New Mexico trails · Continental Divide Trail
Continental Divide Trail
A 81.7-mile section of the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail in New Mexico, with 2,485 ft of climbing. The full trail runs about 3,100 miles. Reaches Spring Tank and other lake/spring destinations. Managed by the U.S. Forest Service.
Elevation profile
The climbing is spread fairly evenly along the route. It gives back about 6,813 ft along the way, so it rolls rather than climbing steadily.
3-D terrain
USGS 3DEP ELEVATION × ESRI WORLD IMAGERY · VERTICAL ×1.5
Reaches
- Spring Tank (lake)
- Sullivan Tank (lake)
- Ojito Azul (spring)
- Jawbone Tank (lake)
- Cold Lake (lake)
- Upper Canjilon Lakes (lake)
- Rancherilla Spring (spring)
- Murphy Tank (lake)
- Harris Bear Spring (spring)
- Hopewell Lake (lake)
Heads up
Getting there
CANJILON LAKES — parking nearby. About 2 h 10 min drive (66 mi, 4 of them unpaved) from Española. 36.56400, -106.32800 · directions
Daylight at the trailhead
On October 14, 2026 — the day this page was generated — first light reaches this trailhead at 6:45 a.m., the sun rises at 7:11 a.m. and sets at 6:30 p.m., and the last usable light fades about 6:56 p.m. (MDT) — 11 h 19 min of daylight. At about 2.7 mph plus 30 minutes per 1,000 feet of climbing, the 81.7-mile route works out to roughly 31 h 29 min of walking — more than a single day of daylight here, so plan it as an overnight or hike it in sections.
Loop options
- Continental Divide National Scenic Trail + Continental Divide Trail — 2.1 mi loop, 89 ft gain
- Continental Divide Trail + Continental Divide National Scenic Trail — 2.2 mi loop, 46 ft gain
- Continental Divide National Scenic Trail + Continental Divide Trail — 11.1 mi loop, 467 ft gain
Nearby trails
- Tusas Loop — 19.3 mi