all areas of the city. The cash fare (April 2023) is $2, seniors (65+) and children under 5 ride free. A rural bus service also runs to Anzac, Gregoire Lakes, Janvier, Conklin, and Fort McKay.

Taxi cabs are easily available. Taxi cab companies include:

See
  • 🌍 Oil Sands Discovery Centre, 515 MacKenzie Blvd, ☏ +1 780-743-7167. Off season: Tu-Su 10AM-4PM; mid-May to early Sep: daily 9AM-5PM. History of the oil sands and the rapid pace of development north of the city, exhibits of machines used to process the oil and opportunities to see how oil sand is mined and converted into product. $8/person, $25/family, 20% CAA/AAA discount. 
    • Fort McMurray Tourism (located in the Oil Sands Discovery Centre), ☏ +1-800-565-3947. Schedules tours of Syncrude or Suncor, the main oil sand plants, from May to September. Reservations are required 24 hours in advance (one week to 10 days advance booking recommended). Children under 12 are not allowed on the tour. 
  • 🌍 Fort McMurray Heritage Village, 1 Tolen Dr, ☏ +1 780-791-7575. Collection of buildings, some dating back a century, each one inviting visitors to experience a different aspect of Fort McMurray’s past. Includes a Heritage Shipyard, commemorating rail cars that would arrive to unload their supplies and transferred to ships that traveled up the Athabasca River, distributing goods to remote communities as far north as the Arctic. (updated May 2020)
  • Aurora Borealis, the "Northern Lights" are a must see in Fort McMurray.

Buy

Souvenirs of Fort McMurray and the oil sands can be found at the Discovery Centre and specialty retail outlets. Some places, you can purchase small vials of actual oil sand, and different products that are associated with the process all the way to the final product - synthetic crude.

Fort McMurray has several shopping areas and malls.

Eat

Various national chains are present, including Boston Pizza, Earls Kitchen + Bar, The Keg Steakhouse and Montana's.

Drink

The legal drinking age in Alberta is 18.

Sleep

Budget
  • 🌍 McMurray Inn, 9906 Saunderson Ave, ☏ +1 780-743-1700. 
  • 🌍 Oil Sands Hotel, 10007 Franklin Ave, ☏ +1 780-743-2211. Diggers, Oil Can Tavern, Teasers are in the hotel; Diggers is a typical nightclub music bar, Oil Can has live country music and Teasers has nude dancers. 

Mid-range

Splurge

Respect

Don't call them the "tar sands". That term is considered to be pejorative.

Stay safe

Fort McMurray can be known for its brutally cold winters. Temperatures can sometimes drop to -35° or -45°C. It is very important that your vehicle is winterised and the engine block heater plugged in. Don't forget to bundle up!

When in Fort McMurray, be bear aware. Any open or accessible food or garbage will attract black bears, many of them displaced from their usual habitats by the May 2016 wildfire. Alberta Fish and Wildlife's "report a poacher" snitch line (☏ +1 403-297-6423 or ☏ +1-800-642-3800) is accepting reports of bear sightings in populated areas.

Go next

North of Fort McMurray

Given Fort McMurray's rather isolated location, there is relatively little further north. The oil sands camps are large but self-contained. There is one small village accessible on Highway 63.

  • Fort McKay – a small First Nations (Aboriginal) community (population 740) 55 km north, the last community of any size on the highway.

It is possible to continue further north on the Athabasca River to the Slave River by boat (in summer); there's an ice road in winter.

  • Fort Chipewyan – also known as Fort Chip, is 250 km (160 mi) north of Fort Mac. Travel by road is only permitted in winter as there are ice crossings.
  • Fort Smith (NWT) and Wood Buffalo National Park – 260 km (160 mi) beyond Fort Chipewyan, direct travel by road is only possible in winter; there are all-season roads through Athabasca-Slave Lake-Hay River-Wood Buffalo National Park, but from Fort Mac that is the 1,300 km (810 mi) "long way around".

South of Fort McMurray

The trip from Fort McMurray to Edmonton is about 440 km.

For the first 25 km (16 mi), Highway 63 represents a single point of failure for all traffic out of Fort McMurray. It runs south through forest, intersecting Highway 55 250 km (160 mi) later at between Athabasca and Lac La Biche. The next settlement on the main road is Wandering River, a tiny hamlet 200 km (120 mi) south of Fort Mac.

Highway 881 splits from the main road 25 km (16 mi) south of Fort Mac to go east through Anzac then south to Lac La Biche. The small hamlet of Anzac (pop 750, about 20 km (12 mi) down Hwy 881) offers country-style living, services including a general store and proximity to the Long Lake oilsands project. Highway 881 continues south through mostly forest with few, tiny hamlets such as Janvier and Conklin with at most a few hundred people each.

A winter road runs from Highway 881 65 km (40 mi) east to northern Saskatchewan, where it becomes Route 956 (unpaved, all-weather) and First Nations community of La Loche (population 2,800). Taking this journey is only possible in the winter; the all-season roads through Lac La Biche-Cold Lake-Meadow Lake is 930 km (580 mi).

Routes through Fort McMurray
END ← Fort McKay ←  N  S  → Jct W E → Redwater → Edmonton via


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