[3] The highway is named for the Yellowhead Pass, the route chosen to cross the Canadian Rockies.

In the west, the highway begins at Masset, British Columbia, on Haida Gwaii, heading south along Graham Island for 101 km (63 mi) to Skidegate.

[5] The highway travels southeast for 282 km (175 mi) to Saskatoon, passing through North Battleford about halfway in between.

From Saskatoon, the Yellowhead Highway continues its southeastern journey through the province for 329 km (204 mi) to Yorkton.

Officially, the eastern end of the Yellowhead Highway is at the corner of Portage Avenue and Main Street in Winnipeg.

The Manitoba portion from the Trans-Canada Highway 10 km (6.2 mi) west of Portage la Prairie to the Saskatchewan border was designated as PTH 4 (redesignated PTH 16 in 1977), while the Saskatchewan portion (which was redesignated as Highway 16 in 1976) had two numbers designated.

[1] While the beginnings of the Yellowhead Highway can be traced back to 1819 when Iroquois Metis Pierre Bostonais, nicknamed Tête Jaune/Yellow Head, was engaged by the Hudson's Bay Company to guide them westward through the Rocky Mountains, the impetus for the building of the highway began in 1921 when a group from Edmonton formed to advocate for a driveable road from Edmonton to Jasper.

He had the idea to convert the rail bed into a road, and his proposal was endorsed by the Edmonton Automobile and Good Road Association (forerunner of today's Alberta Motor Association) and became that organizations main object of advocacy for the next fifteen years.

Therefore, a different route to Jasper was assembled from old cart path, with the club paying for some sections to be built themselves.

The prize was claimed by stunt driver Charley Neimeyer and mechanic Frank Silverthorne in an Overland in June 1922 just beating out George Gordon and J.E.

[6] Work continued on the cart path upgrades with many sections also built on rail beds without formal permission from Canadian National.