Another sign of the times that is impacting long-enjoyed travel freedoms: Canada has closed its border at the top of the Pacific Crest Trail, the 2,650-mile wilderness path that runs from Mexico to Canada through California, Oregon, and Washington State.
Previously, hikers—who take about 5 months to walk the entire length—could simply apply for a permit that allowed them to walk the 8 miles into southern British Columbia to complete their journeys at Manning Park Resort.
Since the late 1930s, the Manning Provincial Park area has achieved legendary status among an international community of hikers as a terminus where victorious PCT participants celebrate the finish line of their odysseys, recover with fellow explorers, and enjoy clean clothes mailed from home.
Now, all hikers who reach the PCT’s endpoint in Washington at the Canadian border with the United States must turn around and backtrack, retracing the previous 32.3 miles they’ve walked to go back to Hart's Pass, where they can arrange onward road transportation.
Without warning, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) replaced the webpage used for permit applications with this terse statement: “The Pacific Crest Trail permit program has ended. Anyone seeking to complete the Canadian portion of the trail must use a designated port of entry.”
The nearest acceptable ports of entry into Canada are now Abbotsford and Osoyoos, each of which is about 60 miles away, as the crow flies, from the trail. If hikers were to walk to those ports of entry, the effort would add many days to their itineraries.
The change was not explicitly made out of security concerns, but because U.S. Customs and Border Protection does not allow hikers to enter the U.S. from Canada on the trail.
The uncharacteristic border closure is widely interpreted as a response to recent aggression by the Trump administration.
“Hikers from the U.S. without a permit who wish to complete the Canadian portion of the trail will from now on be required to first enter Canada via a designated port of entry,” the CBSA confirmed in a release.
The border on the PCT was also closed temporarily during the Covid-19 pandemic as part of Canada’s larger efforts to contain the disease.
