CDT: Summit Lake to Union Pass (WY Sec. 15)

Dogs Leashed

• Continental Divide National Scenic Trail (CDT)

This 35 mile section of the CDT is the last section of the Wind River Range, stretching from the headwaters of the Green River to Union Pass. Its difficulty is relatively mellow compared to the the other CDT segments in the Winds.

Begin at Summit Lake, just shy of Green River Pass. Hike up to the pass and enter the Green River drainage. This watershed drains much of the immediate northern Winds including the west side of Gannett Peak. The remaining watersheds on the western divide of the Winds serve as tributaries to the Green River downstream. The Green River, which is mostly supported by spring and summer snowmelt, is the largest and longest tributary of the Colorado River, joining with the Colorado River in Cataract Canyon in Canyonlands National Park, UT. The Green River, in a large part, supports the irrigation, industrial, and municipal supply of 40 million people in the western United States.

The trail descends, sometimes down steep switchbacks into the Green River Canyon circumnavigating the northern and eastern faces of Squaretop mountain. Eventually Green River Lakes are reached, which are remnants of the last Ice Age.
Out of the inner granitic block of the Wind River Range, the Highline Trail climbs into the next valley over and to Union Pass, the geographic bridge between the Wind River Range and Gros Ventre Range.