Hikers can reach the southern end of the Continental Divide Trail again — but the landmark they walk 3,100 miles to touch is about to disappear from where it has stood for decades.

The southernmost 1.1 miles of the CDT were shut in late October 2026, when construction crews began widening the border road and adding a second stretch of steel wall near the trail's end. That closure landed at a rough moment: southbound thru-hikers typically finish at the Mexican border in autumn, so anyone wrapping up a full trek found their final mile blocked. The Continental Divide Trail Coalition confirmed access reopened in mid-November, more than two weeks later.

There's a catch, though. The Crazy Cook monument — the stone obelisk marking the trail's official southern terminus — now sits wedged between two lengths of metal bollard fencing. Hikers have reportedly squeezed through the construction zone to reach it, but that won't last. The Coalition says officials plan to relocate the obelisk outside the barrier walls, and the gap between the barriers will eventually close. Expect another temporary shutdown when the move happens, though no date has been announced.

Access also comes with paperwork now. Since 2025 the area has been part of the Fort Huachuca New Mexico National Defense Area, created when 110,000 acres of Bureau of Land Management land were transferred to military control. Everyone entering needs an online permit from Fort Huachuca plus a background check, and non-U.S. citizens must be accompanied by a permitted American hiker — a real consideration for the international thru-hikers who flock to the CDT each year.

The CDT isn't alone in this. The Arizona Trail's southern terminus was permanently closed to hikers last November, a move its trail association called nothing less than a desecration. Pacific Crest Trail hikers were briefly banned from touching the border wall this spring before the rule was reversed, and the Supreme Court has allowed construction of new wall sections to proceed in Big Bend National Park. For anyone dreaming of a border-to-border hike on America's great long trails, the southern end is no longer a given — it's something to check on right before you go.

If you're planning a CDT thru-hike or a section ending at Crazy Cook, build in time for the permit process, follow the Continental Divide Trail Coalition for closure updates, and be ready for the terminus monument to be standing somewhere slightly different than it did for the class of hikers before you. The trail itself is still there — 3,100 miles of it — but the finish line is a moving target right now.