Great Divide End to End: Banff to Antelope Wells

Overview

The Great Divide Mountain Bike Route is the one every bikepacker measures themselves against: roughly 4,400km of gravel, doubletrack and forgotten forest road tracing the Continental Divide from Banff, Alberta to the Mexican border post at Antelope Wells, New Mexico. You will cross the Divide more than 30 times, and the moment that stays with you is topping Union Pass in Wyoming's Winds with pronghorn scattering ahead and no engine noise in any direction. The variable that catches people out is water. The Great Divide Basin is a 200km sagebrush void where sources are alkaline or absent, and New Mexico's mesas are worse — carry six litres and treat everything. Grizzly protocol matters through Montana; hang food and carry spray. Start from Banff (fly into Calgary), resupply in trail towns every two to four days, and budget around £2,800 for six to seven weeks of campgrounds, motels and diner breakfasts, excluding flights. September starters gamble with snow in Colorado; July starters cook in New Mexico. The Adventure Cycling Association's maps and GPX are the canonical navigation.

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Prefilled for 1 June 2027 — the next best-season window. Search on partner sites — opens in a new tab.