Continental Divide Trail

[Skullman]

I am in the very early stages of planning to run the Transcontinental 4x4 Trail and have a couple of questions. Has anyone on the forum done it? How long did it take? How extreme was it? Can it be done in a Lifted Suburban? Thanks in advance for the info.

 

[Road]

I am in the very early stages of planning to run the Transcontinental 4x4 Trail and have a couple of questions. Has anyone on the forum done it? How long did it take? How extreme was it? Can it be done in a Lifted Suburban? Thanks in advance for the info.

@Skullman - do you mean the Trans-America Trail?

If so, it is quite well documented and you'll be able to find a veritable shitload of info with a simple search for Trans-America Trail on google.

Here's a thread on Expedition Portal I've followed for awhile, in pondering whether or not I might want to do all or parts of the TAT: Trans-America Trail. This thread started six and a half years ago and has been commented on and added to over nine pages, with the last comment being about a year ago.

I'm sure there are a ton of other threads about it on various forums.

Good luck. Let us know what you found out and if you decide to tackle some or all of it.

 

[Skullman]

My apologies. I am interested in the Continental Divide Trail but melded it and the TAT together. My bad.

 

[Road]

Ahh, okay, well, the only Continental Divide Trail I know of is for hiking, not vehicles, though parts of it are largely walking along roads. I have friends who have done the whole thing as part of their quest to do the Triple Crown of hiking; the Appalachian Trail, the Pacific Crest Trail, and the Continental Divide Trail. One guy has done all three.

There's a cool Appalachian Byway, though, 2400 miles long, that is for vehicles and needs 4x4 for most of it, that sort of parallels the Appalachian Trail. I have some of the maps and files for that and plan on doing stretches to check it out, then perhaps thru-drive it next year.

It was developed by @hmboverland:


Hope you find what you're looking for.

 

[tims53777]

Ahh, okay, well, the only Continental Divide Trail I know of is for hiking, not vehicles, though parts of it are largely walking along roads. I have friends who have done the whole thing as part of their quest to do the Triple Crown of hiking; the Appalachian Trail, the Pacific Crest Trail, and the Continental Divide Trail. One guy has done all three.

There's a cool Appalachian Byway, though, 2400 miles long, that is for vehicles and needs 4x4 for most of it, that sort of parallels the Appalachian Trail. I have some of the maps and files for that and plan on doing stretches to check it out, then perhaps thru-drive it next year.

It was developed by @hmboverland:


Hope you find what you're looking for.

This might have to be a goal for next summer.

Don't mean to hijack, but... He warns of the roads in VT, but his photos show a (relatively) stock 4runner. How technical are these trails, actually?

 

[Road]

This might have to be a goal for next summer.

Don't mean to hijack, but... He warns of the roads in VT, but his photos show a (relatively) stock 4runner. How technical are these trails, actually?

Yes, I saw that.

Haven't done them myself, so have no info other than what he's provided.

 

[Skullman]

I have seen several posts on Expedition Portal by folks who have done a route that parallels the Continental Divide Hiking Trail and the folks from Hema Explorer have recently mapped a route. Must be it isn’t well travelled yet. I will continue my research digging deeper on the web.
I do appreciate the info you provided on the Appalachian Byway though. Thanks.

 

[Captain Chaos]

The only posts I’ve seen on Expedition Portal have done the New Mexico/Mexico border to the Montana/Canada border. There is a thread here with gps tracks in the route planning section, I believe.

 

[Rollin Dirty Overland]

Is this thread still alive?

I have tracks. Dragon Lady and I did the CDT on motorbikes two years ago and it's 99% doable in the truck. There will have to be two or three minor adjustments in Montana where the truck can't go. Gimme till after Christmas to dig them up. In fact, if I haven't posted the GPX or a suitable link here by new years eve, shoot me a PM to remind me.

 

[Skullman]

Is this thread still alive?

I have tracks. Dragon Lady and I did the CDT on motorbikes two years ago and it's 99% doable in the truck. There will have to be two or three minor adjustments in Montana where the truck can't go. Gimme till after Christmas to dig them up. In fact, if I haven't posted the GPX or a suitable link here by new years eve, shoot me a PM to remind me.

Awesome. I am eager to see your tracks.

 

[Tudelum48]

Yep 3 of us also did the CDR on motorcycles. Did it in 2014 using a combination of Big Dogs and Cannon Shots tracks. Since then we have talked about the trip many times so if all goes well at least 2 of us are thinking about doing it in jeeps in 2019 so the wife's can enjoy it also.
We left out of Kentucky so a lot of our mileage was going to the Mexican border and coming from Canada. 6800 miles in 21 days. We ran it south to north.
I have read it was originally designed by bicyclist to run and in the northern parts some of the original sections you carry your bicycle, so those sections are detoured. We were fortunate enough to run it while the CDR North to South bicycle race was going on so we got to talk to a lot of riders.
I do most of our trip planning and I have found it easier for me at least to run 2 GPS units. One using Tracks and one using Routes. That is how I have this trip laid out.
The Tracks you follow they don't deviate, the Routes kind of give you a heads up of whats coming. In this case though the Routes are used almost solely to navigate you to the next fuel stop. There are a few places where 250 miles are necessary or more.
I already have it all planned out, if I can be of any help just let me know.

 

[Laud]

If its the CDR from Canada to Mexico, I have the route that Hema did a few years ago. Also documented on Expedition Portal. I have modified it to my likings, and will be taking 2 1/2 weeks and running it in July in a full size. They did it in under two weeks.

 

[Rexplorer]

Well another one to add to the list.

 

[Skullman]

Yes it is the CDR. I saw the article on Expedition Portal and looked hard for the route /track that Hema did but couldn’t find it. Can you give me some guidance on finding it? I want to run it in my modified Suburban. Any chance of tag-alongs?

 

[Booker]

Yep 3 of us also did the CDR on motorcycles. Did it in 2014 using a combination of Big Dogs and Cannon Shots tracks. Since then we have talked about the trip many times so if all goes well at least 2 of us are thinking about doing it in jeeps in 2019 so the wife's can enjoy it also.
We left out of Kentucky so a lot of our mileage was going to the Mexican border and coming from Canada. 6800 miles in 21 days. We ran it south to north.
I have read it was originally designed by bicyclist to run and in the northern parts some of the original sections you carry your bicycle, so those sections are detoured. We were fortunate enough to run it while the CDR North to South bicycle race was going on so we got to talk to a lot of riders.
I do most of our trip planning and I have found it easier for me at least to run 2 GPS units. One using Tracks and one using Routes. That is how I have this trip laid out.
The Tracks you follow they don't deviate, the Routes kind of give you a heads up of whats coming. In this case though the Routes are used almost solely to navigate you to the next fuel stop. There are a few places where 250 miles are necessary or more.
I already have it all planned out, if I can be of any help just let me know.

The Mountain bike route is called the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route (GDMR). You can find info and maps on the Adventure Cycling Association web site. There is also a race call the Tour Divide which is slightly different than the GDMR. I've ridden 1600 miles of it from Canada to Steam Boat Springs,CO. It's mostly gravel roads but like Tudelum48 said there are places vehicles can't go.

 

[Tudelum48]

Finding GPS tracks aren't a problem. I'm kind of new to Overland Bound so I don't know who Hema is? I've always been a motorcycle guy so I'm more familiar with those sites, (www.advrider.com) has plenty of info on the CDR.
I'm starting to slow down a little (lol) so migrating from 2 wheels to 4 seems to be the natural option for me. On our 3 motorcycles we had fuel ranges from 300 to over 500 miles with 30-50 MPG. The 300 mile range ran out 2 times. We weren't to concerned because one of our tanks was almost 10 gallons and knew we could transfer it if needed. In a 4 wheeler fuel consumption is more critical so I planned fuel stops a little better. That's why I'm using one GPS using Routes to take me to the next available fuel and GPS using Tracks for navigation. Don't criticize me for this, its a personal preference I have after years of experience doing things like this.
The Tracks I'm running are well documented and tested. They are freely shared and I have ran the course so I don't mind sharing if anyone is interested. I have modified them for my application and redrawn to 2 tenths of a mile scale for detail. I use Garmin GPS's and use Garmin Mapsource and Basecamp GPX format for my application.
Were planning on a late June early July trip starting at the Mexican border. Were getting old so when possible hotels are the preference or demanded from the wife's lol.

 

[Kent R]

Great discussion! The Sierra Foothills Overlanders are planing this trip for 2020, basically the same trip The Expedition Portal did last year with ARB.

 

[Overland Omnivore]

I’m currently working on what I call the Trans Hoosier Overland Trail....if anyone wants to join in on the first full running of it I’m hitting the trail the first week in April...PM me for details...the hope is that I can piece together a Overland route from Key West to Churchill I’m Canada using as much in improved road as possible...

 

[Laud]

@Skullman, it will be a deadhead run for me up to see my folks, the first week of July. I will then grab the top of the route, outside by backyard, then take a few weeks to run south. I intentionally left an open itinerary, as there is so much see. You are more than welcome to join, if you find yourself up in that region.
@Tudelum48 , we will most likely pass each other along the way. Also HEMA is an exploratory mapping group. A little more can found here...https://www.hemamaps.com/

 

[Tudelum48]

Kent R, you said your planning to run this in 2020? I would be interested in seeing some info on the Expidition Portal route or link to there trip. Like I said I've already got all our trip planned including mileage,fuel,hotels and side trips but I'm always interested in others routes.
I've ran this route before so a side excursion or a proven alternate route might be interesting. Even though at my age I'm good at forgetting stuff so this might be like a new trip for me. Lol
Hellbender my friends tell people I'm a GPS Track Whore. I keep all of them I can get. You were talking about a Key West to Canada route? I might be able to help you with quiet a bit of it. Send me a PM where I can get an email address from you and I'll see if I can find my route that runs from Florida to Canada and send it to you.