Thorsell's route comprised roughly the middle 50% of the modern trail, from Banff's southern boundary at Palliser Pass to Berg Lake.

[3] Outside of the national parks, the route south of Palliser Pass was originally mapped in 1974 by six University of Calgary students with support from the Alberta Wilderness Association and the Federal Opportunities for Youth Program.

[7] When support from the province of Alberta ended,and logging and off-road vehicle use destroyed trails, work ceased, and the GDTA became inactive.

[4] In 2000, Dustin Lynx revived the GDT by releasing his guidebook Hiking Canada's Great Divide Trail.

[8] By 2004, a group known as the Friends of the Great Divide Trail began to work on the GDT once again, particularly in the unprotected Alberta Crown Forest Reserve lands between Crowsnest Pass and Banff National Park.