Photos by Mary Alice Murphy
Silver City, NM, the first designated Gateway City to the Continental Divide Trail, celebrated Continental Divide Trail Days, with vendors, local and from across the country, at Gough Park on Saturday, April 25, 2026. The day was blustery, a fairly typical April day in this part of the world, but the sky was overcast, not quite as usual.
Vendors ranged from food —the Silver City Kiwanis Club offered a pancake breakfast until the food ran out—to clothing and gear for hikers, from local purveyors to ones from out of town, as well as many informational booths about the trail, the forest, as well as the environment. One author selling her books is a recipient of a National Geographic award.
At noon, a photo was taken of all the hikers who were in Silver City on Saturday on their way north on the trail. They often reprovision food and water in towns along or near the trail. A young couple from Ann Arbor, that the photographer spoke with briefly, said they came to town with lighter weight packs, but were heading out with heavier ones, as they had taken advantage of being able to stock up before they headed into the Gila National Forest.
Hikers come from all over the country (and perhaps the world) to hike the CDT from the Bootheel of New Mexico to the top of Montana where it enters Alberta, Canada. The route taken by hikers can range from 2,700 miles to 3,150 depending on the portions of the trail chosen by the hikers. The trail traverses five states, New, Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho and Montana.
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