GOLDEN, Colo. (July 20, 2021) – As wildfire activity along the Continental Divide grows this season, we wanted to reach out to our trail users to help ensure we’re on the same page. Firstly, we want to make sure you know that your safety and the safety of the communities along the Divide are our top priority. We will strive to the best of our ability and resources to make sure we are communicating wildfire locations and development along the trail in a quick and accurate manner.
However, please remember the nature of wildfires is unpredictable and dynamic. While we understand the personal significance of thruhiking, we are unable to recommend alternate routes until we know they are safe and are likely to remain safe. An uncontained fire’s range may be vastly different within a matter of hours, and we cannot make recommendations until on-the-ground representatives from our partner agencies have made their assessments.
WHAT TO DO IF YOU’RE ON TRAIL AND FACING A FIRE CLOSURE
- When in doubt, please get to town and wait for updated information. Do not underestimate the speed of wildfire growth or try to push through a closed area.
- Check our Alerts pages and Inciweb. See our Closures and Alerts page on our website, our Twitter @CDTAlerts for our fastest-loading page for places with low cell phone service, and Inciweb, the interagency fire incident information management system.
- Remember: a continuous footpath is not worth your safety. There may be years in which it is not possible to hike a continuous footpath near the Continental Divide. Sometimes, it’s out of all human control. Learning to accept the power of Nature in our lives is just as much a part of thruhiking as hitting every step of trail.
- Q: When will the CDTC update fire data? We will strive to always get CDT travelers the most up-to-date information we can in an emergency. Our staff are not typically at fire sites in-person, so our role is to coordinate information received from other agencies and on-the-ground firefighters, and we will keep information updated as we know more ourselves. Our last update per day will typically be at 6pm, and our first at 9am, except in significant emergencies. For contained fires or fires that are not directly impacting the CDT, additional messaging may not be issued over weekends or after work hours.
- Q: Will the CDTC accept thruhikes that don’t include an area that was part of a fire closure? The CDT is a trail of scenic alternates, wandering paths, and personal journeys. We are not in the business of telling you what your thruhike was — you tell us what it was to you. For some, “completing a thruhike” may mean coming back in another year to hike areas that were closed, but others may feel complete after hiking all the trail that was available to them in a year, and others still may take a wide-ranging route away from the official trail as they travel. We want CDT travelers to feel like they are co-creators in their own personal stories, not that the CDTC is dictating their journey for them. If you feel like your journey was a thruhike, then it is to us, too.
We thank all CDT users again for their help ensuring the safe enjoyment of the trail. We value your health and safety above all else, and, as wildfires continue to present challenges to outdoor recreation along the Divide, we will strive to keep you as informed and ready as possible. For more information on trail safety and reporting trail emergencies, please visit the safety page of CDTC’s website.
About the Continental Divide Trail
The CDT is one of the world’s premiere long-distance trails, stretching 3,100 miles from Mexico to Canada along the Continental Divide. Designated by Congress in 1978, the CDT is the highest, most challenging and most remote of the 11 National Scenic Trails. It provides recreational opportunities ranging from hiking to horseback riding to hunting for thousands of visitors each year. While 95% of the CDT is located on public land, approximately 150 miles are still in need of protection.
About the Continental Divide Trail Coalition
The CDTC was founded in 2012 by volunteers and recreationists hoping to provide a unified voice for the Trail. Working hand-in-hand with the U.S. Forest Service and other federal land management agencies, the CDTC is a non-profit partner supporting stewardship of the CDT. The mission of the CDTC is to complete, promote and protect the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail, a world-class national resource. For more information, please visit continentaldividetrail.org.
