Article

Great Divide Trail

Published Online February 7, 2006

Last Edited January 24, 2014

Great Divide Trail is a long-distance hiking trail, paralleling where possible the CONTINENTAL DIVIDE of Canada's Rocky Mts range. Some 560 km of the trail lies within the boundaries of Banff, Kootenay, Yoho and Jasper national parks, extending from Palliser Pass in the S to Mt ROBSON in the N.

Great Divide Trail is a long-distance hiking trail, paralleling where possible the CONTINENTAL DIVIDE of Canada's Rocky Mts range. Some 560 km of the trail lies within the boundaries of Banff, Kootenay, Yoho and Jasper national parks, extending from Palliser Pass in the S to Mt ROBSON in the N. A series of high alpine trails combine to form a "Great Divide Route" which, if followed in its entirety, brings the hiker to elevations of just below 3000 m and gives a perspective of the entire Rockies landscape. In the mid-1970s the Great Divide Trail Assn of Calgary began work to extend the trail S from Banff National Pk along the BC-Alberta border to Waterton Lks National Pk. This section would follow some of the most spectacular scenery of the southern Rockies, adding about 700 km to the overall trail length and making it the longest hiking trail in Canada.