Category: Blog

What a day! We’re thrilled to share that the Annual Garage Sale benefiting the Great Divide Trail Association raised over $1,200—all thanks to the incredible generosity and community spirit of everyone involved. 

A huge thank you to Geartrade for hosting this event and donating all table registration fees to the GDTA. We’re so grateful for your ongoing support and for opening your space to our community of outdoor enthusiasts. 

Thank you to Flat Out Feasts for donating $1 from every meal sold—not only were the meals delicious, but every bite helped support the trail.  

And to all the hikers and supporters who donated their gently used gear for the GDTA to sell: thank you! Your contributions directly help us maintain, protect, and promote the Great Divide Trail. 

An extra special thank you to the GDTA volunteers who gave up their Saturday to tend the fire, sell hot dogs, merch, and donated gear—you are the heart of this organization and we are so grateful for your time and energy. You are most appreciated! 

One of the best parts of the day wasn’t just the gear sales or tasty campfire eats—it was the people. Old friends and new faces gathered around the fire, roasted hot dogs, swapped trail stories, and shared summer hiking plans. That sense of connection is what makes this community so special. 

See you on the trail! 

On May 8, 2025, we gathered at the Globe Cinema in Calgary for an amazing evening celebrating wild places, outdoor adventure, and community spirit. The Great Divide Trail Film Fest brought together 150 in-person attendees and 48 online viewers to enjoy a lineup of inspiring short films, and a silent auction filled with incredible items—all in support of the Great Divide Trail Association.

Thanks to your support, we raised over $6,400 to help protect, maintain, and promote the Great Divide Trail!

Special Thanks to Our Guest Speaker

We were honoured to welcome Eddie Petryshen, Conservation Specialist with Wildsight, who delivered a powerful presentation on Protecting BC’s Inland Temperate Rainforest and Deep Snow Caribou. Eddie’s work has helped safeguard some of the most threatened ecosystems in British Columbia, and his ability to turn complex research into compelling storytelling inspired all in attendance to reflect on our connection to wild places—and what’s at stake. Thank you, Eddie, for your passion and advocacy.

Audience Choice Winners

A huge congratulations to our 2025 audience-voted film winners, who each received GearTrade gift cards:

? First Place: Kristy Dixon – The Weight Inside

? Second Place: Matt King – Traversing the Divide

Honourable mentions to all of the filmmakers who showcased amazing work: Antonio Galvan (and Caroline Galvan), Alex Rezansoff, Clare Tavener-Smith & Mark Mitchell—thank you for sharing your experiences with us!

Thank You to Our Silent Auction Donors

We’re deeply grateful to the following individuals and organizations for their generous contributions:

Adotec Gear, Arts Commons, BearVault, Black Sheep Camps, Castle Mountain Ski Resort, CottageCare Calgary, Drops of Wisdom, Emily Beaudoin Art, Flat Out Feasts, Garmin Canada, GearTrade, Jim Webster Art, Alan & Meg Kaizer, Michel & Suzanne Belanger, Nor’west Pack Co., Rocky Mountain Dogs, Sarah Jane Osadetz, Busy Beavers Touring Co., Unightie, Monogram Coffee

Last but certainly not least, thank you to our incredible volunteers who made this event possible.

Whether you joined us in person or tuned in online, thank you for being part of our biggest fundraiser of the year. We can’t wait to see you on the trail!

Section A:

• A portion of the West Castle River Trail from Castle Mountain Resort to the Barnaby Ridge trailhead is now the main route of the GDT, eliminating 4 km of road walking. Just before crossing the West Castle River Bridge (a30) turn right at a junction to follow the West Castle River Trail through the forest along the east side of the river, which it crosses on a bridge near the Barnaby Ridge trailhead.

 

• The South Castle Road alternate route has been extended on the northern end to reconnect to the GDT at Suicide Creek trailhead (a31), creating a contiguous alternate for hikers wanting (or needing) to detour around La Coulotte Ridge.

Section B:

• Additional trail construction continues as we fine-tune the High Rock Trail resulting in a few minor route changes. If you see GDTA trail crews out there this summer, say hi!

Section C:

• Resupply package delivery will continue to be available at the Elk Pass Trailhead in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park. Resupply packages will be delivered by the GDTA and stored in bear lockers installed at the Elk Pass Trailhead. Resupply delivery service fee is $35 for GDTA members or $50 for non-members. Contact the GDTA at elkpass@greatdividetrail.com to book your delivery service and receive mailing instructions.

Section D:

• Last summer, wildfire damaged a few kilometres of the Ensign Creek Trail, north of the Ensign Creek campground. GDTA crews will be repairing the damaged trail in June, so the trail should be restored to good condition this summer.
• The new Blaeberry campground was built on the Collie Creek alternate route in 2024. It is a very nice site located on the edge of the old Blaeberry floodplain.
• The Amiskwi Ridge alternate route now begins at Amiskwi Pass, where hikers can follow flagging northeast, climbing through the forest to reach open meadows near the Amiskwi Lodge. Camping is strongly discouraged at the lodge. Please camp elsewhere to be respectful of the lodge operations and protect the reputation of GDT hikers. From there, the ridge requires some route finding including at the north end where a flagged route through the recently burned forest will guide hikers steeply down to reconnect with the GDT.
• A new log bridge across the Blaeberry River near Cairnes Creek Rec Site was built in June 2024, restoring access to the Collie Creek Trail on the east side of the Blaeberry River. Two logs have been ratchet strapped together and two overhead tensioned grab ropes have been installed, but hikers should use this bridge at their own risk.

Section E:

• Random camping is not allowed anywhere along Owen Creek within Banff National Park.
• The Six-Passes Alternate Route remains closed to all overnight random camping but is open to random day use activity.
• Trail maintenance on the Maligne Pass Trail has significantly improved that route with much of the deadfall and brush removed over the past couple years. Similar to previous years, the three campgrounds on the Maligne Pass Trail previously available online as ‘Maligne Pass North’ (Mary Vaux, Mary Schäffer, Trapper Creek) are listed in the online reservation system separately, with 1 site per night available at each campground.
• Last summer, Jasper was devastated by wildfire, destroying about a third of the town and many square kilometres of wilderness in the national park. Most of the park has reopened, including all of the Skyline Trail (which was partially damaged by wildfire near Signal Mountain), which means the GDT is completely open in Jasper. Please be mindful that while the park and town have reopened to visitors, businesses and residents are still recovering from the impact of the wildfire.

Section F:

• The Berg Lake Trail in Mount Robson Provincial Park has been closed for repairs since 2021 but is scheduled to completely reopen this summer. If the trail reopens as planned, hikers can exit here to reach Highway 16 or resupply at the Mount Robson Visitor Centre. Alternatively, hikers can also exit via the Moose River Trail to reach Highway 16.
• The Colonel Creek Trail was cleared of deadfall (again) in 2024.

Section G:

• Exit or resupply via the Blueberry Trail are good options. Resupply package delivery is available at the Blueberry Trailhead delivered by Robson Backcountry Adventures and stored in bear lockers. Please contact info@jasperhikesandtours.ca or 1.780.931.4453 to book your delivery service and receive mailing instructions. Discount for GDTA members.
• The Walker Creek FSR was improved in 2023 and 2024 and should be accessible to Bastille Creek trailhead but still has several rough and muddy sections; 4WD high clearance vehicles are recommended.

The GDTA Itineraries and Campground List have been updated for 2025.

Happy trails and good luck out there in 2025!

The biggest challenge of thru-hiking the Great Divide Trail (GDT) isn’t the remoteness, the wildlife, the mountain passes, or the river crossings. It’s getting all the camping permits. But why is this so hard? What is the Great Divide Trail Association (GDTA) doing about it? And why isn’t there a blanket permit for the entire trail? 

Why it’s so hard. 

For starters, the GDT passes through five National Parks, eight Provincial Parks, three Wildland Provincial Parks, two wilderness areas and two special management areas. That’s a lot of different management jurisdictions and each of those areas has unique challenges and concerns. Consider Banff and Jasper National Parks – the two more difficult areas to secure permits. Banff sees 4.29 million visitors a year ⁽¹⁾ while Jasper sees 2.41 million ⁽²⁾. Given those numbers, it makes sense that there needs to be a system in place to ensure that these areas aren’t overrun. 

“But thru-hikers travel lightly, and we’re not the ones that will cause the damage” you might say, and you would have a point. This unfortunately doesn’t address the fact that many others also want to access these spaces. In 2023, Parks Canada was quoted as saying that “nearly 50,000 devices were connected to its reservation system when it opened … and more than 42,000 reservations had been made in the first six hours” ⁽³⁾. Another way to look at this is: just because we’re doing something special, does not make us special. We may tread more lightly and demand less from these paths, but others are just as entitled to access those spaces as we are. 

What are we doing about it? 

The GDTA is aware of these challenges. Whether you are out there for the day, weekend, a section, or the whole thing, the GDTA is working towards making things better. Many hikers have already benefitted from the trip planning resources provided by the GDTA. The popular itineraries are curated annually and avoid the most popular (and therefore hardest to book) campsites. Behind the scenes, our Executive Director and Trail Information Manager have collaborated with Parks Canada to make small changes to the booking system – for example you may see fewer “those sites are too far to walk in a day” errors. 

If you’re new to the Parks Canada reservation system, or just need a refresher, check out our National Park Backcountry Permit Online Reservation Instructions for a step-by-step guide to booking your campgrounds. Parks Canada reservations open January 22, 2025! 

If you have read our Strategic Plan, you’ll see that one of our priorities is to “Advance Solutions that Improve Ease of Access”. You’ll notice that this doesn’t specifically say “one permit to hike the whole trail”. That is certainly one major milestone that would provide easier access to GDT hikers – but we recognize that something this large takes a lot of time and lot of collaboration with our partners. We’ll continue to build these strong relationships, but we’re simultaneously working on other ways to facilitate accesses. 

How can you help? 

If you’d like to see the permit system get better for GDT hikers, there are some very important things that you can do. 

1. Get and stick to your permits 

Our partners at Parks Canada and the multiple Provincial Parks the trail runs through are tasked with protecting sensitive ecosystems, and they have instituted a permit system to accomplish that. The best thing hikers can do to help the GDTA build relationships with the Parks is to respect their systems.  

Having a spreadsheet of campgrounds is daunting, and keeping to those dates can be hard – after all, the weather and your body may have different ideas about how far you can hike in a day. It’s still on you to camp only where you’re legally allowed to. Luckily there are a few tips that can make this easier: 

•  – It’s a good idea to consider a slightly slower pace than you think you can do – the GDT is physically demanding, and at worst you’ll just have a bit more time to enjoy the spectacular surroundings. 

• – Add in a zero day or two. Having a few zeroes will create a buffer where you can “catch up” to your schedule if you fall behind. 

• – Look at the alternates. If you’re not moving as fast as you planned, check to see what alternates are coming up. Not all of the alternates take you over beefy and harder terrain. Some of them are actually shortcuts or bad weather alternates, and can help you make up time. 

2. Be a good ambassador for the GDT 

Our goal is to have all land managers think “we love the GDT”, and you play the biggest part in that. Everyone who hikes the GDT is implicitly an ambassador for the trail. Your actions will be attributed to “anonymous GDT hiker”, which in turn affects the opinion of all GDT hikers passing that way after you. Practicing Leave No Trace and abiding by the regulations of the specific park you are in go a long way to helping the GDTA. 

3. Become a member 

The Parks balance the protection of the park against the people using the park and therefore the number of GDTA members is a consideration when we engage with them. Remember those numbers from earlier in this article: 42,000 reservations in a single day? The GDTA currently has approximately 600 members. Membership numbers help the GDTA negotiate with partners to reduce permits for future thru-hikers. The more members the GDTA has, the more likely Parks Canada or provincial parks are to consider thru-hikers when implementing permit systems. If you are frustrated at the current permit system, one of the best things you can do to help is become a GDTA member.  

And of course there are numerous other benefits of being a member, including discounts at businesses along the trail, discounts at GDTA events, and invitations to volunteer doing trail maintenance. 

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¹ Jasper National Park: visitor numbers Canada 2024 | Statista 

² Banff National Park: visitor numbers Canada 2024 | Statista 

³ Parks Canada says reservation system appears to be meeting ‘high demand’ for camping – West Coast Traveller 

The GDTA’s new Strategic Plan sets our course for the next five years (2025-2029), focusing on the Trail, the Association, and our Partnerships, while also refining our Mission, Vision, Values, and Guiding Principles. We’re excited about the direction it provides as we continue to grow the Great Divide Trail and strengthen our community!

You can read the full plan here.