“The Great Divide Mountain Bike Route (GDMBR) is Adventure Cycling’s premier off-pavement cycling route, crisscrossing the Continental Divide in southern Canada and the U.S. This route is defined by the word “remote.” Its remoteness equates with spectacular terrain and scenery. The entire route is basically dirt road and mountain-pass riding every day. In total, it has over 200,000 feet of elevation gain. Nearly 2,100 miles of the route is composed of County, Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and Canadian provincial unpaved roads.“, according to the Adventure Cycling Association.
The Great Divide Mountain Bike Route is a 3,083 miles (4,962 kilometers) long bike route running from Jasper in Alberta, Canada to Antelope Wells in New Mexico, United States and is following the Continental Divide through the Rocky Mountains. It is also known as the world’s longest mapped (mountain) bike route.
About 90% of the route is on unpaved roads, trails, and tracks. This is why most people use a mountain bike or gravel bike to ride this route. Between Jasper and Antelope Wells there is over 200,000 ft (60,960 m) of elevation gain and loss. A variety of terrain is passed on this route which includes mountain passes, river valleys, forests, wide-open grasslands, and deserts.
In 1998, after many years of exploration, the Adventure Cycling Association completed the mapping of what is now called The Great Divide Mountain Bike Route (GDMBR). The initial route was created from Montana to New Mexico. Nowadays it is a 3,083 miles (4,962 kilometers) long bike route running from Jasper in Alberta, Canada to Antelope Wells in New Mexico, United States.
According to the Adventure Cycling Association website, a wide variety of road conditions exists along this route. Surfaces range from pavement, good gravel roads, four-wheel-drive roads, single-track, or old railroad beds. Nearly 2,100 miles (3,380 kilometers) of the route is composed of County, Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and Canadian provincial unpaved roads. The remainder is 60 miles (97 kilometers) of single-track trails and 950 miles (1530 kilometers) of paved roads including close to 50 miles (80 kilometers) of paved bike paths.
The route tries to follow the Continental Divide of the Americas, for the Northern American part also known as the Great Divide of the Rocky Mountains. This mountainous area separates the watersheds that drain into the Pacific Ocean from those river systems that drain into the Atlantic Ocean. Bluntly said, if a raindrop falls on the left side of the divide it will end up in the Pacific Ocean, if it falls on the right side of the divide it will end up in the Atlantic Ocean.
The figure below shows the different water divides in North America. The red line shows the Continental Divide of the Americas. The GDMBR cannot exactly follow the actual divide over rugged mountain tops, but it tries to be as close as possible. The route passes the divide over 30 times between its start and end-point.
The whole route is unmarked and requires navigation skills. Maps and guidebooks can be purchased on the Adventure Cycling Association website. Adventure Cycling Association is North America’s largest membership cycling organization. They also regularly publish map updates and corrections for different versions of the maps on their website. Purchasing the maps on the Adventure Cycling Association website provides support for this non-profit association in continuously maintaining their highly detailed route maps and guidebook. Besides using a map for navigation, nowadays many people use global satellite navigation systems (GNSS) of which GPS is the most widely known and used technology. The Adventure Cycling Association also provides the possibility to purchase the GPS (GPX) data of the route which can be used on a digital navigation device.
Traveling through the Canadian provinces of Alberta and British Columbia, and the US states of Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico, the route passes a large variety of terrains and geographic features.
Resources
Below resources provide a lot more information regarding the Great Divide Mountain Bike Router:
- Adventure Cycling Association
- bikepacking.com
- Exploring Wild
- and there are many more …
Tour Divide
After finishing the mapping of the GDMBR by the Adventure Cycling Association it did not take long before people start to introduce competitive elements. In 1999 John Stamstad already recorded a time for riding a self-supported Individual Time Trial (ITT). In 2003, Mike Curiak also tried to set a time individually, and in 2004 he decided to organize a mass-start event, which he called the Great Divide Race (GDR), in which 7 people started, 4 finished, and Mike himself won. In 2005, Trish Stevenson became the first woman to complete the race.
In 2007, Matthew Lee (one of the 7 starters in the inaugural 2004 GDR) announced the Tour Divide (TD) version of the GDR in 2008, which followed the same route as the GDR, but was longer due to starting in Alberta, Canada.
Nowadays, a Grand Départ is taking place every 2nd Friday in June for this self-supported race. Cyclists from around the world gather at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel in Banff National Park, Alberta (and some persons at Antelope Wells for a North-Bound ITT), for a mass start. The race is still for honors, no starting fee, no prize money, anyone interested can join.
- male: Mike Hall (2016) 13 days 22 hours 51 minutes
- female: Lael Wilcox (2015) 15 days 10 hours 59 minutes
Great Divide Trail / Continental Divide Trail
Many years before the Adventure Cycling Associating mapped the GDMBR, people already created the Great Divide Trail (GDT; Canada) and Continental Divide Trail (CDT; United States) to walk along the Great Divide of the Rocky Mountains. The creation of these trails was inspired by the Appalachian Trail (AT) and the Pacific Coast Trail (PCT).
Although both the hiking trails and the GDMBR try to follow the Great Divide of the Rocky Mountains, they will cross at some locations but there is hardly any overlap.