Continental Divide Trail

The Continental Divide Trail (CDT), also known as the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail, is a long-distance hiking route along the Continental Divide that runs through the Rocky Mountains corridor in the western United States. It measures about 3,100 miles between Mexico and Canada, and passes through New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana.

At the ends, the southern terminus is Crazy Cook Monument in New Mexico (at the U.S.–Mexico border) and the northern terminus is the Canadian border at Glacier National Park in Montana (at the U.S.–Canada border). The trail is managed as a National Scenic Trail, with responsibilities involving the U.S. Forest Service and the Continental Divide Trail Coalition.

Route character is built around the divide: water on one side drains toward the Pacific, and water on the other drains toward the Atlantic. CDT hikers follow the divide’s spine within the United States, but there are many approved alternate routes in addition to the “official trail” alignment.

The full route is incomplete in a few places, which can require road-walking in those gaps (especially noted for New Mexico). The trail also relies heavily on off-trail movement for practical needs: resupply often means leaving the route to reach towns and lodging rather than expecting dense services right on the tread.

For long-distance planning, a thru-hike is commonly timed to match seasonal windows; most thru-hikers start in April in New Mexico and aim to finish at the Canadian border in August or September. An alternative approach (southbound) exists as well, and some hikers “flip-flop” by hiking sections out of sequence depending on conditions.

Expect permit and logistics complexity typical of multi-agency backcountry travel. There is no single long-distance permit that covers the whole CDT; long-distance travelers plan for required permits for specific areas—at minimum including backcountry camping permits for Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks. The route also crosses the Blackfeet Reservation area, which has its own recreation permit requirement described by the trail organization.

The mapped distance for this CDT route is 4802.83 km. This makes it a major multi-month commitment rather than a short hike, consistent with the CDT’s long-distance scale.

More information: Visitor information, Wikipedia, Thru-Hiking the Continental Divide Trail