Great CDT Map

[Aaron Zagrodnick]

I've found this to be a really great resource:

http://people.missouristate.edu/chadkillingsworth/cdtmap.htm

- Aaron

[tmountainnut]

do you know what the purple sections in Montana mean?

Another great resource is Jerry Brown's new mapbooks and his website. he has posted his entire waypoints for the entire continental divide trail for free, which he hiked so that he could produce the new mapbooks for the now-defunct CDTA. He also has just finished the mapbooks for wyoming and idaho/montana, which are available through lulu.com

http://www.bearcreeksurvey.com/Reroutes.htm

I was able to get the PDF versions of his mapbooks for NM and CO just after the CDTA went defunct, and also found one of the databooks they produced for the colorado section. hopefully he'll publish the new map books as a pdf eventually, and eventually publish the other three databooks.

[Aaron Zagrodnick]

Those are alternate routes for Montana, I guess they weren't added for the other states, or maybe not yet. I just like this as a way to see a broad overview of the trail along with the general terrain before diving into more detailed maps. Also, if you click on any section (Or alternate) it will show you the elevation profile.

How are the mapbooks? I also have a set of Ley Maps printed off and the Wolf Guides from the CDTS...Do the mapbooks detail any of the alternates or the official route only?

[tmountainnut]

Well, the only alternate i know of in Colorado is the part that passes through rocky mountain national park, and its detailed in the new map books.

here are 4 pages from the Colorado mapbook that covers the rocky mountain national park alternative and shows what the maps look like. i hiked this section in RMNP around 4 years ago, and it was beautiful.

http://www.mediafire.com/?4jby3b3r7m4uqld

[Aaron Zagrodnick]

Just got around to checking this out - The maps look very impressive, thanks for the example. Another Colorado alternate that comes to mind would be the Creede Cutoff, but at some point it becomes a grey area and the CDT seems to almost be a trail of alternates. With so many options it's hard for two thru hikers to hike the same trail...

Edited April 15, 2012 by Aaron

[tmountainnut]

i agree. i bet most people just go from way point to way point, and make there way the best possible when the trail disappears under snow or from overgrowth. i would think some of the rarely used sections of the trail don't have much of a trail to follow either.

after i do a few semi-long through hikes like the Colorado trail, John Muir trail, and the highline trail in Utah, i would hope that i can through hike the entire continental divide trail, but being able to afford to take off 4+ consecutive months to go hike might not be probable. i would really like to try something like skurka's great western loop, but that's even less likely, but would be so cool.