If a national park trail with its campsites has been decommisioned, can I still hike and camp there?
I am considering a hike along the Canadian Great Divide Trail from Jasper southward. As described in Dustin Lynx' book Hiking Canada's Great Divide Trail, the middle segment inside Jasper National Park passes through the upper reaches of the Maligne River valley over the Maligne Pass. However, this trail is no (longer) listed in the Backcountry Guide(PDF, 5 MB), nor are its campgrounds, and it has apparently been decommisioned.
Considering that one may only camp on designated backcountry campsites and that it's 42 km from the (former) Maligne Valley trailhead to the next designated campground on the Brazeau loop, is it permitted to hike this former trail and camp on one of its five former campgrounds? Strictly speaking I would think no, but this tripadvisor post states that one can still hike and camp there. What is the official rule?
It would be very difficult to hike this segment of the Great Divide Trail if it is no longer permitted to hike here.
Of course, I fully expect that hiking here would be significantly slower than in the past.
This post was sourced from https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/5848. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
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I have phoned with the trail reservation office for Jasper National Park, and this is what they told me.
The route has been decommisioned. This means that it is now considered wildland. Hiking and camping are permitted but require significantly more skills (and some more equipment) than hiking on a well-maintained "semi-primitive" trail. A backcountry permit and fee are still required. One should preferably camp on former campgrounds (as they still suitable places), but random camping is permitted 5 km from the trailhead. The reservation office still registers who are on the trail in what period.
So: good news for through-hikers.
This post was sourced from https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/5859. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
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