GDT

During the 1980s the GDT project saw major accomplishments as the Trail was extended south to Tornado Pass.

By 1980, the Alberta government was allocating grant money to the GDT project annually. This support allowed the GDTA to hire trail crews each summer to carry out survey work and actual trail construction.

Supplementing these crews was a large contingent of volunteers, who spent many weekends in the summer and fall doing the necessary follow-on work such as pruning and paint blazing. There were also many organized hikes over the sections of completed trail.

Most of the work in this decade was concentrated in the Oldman River watershed, including the tributary valleys of Lyall, Beehive, Cache, Dutch and Hidden Creeks. Many of these areas are relatively inaccessible for day trips, and relatively untouched by commercial activities. The trail route in the Oldman country is characterized by high ridge walks and many spectacular larch forests, providing grand vistas of the Divide and the surrounding foothills.

By 1986 the trail had reached a southern terminus a few kilometers south of Tornado Pass. The pass is reached after crossing the GDT's highest point at 2445 metres.