The Gila River Alternate: The CDT’s Most Popular Detour
The Continental Divide Trail runs 3,038.2 miles between the Mexican and Canadian borders, spanning five states, and it mostly traces the geographic Continental Divide. That is the official version. On the ground, almost every person who thru-hikes the trail walks a different path, stitching together side trails and alternate routes to make one continuous line across the United States. There is no single unbroken footpath from border to border, and there never really has been.
Of the hundreds of possible alternates, one draws more hikers than any other. In southern New Mexico, the vast majority of CDT hikers leave the official trail to walk alongside the Gila River for roughly a hundred miles. This is the Gila Alternate, and the hikers who finish it often rank it among the best stretches on the whole trail. If you are planning a thru-hike and can only take one alternate seriously, this is the one to study first.
Why alternates are the norm, not the exception
Leaving the marked route is not cheating on the CDT. The custom of finding alternates and side trails is embraced by most thru-hikers, and the trail itself is known for having a large number of them. The reasons are practical. Alternates often take hikers to the best scenery, they can make resupply easier, and some simply cut miles or dodge hazards. Beyond the Gila, many hikers deviate to explore the Wind River Range more deeply. In Montana, a large share take the Anaconda Cutoff rather than the longer loop around Butte.
The trail now carries an official designated route. That official line remains just one option among many. Understanding which alternates are worth taking, and when, is part of planning a CDT hike.
Where the Gila Alternate branches off
A northbound hiker faces the decision soon after leaving Silver City, where the choice is between the Gila Alternate and the official CDT through the Black Range. The alternate sits at NOBO Mile 173.1. The official Black Range route winds circuitously along the ridgeline with few water sources and long stretches of total isolation. The Gila route instead descends into a canyon carved through rock by a river, then follows the Middle Fork of the Gila River north.
The route runs about 104 miles and tracks mostly northward beside the river. Choosing it trims 74 miles from the CDT’s overall distance while bypassing roughly 178 miles of the main route. It exits the canyon near Snow Lake, then follows dirt forest service roads briefly before rejoining the official CDT a short way south of Pie Town.
What makes the Gila worth the detour
The strongest draw is water. Northbound hikers reach the Gila after roughly 150 miles of dry desert carries, and the river delivers the first readily available clean, flowing water of the hike. Along the alternate, a drink is never more than a step or two away. The canyon is lined with ponderosas, cottonwoods, and sycamores, and its walls keep hikers in shadow until later in the day, holding temperatures cooler than the surrounding desert.
The Gila also carries history. It runs through the Gila Wilderness, the first area anywhere to receive federal wilderness designation, in 1924. The remoteness is real. On the entire CDT, only the Bob Marshall Wilderness or the Wind River Range offer comparable isolation. A short side trail leads to Mogollon cliff dwellings roughly 700 years old, letting hikers tour 13th-century structures mid-route. The path also passes Jordan Hot Springs and briefly reaches Doc Campbell’s Post, a general store useful for resupply.
The tradeoffs: slower miles and endless crossings
The Gila is not an easy shortcut. The route crosses the river well over 150 times, and each ford is different. Some are ankle-deep splashes; others reach chest height and run fast enough to force a few swimming strokes. The riverbeds are hard to walk on because of sand and washed-out banks, many rocks are very slippery, and the trail frequently disappears and reappears. Every step costs more energy.
The pace drops accordingly. A typical desert day on the CDT runs around 25 miles, but on the Gila the average daily pace falls to about 15 miles. Hikers commonly cowboy camp on sandbars beside the river to make the most of the terrain.
Reading the river before you commit
The Gila’s depth swings widely from one year to the next, driven by early-season snowmelt and rainfall, so you should check conditions before starting. The USGS Gila River Gauge lets you check the flow rate in advance. A reading under 100 CFS means straightforward wading. Between 150 and 250 CFS, expect swift water somewhere from knee to thigh depth. Once the river runs over 300 to 400 CFS, the high route becomes worth considering instead of the river-bottom line.
How to navigate the alternate
The Gila is not fully served by the standard navigation setup. The official CDT GPS track, called the “red line” by thru-hikers, refers to the track color in the FarOut app. Among CDT map sources, FarOut gives the strongest detail on water sources, but it also carries very few alternates, some inaccuracies, and limited town information, and it maps far fewer routes than the Ley maps.
Ley maps, by contrast, contain routes, notes, and information more comprehensive than any other CDT map or guide, and they can be printed or used in the Avenza app with GPS location shown. For digital navigation, most adventurers rely on the Gaia GPS subscription. It opens up quality topographic maps, the Trails Illustrated series among them. Carry paper maps as backup in snowy terrain, such as the San Juans or portions of Montana and Wyoming. Trails Illustrated sheets are a solid paper option that include alternate trails for specific segments. For deeper planning across alternates and resupply, Yogi’s CDT guide gathers feedback from a variety of hikers.
Making the call
If you are hiking the CDT northbound, treat the Gila as a strong default rather than a gamble. It delivers reliable water after a long dry stretch, standout canyon scenery, cliff-dwelling history, and a stretch of remoteness matched only by the Bob and the Winds. The costs are slower miles and constant river crossings, both manageable with the right flow reading.
Before you leave Silver City, pull the current flow rate from the USGS gauge, decide between the river bottom and the high route based on that number, and load Ley or Gaia so the alternate actually shows on your map. Do that, and you join the majority of thru-hikers who skip the official line here.
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