Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
CONTINENTAL DIVIDE TRAIL ALLIANCE
blaze a new trail
NEW MEXICO, COLORADO, WYOMING, IDAHO, MONTANA
Few have ever had the opportunity to be a part of something as grand as
the creation of a pristine trail across America's most precious landscape. In
creating the CDT, we are providing the public an opportunity to taste his-
tory.
—Steve Fausel, CDTA honorary board cochair
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In 1978 Congress officially opened a new hiking trail to join the great American treks
that already included the Appalachian Trail, the Pacific Rim Trail, and other long interstate
trails that only the most avid outdoorsperson would ever consider undertaking in their entirety.
The Continental Divide Trail stretches from Canada to Mexico. It crosses five states, three
national parks (including Yellowstone), 20 wilderness areas, and five very distinct ecosystems.
Measuring 3,100 miles in length, it's the longest of all trails in the U.S. trail system. It has
been dubbed “the king of trails” and “the backbone of America.” It's also received a few other
choice epithets bestowed by would-be thru-hikers who are forced to bail out before finishing.
Given its seriously rough terrain, only a couple dozen hikers are able to traverse it from end to
end each year. To give you some perspective, 800 people—out of the 4,000 who try—succeed
in thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail in an average year. But that doesn't mean you can't tackle
one gorgeous segment or another—the Bridger Wilderness section in Wyoming, for instance,
or Baker Gulch in Rocky Mountain National Park.
So what's the problem? The Continental Divide Trail isn't finished yet. Congress, while
acknowledging that the trail is worthy of preserving, didn't allocate enough funds to complete
it. Nearly 1,400 miles of the proposed route are yet to be built. People who do attempt to thru-
hike it end up following paved roads or, worse, lost in the woods.
To remedy such Hansel-and-Gretel mishaps, the Continental Divide Trail Alliance
(CDTA), a nonprofit organization formed in 1995, has come up with a plan to finish the trail
by 2008, just in time for its 30th anniversary (and even if the trail is finished by then, there will
be trail maintenance for eternities). The group's challenge is to stitch together existing seg-
