Canadian border agency bars hikers from entering country on Pacific Crest Trail

In this Sept. 8, 2016 photo, Middle Sister rises above a meadow along the Pacific Crest Trail a few miles from the Obsidian Trailhead near Sisters, Ore. (Mark Morical/The Bulletin via AP)

The Canada Border Services Agency says it will no longer allow hikers to enter the country on the popular Pacific Crest Trail that crosses the international boundary between Washington state and British Columbia.

A statement Monday from the CBSA says the agency is discontinuing its entry permit program for hikers and horseback riders looking to complete the final 13 kilometres of the 4,265-kilometre trail that stretches from Mexico to Canada.

“This change will facilitate monitoring of compliance of trail users, enhance security at the border, and aligns with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection who does not allow travellers to enter the U.S. from Canada on the trail,” the CBSA statement said.

The border agency says hikers from the U.S. who wish to complete the final section of the Pacific Crest Trail in Canada will have to first visit a designated port of entry for permission to enter the country.

The nearest ports of entry are in Abbotsford, B.C., and Osoyoos, B.C., both approximately 100 kilometres from the trail’s terminus in E.C. Manning Provincial Park.

“This is disappointing news,” wrote Jack Haskell, a trail information manager for the Pacific Crest Trail Association, on the group’s website.

“That said, we can appreciate their points, and the fact that this policy is consistent with the United States' policy, which does not allow for entry into the United States via the PCT.”

The Pacific Crest Trail was first proposed as a high-altitude recreational hiking path in the 1930s but wasn’t formally recognized until 1968, when U.S. President Lyndon Johnson signed the National Trail Systems Act, which designated the Pacific Crest Trail and the Appalachian Trail the first U.S. national scenic trails, according to the U.S. Forest Service.

The trail gained widespread popularity following the publication of Cheryl Strayed’s 2012 memoir Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail, which documented the author’s solo journey along the trail, and was later adapted into a feature film starring Reese Witherspoon.