Cordillera Great Traverse Trail

Cordillera Great Traverse Trail (CGT) is a documented long-distance hiking route in Northern Luzon that connects major mountain trails across the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), running from Apayao (often starting in Conner) to Camp John Hay in Baguio City.

The full traverse is about 444 km and was completed in an original 17-day push, aimed at extended multi-week trekking rather than a short itinerary.

CGT links a chain of high peaks and destinations in the region, including Mount Pulag (2,922 MASL), Mount Amuyao, Mount Ugo, Mount Napulauan, and Mount Purgatory, stitched through multiple connecting routes.

Route character is based on steep ridges and heavy hiking terrain: dense mountain forests, river crossings, and indigenous communities along the way.

The 2015 expedition profile for CGT reported 5,891 m of ascent and 5,196 m of descent, with a recorded high point reaching about 1,845 MASL at the frontier of Mountain Province (near the Mountain Province transition area).

Planning the CGT means moving between many jump-offs and major destinations through multiple provinces—Apayao, Kalinga, Abra, Mountain Province, Ifugao, Benguet—before finishing in Baguio City.

The route is mapped and maintained as a named long-distance walking route and is intended for experienced trekkers; it’s classified at a demanding-mountain-hiking level in the route data set and marked as hard for long-distance hiking.

The official project site for the CGT is http://cordilleragreattraverse.com/ for current background and updates on the traverse.

More information: Official website, The Cordillera Great Traverse - Schadow1 Expeditions, August 2015 : Schadow1 Expeditions