Highway 3 (Crowsnest) Road Conditions in British Columbia

7 current reports along the route. The 1 most serious are listed below. Always check with DriveBC before setting off.

• Lanes blocked

  Road work on Highway 3

  Paving operations from Highway 3, In Hope and First Avalanche Gate to Exit 171: Old Hope Princeton Way. Starting Mon Aug 31 until Wed Sep 30. From 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM PDT, Monday to Saturday. Watch for traffic control. Last update: September 2nd, 2026 at 8:11am PDT. Watch for crews and equipment working. Speeds reduced to 60km/h through work zones. Detours will be in effect for off and on-ramp closures when night work takes place.

  Lower Mainland District • Westbound • BC • Until Oct 1, 1:00 AM Details

Winter tire and chain requirements on Highway 3

Highway 3 is a designated winter tire and chain route. Winter tires are required on it every year from October 1 to April 30, whatever the forecast on the day: a legal winter tire in BC carries either the letters M and S (mud and snow, the legal minimum, which includes many all-season tires) or the three-peaked mountain and snowflake symbol, and has at least 3.5 mm of tread. The province notes that mountain-snowflake tires grip better on snow and ice. Passenger vehicles may add chains or other traction devices to their winter tires; chains alone are not a substitute for them.

Commercial vehicles between 5,000 and 11,794 kg licensed GVW must carry chains or traction devices, or run winter-rated tires; vehicles of 11,794 kg and over must carry steel chains on most major highways from October 1 to April 30 and install them where the chain-up signs say so. Not carrying chains where required is a $196 fine; driving past an active chain-up area is $598.

The full rule, the fines and the exceptions are on the British Columbia page. Source: gov.bc.ca, Tire and Chain Requirements, checked September 8, 2026. What is in force today — a chain-up, a closure — is on DriveBC ↗.

Segments and what to expect

Highway 3 is not one road in winter but seven, and the names below are the ones drivers and DriveBC use for them. The elevations are the province's own, from its cameras at the places named.

1. Hope to Allison Pass to 1,342 m

   The Hope-Princeton climbs past the Hope Slide (734 m) into Manning Park and over Allison Pass at 1,342 m. The wettest, snowiest part of the road, and the part that closes for avalanche control and slides.

2. Allison Pass to Princeton 1,342 m → 700 m

   Through Manning Park and over Sunday Summit (1,289 m) before the long drop into the dry Similkameen at Princeton (700 m). Two summits, not one: a car that made Allison Pass still has Sunday Summit to come.

3. Princeton to Osoyoos from 700 m

   Down the Similkameen through Keremeos and over Richter Pass to Osoyoos, the warmest, driest valley in the province. Ice rather than snow, mostly on the north-facing bends.

4. Anarchist Summit: Osoyoos to Rock Creek to 1,139 m

   The long switchback climb out of Osoyoos to Anarchist Summit (1,139 m at the camera), then the Kettle River valley through Rock Creek and Greenwood to Eholt Summit (1,000 m) and Grand Forks.

5. Paulson Summit: Grand Forks to Castlegar to 1,529 m

   Bonanza Pass, signed as Paulson Summit (1,529 m at the camera) — the second-highest point on the road and one of the snowiest — then down to the Columbia at Castlegar (575 m).

6. Kootenay Pass: Salmo to Creston 671 m → 1,775 m

   Over Bombi Pass (1,215 m) to Salmo (671 m), then the 1,775 m Kootenay Pass, the highest all-weather highway pass in the province, with avalanche gates at both ends, and down to Creston (586 m). When the gates close, the way round is the Kootenay Lake ferry.

7. Creston to Crowsnest Pass from 586 m

   East through Cranbrook (923 m) and Fernie up the Elk Valley to the Alberta line at Crowsnest Pass: Mountain time from Creston on, and the Rocky Mountain snow rather than the Kootenay kind.

Passes and summits on Highway 3

The places on this road that are a different drive from the valleys either side: each has its own page with the summit readings, the six-day forecast and the rule in force there.

• Kootenay Pass weather — 1,775 m
• Allison Pass weather — 1,342 m

Closures that have shaped Highway 3

Not a log of every hour DriveBC has shut a lane — the events that say what kind of road this is, each with the source it comes from.

• 16 December 2025 – 27 December 2025

  Heavy rain on 16 December 2025 undermined and washed away a 50 m section of the highway 42 km east of the Highway 3/5 junction, closing Hope to Princeton until an interim alignment opened between Boxing Day and New Year at 30 km/h, initially for passenger vehicles only. Source: BC Gov News, 21 December 2025.

• 20 March 2025 – 26 March 2025

  Kootenay Pass closed numerous times in the week to 26 March 2025 as freezing rain and snow raised the avalanche risk; control work finished at 3 p.m. on the 26th. The alternate route was Highway 3A and the Kootenay Lake ferry, at about two and a half hours with crew shortages on the boats. Source: Cranbrook Daily Townsman, 27 March 2025.

• 14 November 2021 – 20 December 2021

  After the storms of 14 November 2021 took out the Coquihalla and the Fraser Canyon, Highway 3 between Hope and Princeton reopened on 29 November for essential travel only under an order made through the Emergency Program Act — for three weeks the only road between the Lower Mainland and the Interior. Source: BC Gov News, 29 November 2021.

Alternate routes when Highway 3 is closed

• If Allison Pass, Hope to Princeton is closed: Highway 5 to Merritt, then 5A to Princeton — about 1 h longer than the direct road when both are open, 215 km against 133 km. Up the Coquihalla and back down the Nicola Valley on 5A. Longer than it looks on the map, and the Coquihalla is often shut by the same storm.
• If Kootenay Pass, Salmo to Creston is closed: Highway 3A and the Kootenay Lake ferry — about 2 h 40 min longer than the direct road when both are open, 165 km against 83 km. North to Nelson, along the west arm to Balfour, the free ferry across to Kootenay Bay, then down the east shore to Creston. The sailing is 35 minutes and the boats run to a timetable, so the time depends on the one you catch.

Distances and times are measured over openrouteservice on a clear road; a closure day is not one, because the detour carries the closed road's traffic too. What is closed right now is on DriveBC ↗.

Related roads

Highway 3 Winter Driving FAQ

How long is the Hope-Princeton on Highway 3?

About 133 km and a little over an hour and a half on a clear road, measured over openrouteservice, over two summits: Allison Pass at 1,342 m, 58 km from Hope, and Sunday Summit at 1,289 m, 30 km before Princeton. In snow the two summits are two separate chances of a slow or closed road.

Is Kootenay Pass open all winter?

Yes, it is kept open all year — the highest highway pass in BC that is — but it closes for avalanche control, planned for a few hours with a day's notice and unplanned when a storm raises the hazard, as it did repeatedly in the week to 26 March 2025. The way round is Highway 3A and the free Kootenay Lake ferry, about 2 h 40 min longer.

Are winter tires required on Highway 3?

Yes, along its whole length: Highway 3 is a designated winter tire route from October 1 to April 30. A car needs M+S or mountain-snowflake tires with at least 3.5 mm of tread; a truck over 11,794 kg carries steel chains and puts them on at the chain-up signs on Allison Pass, Anarchist Summit, Paulson Summit and Kootenay Pass.

What happens to Highway 3 when the Coquihalla closes?

It fills up. Highway 3 is the province's fallback between the coast and the Interior: after the floods of November 2021 it was for three weeks the only road, open to essential travel under an emergency order. The same Pacific storm usually reaches Allison Pass as well, so check both before choosing it.

How many summits are there on Highway 3 across BC?

Seven that matter in winter, west to east: Allison Pass (1,342 m), Sunday Summit (1,289 m), Anarchist Summit (1,139 m at the camera), Eholt Summit (1,000 m), Paulson Summit (1,529 m), Bombi Pass (1,215 m) and Kootenay Pass (1,775 m). A drive from Hope to Cranbrook climbs and descends more than a kilometre five times.