Trail work is never ending.
Every year, GDTA volunteer trail crews conduct trail maintenance on the GDT. Projects can include building, maintaining and improving trail tread, removing fallen trees, repairing and building bridges and trail structures, brushing and clearing vegetation, as well as blazing and signing the trail. We recruit young and old to give time and energy to maintain the GDT from Waterton to Kakwa. GDTA volunteers devote hundreds of hours to keeping the trail open. It is only with the support of members and volunteers that the Great Divide Trail experience is possible.
Trail maintenance trips are announced in the spring.
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Members always get first dibs!
Quality recreation and ecological restoration
The GDT is subject to floods, fires, and overgrown vegetation that cause erosion, trail blockage, and other problems. The annual maintenance and restoration of the GDT to meet trail quality standards is a major undertaking of the GDTA. The goal is to create a world class wilderness recreation experience that allows people to connect with the great outdoors. The GDTA’s projects improve the trail user’s recreation experience while at the same time lessening the trail’s impact on the environment. From drainage control to improving stream crossings, the GDTA strives to minimize the impact of the trail on the wilderness it passes through.
Leadership and education
GDTA Crew Leaders are responsible for identifying projects, coordinating trail crews and necessary tools and equipment. These Crew Leaders are also volunteers and they make sure that our volunteer program runs smoothly and offers an excellent experience to volunteers. Supporting this trail maintenance program is an immense amount of work. We work with federal and provincial land managers to secure project authorization.
To help volunteers build their skills and be successful in their trail work, the GDTA provides education, training, and oversight in safe trail construction and restoration. Each and every one of our projects is a training trip. Trail maintenance is a lifelong learning opportunity. By training volunteers with the valuable skills needed to help protect and maintain recreation trails, they become the stewards and leaders, in turn giving countless hours to maintain the GDT.
Past Trail Work
Below are summaries of past GDTA Trail Maintenance.
2025
- Trail maintenance on the GDT (Downed trees and shrubs removed)
- Castle
- Palliser
- Collie Creek
- Maligne Valley
- Sheep Creek
- Kakwa
- 3km of Erris lake trail was built (plus an additional 2km cleared with chainsaws and brush saws).
- New Bridge built over North Racehorse Creek
- Bear Lockers added to North Racehorse and Cache Creek Campgrounds
- All bridges, campgrounds, and trails managed by the GDTA have been inspected
- Signature Trip
- 3 Trips with Youth/Student groups
- Jr. Forest Rangers
- Wildsight
- Wild Rockies Field Institute
The GDTA signed volunteer agreements with both Robson and Kakwa Provincial Parks, grew its membership to 750, launched the Trail Ambassador program, and completed a full website revamp. Fourteen trail-building and maintenance trips were carried out, contributing more than 5,740 hours of fieldwork from 126 dedicated volunteers.
2024
- Began work on the new Erris Lake trail
- Improvements to temporary log bridges on the Blaeberry River and over Cairns Creek
- Second annual women’s walking trip – proved popular again; covered 35 km of the Original GDT
- Extensive deadfall clearing in the North Kananaskis Pass area in Height of the Rockies PP
- Trail up to Tornado Saddle was re-routed and marked and the Tornado campground facilities were repaired
- Several trips were impacted by wildfire, including Maligne Pass (cancelled) and Colonel Creek (moved to early September)
- The GDTA, in partnership with Friends of Kananaskis and Bragg Creek Trails Association, had the opportunity to shoot a promotional video on Aug 8 which will be used to recruit new trail volunteers for all 3 organizations
- This was our first trail season with a hired Field Crew Coordinator (Brodie Bauer)
The Great Divide Trail Association completed its first 5-year Strategic Plan and officially became the Trail Manager of the GDT within Alberta Public Lands. A total of 5,390 hours of volunteer fieldwork were contributed by 123 volunteers, and membership grew to over 600. Unfortunately, wildfires were widespread that year, devastating the Jasper community and resulting in very few hikers completing the GDT.
2023
- 14km of maintenance and blazing between Sage Pass to Scarpe Pass
- 600m of trail construction from Scarpe Pass to La Coulotte Ridge
- 500m of trail cleared on Maligne Pass – in partnership with Friends of Jasper
- Considerable brush clearing from Sheep Creek to Cecelia Lake
- New Bridge over Cecelia Creek
- New Bridge over Baril Creek
- Scouted trail re-route to Erris Lake on the High Rock Trail
- Setup and take down of trail counters and wildlife cameras along Cataract Creek trail in the White Goat Wilderness area
- First women’s only trail maintenance trip, clearing, blazing and assessing for backcountry campsites.
Big news this year: the Great Divide Trail has been officially designated in Alberta Public Lands, and the GDTA signed a volunteer agreement with Height of the Rockies Provincial Park. This is a huge achievement and marks significant progress for the GDT. In addition to this, the GDT’s Executive Director position became a full-time role, and we expanded into seven year-round committees with the addition of the Information Technology Committee (ITC). With the help of 153 volunteers, we were able to complete an extraordinary amount of summer trail work over 14 trips.
2022
Six years, dozens of trail building trips and thousands of volunteer hours later, the High Rock Trail was officially opened as the main route of the GDT! This year, 117 individuals volunteered almost 7,000 hours to build 4 km of new trail, rebuild or reroute 9 km of trail, maintain 106 km of trail, and construct 3 new bridges.
2021
This was our busiest year yet, thanks to the hard work of more than 100 volunteers donating over 5,600 hours of their time. By the end of the summer, we had successfully operated 15 trail building trips through an ever evolving pandemic with zero incidents or injuries. With the help of 3 youth leadership groups: Crowsnest Bible Camp, Outdoor Council of Canada, and the Junior Forest Rangers, Great Divide Trail crews performed maintenance and trail enhancements on more than 150 km of trail including significant improvements to the remote Jackpine Valley Trail, a temporary bridge over Cairnes Creek, a long-term bridge over Cataract Creek, repairs to Lambe Creek bridge, and 8 km of new or improved tread on the High Rock Trail.
2020
The GDTA celebrated the soft opening of the 45 km-long High Rock Trail on July 24, 2020, and saw the first thru-hikers on the new trail only days later. In total, 7 trail building trips took place on the High Rock Trail, 1 trip on the Original GDT, and 3 trips to the Blaeberry, with almost 100 individuals volunteering over a span of 50 days on the Great Divide, including groups from the Junior Forest Rangers and the Outdoor Council of Canada. And all of this done under pandemic restrictions without a single incident, other than maybe a blister or two.
2019
This was the wettest and coolest summer in the Rockies in decades, however that didn’t stop 135 volunteers from participating in 12 trail building and maintenance trips and 2 scouting trips – the most volunteers and total trips ever in one season! We had 54 first-time volunteers, including: students from the Wild Rockies Field Institute in Montana and Junior Forest Rangers from Calgary. Our volunteers constructed 4 km of new trail on the High Rock Trail, restored 13 km of the historic David Thompson Heritage Trail and built one new bride, cleared 6 km of the Maligne Pass Trail in Jasper National Park and re-built 1 km on the Original GDT.
2018
The GDTA expanded again, with 112 volunteers participating in 11 separate trips, including 7 trips on the High Rock Trail and a Walking Trip on the Original GDT. The GDTA partnered with Recreation Sites and Trails BC to restore 8 km of the historic David Thompson Heritage Trail. The GDTA partnered with the Jasper Trails Alliance to clear 6 km of trail in Jasper National Park, the first ever GDTA trail maintenance trip in a national park.
2017
The GDTA expanded significantly from 1 or 2 trail maintenance trips per summer to 8 separate trips, involving 45 volunteers building 5 km of new trail and two new bridges on the High Rock Trail.
2016
The GDTA began construction of the High Rock Trail, the first new section of GDT in 30 years! The GDTA partnered with Alberta Environment & Parks to clear and restore the trail around Pinto Lake; and the GDTA also partnered with BC Parks and the Backcountry Horsemen of BC to clear the Colonel Pass Trail in Mount Robson Provincial Park.
2015
Bridge building over Cache and Lyall creeks; clearing and re-blazing in the Baril Creek area; restoration of the Aldridge Creek Trail; the first GDTA Trail Maintenance “Walking Trip” took place from Owen Creek to Pinto Lake.
2014
Bridge building, trail building and blazing in the Hidden Creek area.
2013
Major flooding in June and backcountry closures in July and August, prevented scheduled work in Hidden Creek from being performed.
Work done as the Friends of the Great Divide Trail
2000 – Major clearing and blazing in South Hidden Creek; bridge building along Cache Creek access trail and GDT crossing
2001 – Bridge built over the Oldman River at Soda Creek access trail
2003 – Brush clearing and bridge maintenance in the Oldman basin
2004 – Bridge building, major clearing and trail blazing between Cataract and Lost Creeks
2005 – Clearing and re-blazing in the Lost Creek area
2006 – Bridge built over Baril Creek, trail clearing up into Fording Pass, Baril Creek access trail re-blazed
2007 – Trail re-surveyed in Lost Creek area in preparation for rerouting off of logging roads
2009 – Bridge building, trail clearing and re-blazing in upper Oldman area
2010 – Trail clearing, re-routing and blazing between Lost Creek and the upper Oldman
2012 – Bridge building over Etherington Creek, and trail clearing in difficult cut block in the creek’s north fork