Continental Divide Alternative Routes and resupply points.
New Mexico
Starting at: Crazy Creek (Standard, the CDTC now has an official shuttle, picks you up in Lordsburg)
Or Columbus- Gila, New Mexico. 38 miles shorter. Skips two trail towns.
Mile 25.3 Hachita Good resupply.
Lordsburg at Mile 84
Silver City at Mile 157.7
Walnut Creek Alternative Silver City 157.8 to 169.3 Very pretty but no shoulder. Goldberg did it. He reports it as Not Safe. Take Main Trail instead.
Gila River Alt 169.1 to Mile 344.6 The Alternative is 106 miles long. Alternative route is 75 miles shorter, has water.
Mile 169.1/173.1 has two alternatives available:
- Gila (the standard). 15 miles a day in the canyon, with multiple water crossings daily. Plan on 6-7 days.
- Gila High Route (has only one water crossing).
Doc Campbells is the resupply. Mile 39.6 on the Alt. Maybe send a box, maybe not.
Mile 194 – Doc Campbells
Mile 198.6 Lake Roberts General Store
Mile 259.7 Winston
Mile 343.9 Gila River Alt North rejoins trail
Mile 366.3 Reserve Great little town, solid resupply. You go from Doc Campbells to Reserve for supply. About 94 miles. Hitch where the trail crosses Highway 12. No cell reception. At mile 367.
Right at 12Hitch to Reserve for resupply. Alternative to Pie Town starts about there. It is about a little more than 22 miles after Gila rejoins the red line trail.
Mile 368.7 Pie Town Dirt Road Walk. To Mile 415.2 Pie Town. Reserve to Pie Town is the resupply gap. Mail Box to Pie Town
Mile 401.6 Quemodo
Mile 411.2 Top of the World Store
Mile 414.2 Pie Town
Mile 443 Junction with Cebolla Alternative some dirt road, beautiful hiking. To Highway 117 at Mile 503.2 Note 14 to 25 is highway rather than dirt. But main train also is on 117 for 15 miles. Also has a ranger station and a museum. Can go up the escarpment on trail and avoid road unless a lightning storm (Goldberg hit lightning and stayed on the road).
Mile 524.7 Grants Resupply
Mile 628.9 Cuba – has a great store
Mile 688.4 Ghost Ranch
Mile 688.4 Albiquiu and Sante Fe
Mile 776.4 Chama
Mile 685.9 to 701.8 Ghost Ranch Cut Off. 2.5 miles shorter. More scenic. On trail resupply. Beautiful climb out of Ghost Ranch. Mail Box to Ghost Ranch
Colorado
Mile 844.1 Pagosa Springs
Mile 920 Silverton
Mile 959 Lake City
Mile 858-973 Creede Cut Off. Shorter. Lower altitude. Less snow. Much less sketchy.
Collegiate East – safter, less exposure, less snow.
Mile 1058.1 Monarch Crest Store/Monarch Mountain Lodge
Mile 1058.1 Salida
Mile 1098 Buena Vista
Mile 1139 Twin Lakes
Mile 1119 Breckenridge
Mile 1172.1 Leadville
Mile 1209 Breckenridge
Mile 1195.2 to 1272.1 Silverthorne Cutoff Route – Better resupply. Better trail. Less exposure.
Mile 1283 Winter Park
Mile 1283.8 Frazier
Mile 1337.6 Grand Lake
Mile 1435 Steamboat Springs
Wyoming
Mile 1516 Riverside Encampment
Mile 1571.6 to Rawlins: Rawlins Roadwalk (Wyoming). Has water. Long, boring, have to camp right off road.
Mile 1598.1 Rawlins
Mile 1711.2 Atlantic City
Mile 1716 South Pass City
Mile 1718 Lander
Mile 1760 Big Sandy Lodge
Mile 1795.1 or .5 Pinedale
Mile 1884.7 Bubois
Mile 1884 Togwotee Lodge
Mile 1960.1 Grant Village
Mile 1984.7 Old Faithful
Mile 2026 (Montana-Idaho border) Big Sky/Butte Super Cut off. Saves a couple hundred miles. To Butte at 2481.3/2518.2
Mile 2036 West Yellowstone
Mile 2006 to 2076 Mack’s Inn Cutoff
Mile 2039 Mack’s Inn – for resupply. Cuts short a meandering segment of the trail.
Mile 2130 Lima
Idaho
Mile 2232 Ledore
Mile 2354 Darby
Mile 2354.9 Salmon/North Fork
Montana
Mile 2354.9 Wisdom/Sula
Mile 2427.5 to 2565.2 Anaconda Cut-off Anaconda is at the midpoint
Mile 2443.2 or 2451.7 Anaconda
Mile 2481.3 Butte –where the Super Butte/Big Sky ends.
Mile 2618 Helena/Elliston
Mile 2687.6 Lincoln
Mile 2744.9 Benchmark
Mile 2878 East Glacier
Mile 2888.4 Two Medicine Campground
Mile 2974 Many Glacier Campground
Mile 2809.5
“The Bob” Spotted Bear Pass – avoids blow downs. Saves 15 miles. Uses the Bob Marshall Wilderness.
Kitchen – avoids blow downs. A few miles shorter. Has a very tame creek it shares the path with, and has water.
2976 or 2979.2 – the Chief Martin Junction.
This is the route to the Chief Martin Alternative Terminus – easy access for shuttles and traffic. On a paved highway.
The other terminus is Waterton Lake. Both are officially recognized. Cross over into Canada after Waterton Lake to Waterton Park in Canada.
From the CDT Survey:
New Mexico Alternates
- Columbus Alternate: 1.7%
- Gila River Alternate: 87.4%
- Gila River High Route Alternate: 33.7%
- Pie Town Alternate via Mangas Mountain: 56.6%
- Cebolla Wilderness Alternate: 54.9%
- Bonita-Zuni Alternate: 29.7%
- Mount Taylor Alternate: 45.1%
- Ghost Ranch Alternate: 53.1%
Colorado Alternates
- Great Divide Alternate: 10.8%
- Elwood Pass 7.3%
- Creede Cutoff: 22.5%
- Mirror Lake Alternate: 10.8%
- Collegiate East: 16.8%
- Twin Lakes Cutoff: 40.4%
- Mount Elbert: 25.3%
- Silverthorne Alternate: 24.1%
- Montezuma Alternate: 7.2%
- Argentine Spine: 23.5%
- Rocky Mountain National Park Shortcut: 51.2%
Wyoming Alternates
- Ley Alternate south of Rawlins: 27.8%
- Wind River High Route: 12.1%
- Cirque of the Towers: 85.6%
- Knapsack Col: 46.2%
- Leeds Creek: 9.8%
- Old CDT (near Dubois): 1.7%
- Gros Ventre: 2.3%
- Teton Crest Trail: 6.9%
Idaho/Montana Alternates
- Mack’s Inn Alternate: 48.1%
- Super Butte Cutoff: 32.9%
- Anaconda Cutoff: 65.7%
- Butte Connector: 1.7%
- Spotted Bear Pass: 63.5%
- Ptarmigan Tunnel: 0.6%
- Chief Mountain: 46.1%
Suggest Mailing Resupply
- Pie Town (New Mexico) 83.7%
- Doc Campbell’s (New Mexico) 41.0%
- Ghost Ranch (New Mexico) 35.5%
- Lima (Idaho) 35.5%
- Leadore via Bannock Pass (Idaho) 31.9%
- Encampment via Battle Pass (Wyoming) 30.1%
- East Glacier Village (Montana) 29.5%
- South Pass City (Wyoming) 13.3%
New Mexico Resupply
- Hachita – 1.2%
- ⛺ Lordsburg – 97.1%
- Deming – 0.6%
- ⛺ Silver City – 97.7%
- ⛺ Doc Campbell’s – 90.2%*
- Reserve – 14.9%
- Davila Ranch – 1.2%
- ⛺ Pie Town – 86.8%*
- Quemado – 3.5%
- ⛺ Grants – 90.8%
- Albuquerque – 5.8%
- Thoreau – 0.6%
- Crownpoint – 0.6%
- ⛺ Cuba – 78.7%
- Española – 0.6%
- Santa Fe – 10.3%
- ⛺ Ghost Ranch – 33.3%*
- Taos – 0.6%
- Chama via Cumbres Pass – 78.2%
Colorado Resupply
- Pagosa Springs via Wolf Creek Pass – 84.1%
- South Fork via Wolf Creek Pass – 6.1%
- Platoro – 4.9%
- Del Norte – 3.7%
- Creede – 21.5%
- Silverton via Stony Pass – 26.4%
- Durango – 3.9%
- Lake City via Spring Creek Pass – 69.3%
- Sargents – 0.6%
- ⛺ Monarch Mountain Lodge – 13.5%
- Monarch Spur RV Park – 1.2%
- Salida via Monarch Pass – 85.9%
- Gunnison – 1.2%
- Buena Vista – 9.2%
- ⛺ Twin Lakes – 68.7%
- Leadville – 72.4%
- ⛺ Copper Mountain – 6.8%
- Breckenridge – 44.8%
- Frisco – 16.6%
- Silverthorne – 27.6%
- Dillon – 13.5%
- Winter Park – 45.4%
- Fraser – 4.9%
- Denver – 11.7%
- ⛺ Grand Lake – 92.6%
- Steamboat Springs via Rabbit Ears Pass – 95.7%
Wyoming Resupply
- Encampment via Battle Pass – 59.3%*
- Riverside via Battle Pass – 22.7%
- ⛺ Rawlins – 98.3%
- ⛺ Big Sandy Lodge – 5.3%
- ⛺ South Pass City – 20.9%*
- Atlantic City – 11.1%
- Lander – 70.9%
- Pinedale – 68.6%
- Lava Mountain Lodge via Togwotee Pass – 7.0%
- Dubois via Togwotee Pass – 71.5%
- Jackson – 14.5%
- Togwotee Mountain Lodge – 1.2%
- ⛺ Brooks Lake Lodge – 4.7%
- ⛺ Grant Village in Yellowstone – 36.6%
- ⛺ Old Faithful Village in Yellowstone – 69.8%
- Mammoth Village in Yellowstone – 1.6%
Idaho/Montana Resupply
- West Yellowstone – 46.3%
- ⛺ Island Park / Mack’s Inn – 48.3%
- Big Sky – 5.4%
- Ennis – 1.3%
- Lima – 89.3%*
- Leadore via Bannock Pass – 91.3%*
- Salmon – 3.4%
- Jackson – 4.0%
- Darby via Chief Joseph Pass – 76.5%
- Hamilton via Chief Joseph Pass – 2.0%
- Camp Sula – 6.7%
- Wisdom – 5.4%
- Wise River – 1.1%
- ⛺ Anaconda – 72.2%
- Whitehall – 3.4%
- Butte – 21.6%
- Bozeman – 6.3%
- Helena – 88.6%
- Elliston – 2.3%
- ⛺ High Divide Outfitters – 7.4%
- ⛺ Lincoln – 32.4%
- ⛺ Benchmark Wilderness Ranch – 10.2%
- Augusta – 80.7%
- ⛺ East Glacier Village – 94.3%*
- Kalispell – 2%
- ⛺ Two Medicine – 9.6%
- Saint Mary – 2.3%
- ⛺ Many Glacier – 23.3%