America’s Great Continental Divide

moto-treks

On the road
The “Continental Divide” is a rugged mountain range that winds its way from the Mexican border all the way to Canada, dividing the Western United States from the rest of the country. The hiking trail running along its ridge, is the Continental Divide Trail or CDT for short.

The CDT started out in 1962 as a trail for hikers. In 1989 Land Rover, led by Tom Collins, embarked on an adventure across Colorado’s portion of the Continental Divide. In 1996 bicyclists caught wind of the CDT and created a mountain bike route that closely followed the original path. Eventually, motorcyclists discovered it too and developed their own motorized version of the route. The motorized Continental Divide Trail is 2,700 miles of spectacular remote wilderness, crossing five states (New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho and Montana), with elevations raging from 4,000 to 13,000 feet. It’s one of the premier overland routes in the country and is considered one of the greatest long-distance trails in the world. As one winds their way along the CDT, you get a chance to experience some of the most spectacular scenery in the United States. The route travels deep into some of the most remote regions of a country with little signs of civilization, making this a truly epic adventure in the US.

Our Tracks to Tomorrow (TTT) group of eight vehicles will start the CDT on the 21st of June in New Mexico. Which means I need to get from Spokane to New Mexico before the 21st.

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First night out at Clark Canyon Reservoir, MT on way to New Mexico
 

krick3tt

Adventurer
The reason it is called continental divide is (in North America) the line of summits of the Rocky Mountains, separating streams flowing toward the Gulf of California and the Pacific from those flowing toward the Gulf of Mexico, Hudson Bay, and the Arctic Ocean.
So basically you are on top of the US. Have a great ride.
 

moto-treks

On the road
Our route is 2,700 miles (4,345km) of mostly country gravel and forest service roads from Antelope Wells at the Mexico/U.S. border to Banff Canada.

We have a start date for heading north but no hard end date - the idea is to drive north and enjoy the sights and sounds of the trail.
A large fire just north of Silver City in the Gila wilderness had closed the Gila Cliff Dwellings national monument but has opened again just days before we start. Now it’s just the heat wave hitting the Western U.S. and a few passes in Colorado that are still closed that pose a problem.

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moto-treks

On the road
With temperatures expected to reach 103ºF we decided an early morning start was a good idea. So, at 8:00AM we took off for the border station at Antelope Wells and our official start of the Continental Divide motorized route.
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The Antelope Wells Border Station was still completely closed down due to the pandemic - all gates closed and locked.

After parking the vehicles at the border
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and chatting about the local area and drive down we started the 122 mile drive to Silver City. Most of the route was blacktop with only about 30-40 miles of very smooth gravel road.
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Laps

Active member
In 2019 I did the portion of the motorized CDT, using the purchased data from gpskevinadventures.com site, from northern New Mexico through the southern portion of Colorado. This year I hope to conclude the northern portion of the CDT in Colorado. His website is also helpful for anyone interested in pursuing the journey, and I have no affiliation with him or his site. And I was in a RAM Rebel, not on a motorcycle. That said I'm going to be following this thread with much interest.
 

moto-treks

On the road
Well I'm definitely interested in this trip! Please post many pictures for those of us stuck in the AC behind desks! haha
Today was the first time that our dog, Kuparr, didn’t want to get out of the Jeep. He just sat in the front seat waiting for the AC while the rest of us had lunch. It was 103°
 

Trail Talk

Well-known member
Awesome trip! Once you arrive at Banff, if you have time and energy left, you could swap four wheels for two ?? and continue north along the continental divide. There are established hiking trails and less defined routes all the way to Yukon Territory, https://greatdividetrail.com/.
 

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