Great Divide Trail

The Great Divide Trail, is a wilderness hiking trail in the Canadian Rockies. The trail closely follows the Great Divide between Alberta and British Columbia, crossing the divide no fewer than 30 times. It begins in Waterton Lakes National Park at the Canada-US border and ends in Kakwa Provincial Park north of Jasper National Park. The Great Divide Trail is 1, 200 km long and ranges in elevation from 1, 055 m at Old Fort Point trailhead near Jasper to 2, 590 m at an unnamed pass above Michele Lakes just south of the White Goat Wilderness Area. HistoryThe first record of the Great Divide Trail appears in 1966 when the Girl Guides of Canada proposed the idea of a trail running the length of the BC–Alberta border through the Rocky Mountains. In 1970, Jim Thorsell developed the first-ever GDT guide: the "Provisional Trail Guide and Map for the Proposed Great Divide Trail" and the national park service approved the project with the objective of completing the GDT by 1975. However, five years later Parks Canada stalled its planning process altogether, citing inadequate trail planning methodology and unresolved overuse issues. Outside of the National Parks, the route south of Palliser Pass was originally mapped in 1974 by six University of Calgary students with support from the Alberta Wilderness Association and the Federal Opportunities for Youth Program. Mary Jane Cox, Jenny Feick, Chris Hart, Dave Higgins, Cliff White, and Dave Zevick surveyed an estimated 4, 800 km along the proposed GDT route outside of the National Parks. Cliff White was the project coordinator and used the data from the project as the basis of an undergraduate thesis. They founded the Great Divide Trail Association and began trail construction in the summer of 1976. But by the mid-1980s, long after Parks Canada had abandoned the idea, provincial support waned, the Great Divide Trail Association faded from existence and the concept of the GDT nearly disappeared.

The Great Divide Trail, is a wilderness hiking trail in the Canadian Rockies. The trail closely follows the Great Divide between Alberta and British Columbia, crossing the divide no fewer than 30 times. It begins in Waterton Lakes National Park at the Canada-US border and ends in Kakwa Provincial Park north of Jasper National Park. The Great Divide Trail is 1, 200 km long and ranges in elevation from 1, 055 m at Old Fort Point trailhead near Jasper to 2, 590 m at an unnamed pass above Michele Lakes just south of the White Goat Wilderness Area. HistoryThe first record of the Great Divide Trail appears in 1966 when the Girl Guides of Canada proposed the idea of a trail running the length of the BC–Alberta border through the Rocky Mountains. In 1970, Jim Thorsell developed the first-ever GDT guide: the "Provisional Trail Guide and Map for the Proposed Great Divide Trail" and the national park service approved the project with the objective of completing the GDT by 1975. However, five years later Parks Canada stalled its planning process altogether, citing inadequate trail planning methodology and unresolved overuse issues. Outside of the National Parks, the route south of Palliser Pass was originally mapped in 1974 by six University of Calgary students with support from the Alberta Wilderness Association and the Federal Opportunities for Youth Program. Mary Jane Cox, Jenny Feick, Chris Hart, Dave Higgins, Cliff White, and Dave Zevick surveyed an estimated 4, 800 km along the proposed GDT route outside of the National Parks. Cliff White was the project coordinator and used the data from the project as the basis of an undergraduate thesis. They founded the Great Divide Trail Association and began trail construction in the summer of 1976. But by the mid-1980s, long after Parks Canada had abandoned the idea, provincial support waned, the Great Divide Trail Association faded from existence and the concept of the GDT nearly disappeared.